Page 53 of My Favorite Mistake

Brennan raised his drink across the table and clinked her beer bottle. “Damn straight, L.”

“Shooo.” Jimmy shook his head. “Lordy, youareworth every penny.”

Liza laughed and shrugged. “I told you.” Her shoulders shook as she gave a few tiny coughs and cast her gaze toward the stage. Oscar was perched on a stool at centerstage, blowing a low, slow, sad melody. The lights were dim, and a single blue spotlight centered on him, casting him in indigo and black shadows. “He’s going to be huge. And I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.”

Unable to restrain himself, Connor reached under the table and found her hand, clasping it. Liza offered him a warm but sad smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She didn’t draw away, rather she folded her fingers between his and rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand.

“Hell yeah,” Brennan said clinking his glass against Liza’s again. He sipped his drink, and she tilted her beer against her mouth for a second before retracting it and then pulling her lips into a dramatic frown.

“Boohoo, empty beer.” She waggled the bottle and set it down.

Connor hopped off the stool and bumped the back of his hand against her shoulder. “Next round’s on me. Come on.”

She slid off her seat, and he pointed at Brennan and Jimmy. “Same thing for y’all?”

Jimmy lifted his hand. “I’m good, soldier. Stand down.”

“I think I want a girly-ass shot.” Brennan dumped the last of his scotch down his throat. “Tell Luke to make it pink.”

Liza laughed, standing just behind Connor and giving him a brisk two-handed pat on his back. “Let’s get the man a Barbie shot.”

Brennan tossed the empty glass high in the air, deftly catching it with his opposite hand, and then pointed at her with it. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Connor swiped the empty glass out of Brennan’s hand. “Pussy.”

Brennan arched a brow. “I’ll take some of that, too, if you can find an applicant at least half as pretty asMizzHardin here.”

Connor grabbed the tiny straw out of Jimmy’s empty rum and coke and threw it like a spear at Brennan’s chest. “Watch your mouth, Riley.”

Brennan flipped the bird and then used it to blow at kiss at Connor.

Liza gave Connor a push away from the table. “B., you are positively shameless.”

“Nah, I’m harmless,” Brennan countered, shooing them away from the table. “Get my pink shot.”

Connor led the way as they winded through the crowded room. He reached one hand behind him to clasp hers so she didn’t lose him, and they’d done this before.

He’d brought her to this bar once. He barely remembered that night, and he guessed she didn’t either because they’d been so fucking blitzed. He couldn’t remember how long they’d been here that night, but after they left, he’d pulled his car up to an unlit section next to the levee. And Connor rememberedthatwith perfect clarity.

How they’d had a mystical, unobstructed view of the glowing Quarter beyond the lit-up bridges. They took in the haunting and beautiful view while Liza climbed onto his lap and took him in. Between being in the neighborhood where he was born and raised, and watching the lights glitter off the river, and having Liza wrapped around his body and heart—all of which had taken place only a couple of months after he’d returned from overseas—Connor had never been so overwhelmed by such a sense of being home.

He sidled up to the bar, set down the empty glass, and then drummed the ancient wood of the bar. Luke approached him and lifted his hand in the air, posturing for a high five.

“How ya doin’, bruh?”

Connor slapped Luke’s palm in mid-air. “Great fuckin’ night.” He turned to gesture at Liza. “You remember Liza? Y’all met at the Uptown Kitty show a few weeks back.”

“Sure do.” Luke leaned his palms against the bar and nodded at Liza. “Hey, Liza.”

“Hi, Luke.” Liza offered a small wave and smile to match. “How’s it going?”

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Going, I guess.”

It was clear to Connor thatgoingmeantnot going well. “Still having fun over here?” He nodded at the table. “You should swing by when you get a second to talk to Jimmy about work.”

Luke waved his hand. “It’s not really the job, but I haven’t ruled that out.”

“Then why the long face, Corporal?”

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