Page 10 of Lessons in Heartbreak

Not my brother. Not my new team. Not the inevitable end of my career because my body was so fucking tired that each season got harder and harder to complete.

Under her breath, she muttered something likeThis is not happening, this is not happening.

My smile spread. I’d never been met with this particular reaction before.

Why was this so fun?

Her eyes fluttered open, landing unerringly on me. “I recognize you,” she said quietly. With a smile playing around my lips, I watched her gather her composure. She wasn’t doing a very good job. “But I didn’t expect you, Griffin King.”

“But you know it’s me and not my brother. Well done.” I held up my coffee in salute. “Our parents can’t even tell us apart half the time.”

That was bullshit, but she didn’t call me on it.

Instead, she eyed me warily. “I always found it easy. Your brother never smiled.”

“Still doesn’t. I’m much more pleasant to be around, trust me.”

Ruby ignored that, which was probably wise. Her fingers were long and graceful, tipped with sensibly trimmed nails in a clear gloss, and at the moment, they were shredding the absolute hell out of a napkin.

“Want one of these muffins?” I asked, pushing the plate closer to her.

Instead of answering, Ruby stared over at me, a slight furrow in her brow.

I broke off a piece of the sugar-topped confection, moaning slightly when it melted in my mouth. “Fuck, that’s good,” I said, my voice a pleased rumble.

She did that nervous-swallowing thing again, another soft flush of pink blooming over her cheeks.

“This feels like a monumentally bad idea, Griffin,” she said carefully.

My eyebrows shot up. “It’s breakfast, Ruby.” I smiled, and her eyes darted to the dimple buried in my three-day-old stubble. “Granted,when I partake of a morning meal with a beautiful woman, we’ve usually enjoyed other activities leading up to it ... but I digress.”

Trembling hands came up to cover her face, and her entire frame slumped as she sighed. “No. No, no, no. I can’t do this,” she muttered.

“Can’t do what?” Consider me officially fascinated.

Oh, and fascination was dangerous, wasn’t it?

She dropped her hands, motioning wildly between us. “This.”

Swallowing another large bite of the muffin, I eyed her as I licked a leftover crumb off my bottom lip. Those big dove-gray eyes tracked the movement. “Why’s that?”

After a short exhale, she crumpled up the decimated napkin and smoothed her hands out on the table. Her eyes locked on mine, and over the sudden jump in my pulse, I realized just how very incredibly, wildly not bored I was.

“Well ... when I hired an escort, I didn’t expect it to be the former neighbor boy.”

Chapter ThreeRuby

I could count on one hand the times that I’d wished for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. Something catastrophic and devastating, and oh, I’d welcome it with open arms right about now.

Do you recognize me?he’d asked. Please.

If I hadn’t been halfway to dying from mortification, I would’ve snorted. The moment I saw that man’s profile, saw him flirting shamelessly with Blake, I knew exactly who he was.

Like I didn’t spend half my childhood completely obsessed with the King twins. Watching them play, watching them fight, watching them do anything, really. Watching them grow taller and stronger and somehow—always, impossibly—more and more handsome with every year that passed.

They were like some strange alien species—with a different language and different way of interacting with each other. They would shove each other, wrestle, yell, swear, come up sweaty and angry after playing a game, and the next day be completely fine.

In my own home, everything was quiet and contained, perfectly precise because that’s how my parents did things. There weren’t messes to be picked up or yelling matches between siblings, because, hello, no siblings to be had for me.

---