Page 76 of A Favor Owed

I love Brady McDaniels.

Like, fire in my veins, sunshine in my heart, gaping holes in my logic, want him forever,lovehim.

I hand out drinks in a daze and head back toward the bar.

“Can you take Brady’s table for a minute?” I ask Kelsey. “I need some air.”

“Are you okay? You look weird.”

“I’ll be okay, yeah.”

I put my tray down and head outside to the back of the bar. I lean against the wall and breathe in the dry desert air. It’s cold at night now, but I feel too warm in my own skin. I’m lit up from the inside out, crackling with energy that I have no idea what to do with.

What am I going to do?

I bend over, resting my elbows on my knees and letting the blood rush to my head, hoping to flush out the insanity.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Brady is crouched down in front of me, his hands wrapped around my arms.

“Ange? What’s up? Are you sick? Do you need me to take you home?”

I wrap my arms around his neck and nearly topple him over, but he staggers upright, getting his balance at the last second.

“Whoa, princess. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I whisper, clinging to him. “Everything.”

“Did something happen? Do you feel okay?” He unwraps my arms from around his neck and looks at me with an expression of pure panic, his hands gripping my upper arms. “Holy shit, Pines. Are you pregnant?”

The shock of that question makes me gasp. “What?” I exclaim, shoving him. “No, you idiot! I’m not pregnant! I love you!”

I clap my hand over my mouth and feel all the blood that rushed to my head drain to my feet. I slump back against the wall. “Shit,” I whisper. I feel like I’m going to throw up.

“Is that what this is about? Jesus Christ, you scared the crap out of me, Ange.”

I feel myself being hauled upright and held tightly against Brady’s chest, my toes coming off the ground. “It’s a damn good thing you love me, Angela Pines, because I love the hell out of you.”

“I know,” I mutter. “It’s a disaster.”

“It’s a little bit of a clusterfuck, I’m not gonna lie.” He sets me down but doesn’t let go. “But I don’t care. We haven’t hit that dead end yet. And before we do, I want you to know.” He holds my face in his hands and looks down at me. “I love you, Angie. I’ll always love you, no matter what you end up thinking about me. No one else will ever come close to you. So just keep that in mind when we come to that dead end, okay? You’ll be consigning me to a life of loneliness and meaningless hookups. Got it?”

“Yeah.” How he could make me smile in the middle of this terrifying turn of events is beyond me, but I guess that’s one of the reasons I love him so much.

That and the way he kisses me, which he’s doing now. It’s sweet and gentle and intense. Even if he hadn’t said he loved me, I’d know it from this kiss.

“I should go back to work,” I say, standing on my toes with my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. “And you need to get back to your little study group harem.”

“They don’t call me the Sultan of Civil Procedure for nothin’.”

I lightly slap the back of his head before disentangling myself from him.

Brady takes my hand, and we go inside. He slings his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close before heading back to his table. “I love you,” he says in my ear.

“I love you, too,” I whisper.

As much as those words mean to me, they won’t solve our problems.

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