Page 296 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

Chapter 2

Noah

“Who’s the newcomer?” Liam nodded to the brunette chatting with Ash.

I shrugged, acting as though I hadn’t noticed, but I couldn’t deny it. My heart stalled the moment she strolled through the door.

I marked the bottle of bourbon off the inventory sheet and placed it back on the top shelf.

“And why is she meeting Ash?”

“Dunno.” I reached for next spirit on the list.

Liam slid a carton of beer on the bench and slapped my shoulder. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. I caught you watching her.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

The little shit smirked. “Nope. Ivy’s in Timber Falls with Kat.”

I inwardly groaned.

Liam opened the carton and stocked the beer fridge. “You should jump in there before someone else beats you to it.”

Here we go…

“It wouldn’t kill you to get out there. You know, date a little.”

“I date.”

He stared at me with a deadpan expression. “Dating the bar doesn’t count.”

Sure, it did.

“All you do is live here and pine over a girl you’ve never even met.”

I grabbed a nearby tumbler and poured a shot of bourbon. One advantage to owning the joint. “I’m not pining.”

Just because I gave my heart to someone fifteen years ago and never moved on, didn’t equate to pining.

Liam narrowed his ice-blue eyes. All three of us had the same eyes. My mother called them “the Cole eyes,” thanks to Dad having a matching set. Not hard to tell we were all related.

“You saw that girl fifteen years ago. What if you never see her again? Will your relationship with the bar be enough for the rest of your life?”

I turned back to the shelf. Those same questions plagued me ever since I first spotted her. That summer she ventured into the forest every afternoon until, one day, she didn’t. If only I’d had the balls to shift into human form and let her see me in person rather than hiding behind my wolf.

Maybe then, I wouldn’t have become so complacent.

Ready for this shitty conversation with Liam to end, I spun and faced my younger brother. “How long did you wait for Ivy?”

Liam sighed. “That’s different and you know it. Ivy and I have known each other since I was twelve. You know, in person, not from afar.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. She’d never forgive me.” I shot back another mouthful of bourbon to ease the pressure building in my chest. It didn’t help. Nothing ever did.

Liam’s strong hand squeezed my shoulder. “You gotta stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault.”

Not from where I stood.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and remained silent. After an awkward as fuck moment, Liam released his hold.

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