Page 3 of Comeback
“Well, thank you. I’m going to open this so we can celebrate,” she says, leaving me with Brogan in the living room. A large island separates it from the kitchen.
“This is perfect,” Brogan says. “We can celebrate the engagement and you being back in town. Do you want something to drink besides champagne?”
“Oh, uh, whatever. I’m easy.”
I cringe and blush again. His lips quirk on one side, but he doesn’t take the bait on thebeing easycomment. Maybe that’s weird for a brother to comment on. What do I know?
I follow him into the kitchen on the other side where liquor bottles line the countertop.
“How are you? What have you been up to?” Brogan asks as he moves toward the fridge. Archer has made his way back to the kitchen as well. He leans against the counter with a beer hanging loosely from his fingertips, watching me with that same disapproving expression on his face.
Brogan offers me a beer, which I accept.
“I’m good.” I focus my stare on my brother and not the guy planning my demise. “Still settling in, but glad to be back. What about you? When’s the wedding? I’m so excited for you.”
His face lights up as London approaches with three glasses filled with champagne. He takes two of them, handing one to me, and then wraps an arm around London’s waist. “Can you believe she agreed to marry me?”
“No,” one of the other guys hanging in the kitchen, Tripp, I think, says loudly, making everyone laugh.
“Have you set a date for the wedding?” Inadvertently my gaze roams again, back to Archer, who is still scowling. I glance away, but my face heats as I feel the weight of Archer’s stare. It’s like the man has laser beam eyes hoping to incinerate me on the spot.
“Not yet,” London says. “I don’t want a big wedding.”
“Just a big party to celebrate,” Brogan adds, then his expression shifts to something more serious as he asks me, “You’ll come, right?”
“To the party? Of course.”
He flashes a boyish grin and lifts his glass in the air. “It’s good to see you. Cheers.”
Someone must have passed the champagne around because several other guys are holding glasses of the bubbly, and when I clink my glass against Brogan’s, they all say “Cheers” and drink at the same time.
“Are you staying in town for good now?” Brogan asks.
“Yeah. I hope so. I still need to find a place to live and a space to lease for my dance studio, but yes, the plan is to stay.”
“I’m so glad. We can hang more often. I got used to the idea of a sister and then you were gone for six months.”
A pang of guilt creeps in. Not long after we connected, I left town without saying goodbye. I wasn’t thinking, but if I had been, I don’t think I would have expected him to be so hurt byit. I open my mouth to explain, but it’s a party and he looks so happy, so I just smile at him and let his words really hit. “I’d like that.”
There’s a lot of happy shouting in the living room and then two guys with biceps bigger than my thighs start playfully shoving each other.
“Maybe at my place sometimes,” I suggest. When I get a place.
“I better go make sure we didn’t leave out anything breakable.” London heads into the chaos. She’s braver than me.
He chuckles. “It’s not always this chaotic. Usually, it’s just me and Arch sitting around playing video games. Isn’t that right?”
Brogan turns to Archer, who is pulling another beer from the fridge. Brogan signs to him without speaking. Archer nods as he twists the cap off his beer and slides it into his pocket. I catalog every movement. Why does he put them in his pocket? Too lazy to throw them away? Saving them for beer cap art?
“Since London moved in, it’s less video games and more watching the happy couple make out every time I turn around.” Archer smiles though, like he maybe doesn’t mind that much and is actually happy for Brogan. The man is so hard to read.
“Like you’re one to talk.” Brogan looks at me. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come home to him playing Ariana Grande.”
“I love Ariana Grande,” I say, then realize there must be some other meaning behind it.
“She’s his go-to when he brings someone back. I swear every time I hear her voice,Iget in the mood.”
Archer’s lips curve into a smile that changes his whole face. Gone is the irritated jerk I’ve come to expect and in his place is a flash of what I have to assume is the real guy. The one who doesn’t hate everyone else. Just me.
