Page 5 of Comeback
“Where are you staying?” Brogan asks at the same time London asks, “Are you still dancing at the Lilac Lounge?”
“A friend is letting me crash on her couch until I find something. I’m hoping to find a studio space that also has an apartment, but that’s proving difficult so far. And yes...” I look at London. “You should come by sometime. It’s not all girlsdancing in cages. There are guys too and the atmosphere is pretty cool.”
Brogan makes a gruff noise of disapproval but smirks as he wraps an arm around London possessively.
“Sounds fun.” London’s eyes light up. “Let’s plan a girls’ night or something.”
“I’d like that.” Outside of Olivia and my other coworkers, I don’t know that many people here yet and I already know I like London. She’s fun and smart and I think we would be friends even if she wasn’t marrying my brother.
“You’re crashing on someone’s couch?” Brogan asks.
“She’s a friend.”
His brows still tug together like the idea of me not having a proper place to stay is a travesty. It’s actually not been bad. Sure, I live with a five-year-old that is up with the sun, but she’s so cute it’s forgivable.
“If you need a place to stay while you look for an apartment, you could always crash here,” Brogan offers.
I hear a sharp intake of breath and when I glance at Archer, yep, he looks as shaken and as pissed as I expected. Oh yeah, that’d be a super idea. Live with Brogan and his hot best friend who hates me? It’s laughable, but I’m also strangely touched by the idea that my brother is so welcoming.
Because the fact is, we haven’t spent that much time together yet. Texts, a few hang outs, most of which happened months ago before I left Lake City to go home. That he doesn’t hesitate to offer makes me crave more of a relationship with him.
“We have a spare bedroom and it’s not that far to your work from here.” Brogan looks to Archer as if it just occurred to him to check with his roommate who clearly hates my guts.
I’d kind of like to watch the way his head would spin if I agreed, but I can’t consider it for long because I don’t want to get Brogan’s hopes up either.
“Thank you, but I’m okay,” I say. “I’ll find something.”
2
ARCHER
“Cheers.” Tripp holds his shot glass up. I lift mine and then toss back the liquor. The fact that I can’t feel the burn of it anymore is a good sign that I’m drunk.
I set my shot glass down on the kitchen counter at the same time as Tripp.
“Damn. That shit doesn’t get any better the more you drink it.” He grimaces and then chases it with a drink of beer.
My gaze is snatched up by commotion in the living room. London and Sabrina are singing karaoke. I can’t hear them over the heavy thump of the bass and the noise surrounding us, but Sabrina’s smiling and tossing all that red hair around as she leans from side to side as she sings.
Everyone is watching them. Several of my teammates are gathered around her. Slade has a lighter out and holds it over his head like he’s her personal fanboy. I grind my teeth tighter.
Brogan joins in, wrapping his arms around London’s waist from behind and leaning over her shoulder to croon along with them. I can see it. The resemblance. It’s when Brogan and Sabrina are both smiling that they look alike, something about the way their eyes light up. They both look so effortlesslycarefree and happy. Most people are guarded even in their happiness, but not Brogan, and I guess not Sabrina either.
A pang hits my chest. Brogan is so damn happy right now and that makes me feel like a bigger asshole, but also somehow more protective.
Fuck. So happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen him, and I’m so scared Sabrina’s going to pull the rug out from underneath him. Again.
She popped into Brogan’s life last year unexpectedly. The sister he never knew he had. My best friend was thrilled. His parents are as shitty as they come, and he dove headfirst into this new relationship, so excited to get to know family that didn’t suck.
I was skeptical of Sabrina’s intentions in the beginning. A sister he never knew existed shows up just as he was having a dynamite rookie season? It wasn’t long before she appeared that his parents had reached out, pretending to want a relationship with him, after ten years without a word, but really what they wanted was money. So yeah, I’m protective. But he’s needed protecting.
Regardless of everything he’d been through, Brogan was ecstatic to find out about Sabrina and, even before the DNA test confirmed they were brother and sister, he threw himself into getting to know her. That’s just who Brogan is. He leads with his heart.
Then about a month after Sabrina arrived, she disappeared. No warning, no goodbye. She texted to tell him she was going only after she left. They’ve kept in touch, but it hurt him. I saw it, even if he didn’t say it outright.
And for all he’s done for me over the years, I’m just as protective of him. He doesn’t need another person walking into his life and then bailing on him.
I’m still staring when Cody is pulled into their sing-along by London. She’s probably the only person who our broody teammate would let do that and not get punched in the face.
