Page 23 of Next in Line
Finally, I find my voice, and say, “Well, I hope you have a pleasant visit.” I quickly yank my hand from hers and wave my empty beer bottle to Miles as he settles on the stool next to Kate. “I’m getting the next round. Nobody argue.”
I turn on my heel and hightail it over to the bar for some space to think. Propping myself on a stool, I thread my hands through my hair, reeling over what’s just happened. How the fuck did I not figure out that Maggie was Miles’s sister, Megan? They totally look related.
Does this mean I’m attracted to my best friend?
I shake that thought off instantly because Miles doesn’t have water balloon tits. Call me a barbarian but breasts are a must for me, I’m afraid. The bartender asks me what I’d like, and I reply, “Another bucket of Coors to stick my head into.”
He harrumphs and sets to work when a voice scares the shit out of me. “You can’t tell Miles about us.”
“What?” I exclaim, my head snapping over to find Maggie standing right next to me.
“You and me,” she repeats, leaning in so close her breast brushes against my arm. “You can’t tell Miles we know each other.”
“No shit,” I growl and yank my arm away from those glorious specimens that have turned me into a fucking pervert.Fucking fuck. Did I describe her tits to Miles earlier? Goddamnit, I’m a moron!“Miles is going to rip off my nuts and hang them on the trailer hitch of his truck like those assholes who drive around with bull testicles.”
“What?” she asks, her blue eyes blinking with confusion.
I shake my head. “Never mind.”
“So we’re in agreement? He doesn’t need to know that you and I have…met before.”
She stares at me with a pleading look on her face, and my adulterous gaze drops down to the swell of cleavage beneath the lace overlay of her dress. I swallow hard and quickly turn back to face forward.Just stare at the liquor bottles on the shelf, Sam. Just stare at the liquor bottles on the shelf!“We’re in agreement.”
She exhales heavily and slides onto the stool next to me. I do a jerky look over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching us. Everyone appears to be happily listening to Kate tell a story, all their eyes alight with amusement.
Through clenched teeth, I ask, “Are you going to tell me why Miles thinks you still have a boyfriend?”
She winces and looks like she’s swallowing razor blades. “I can’t tell my family that Sterling dumped me.”
“Why not?” I ask, my brow furrowing. “Miles always said his family is cool. Super supportive and shit. He calls his mom every Sunday!”
“Our family is cool,” she groans, bringing her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “They are perfect, and they are everything to me. If I tell them Sterling dumped me out of the blue on Christmas morning, they will all hate him.”
“So what?” I grind out, staring down at her hunched frame. “I think the fucker deserves to be hated.”
She turns to look at me with glassy eyes. “I can’t have them hating the man I want to marry.”
In one day, I’ve been taint-kicked and gut-punched…happy fucking birthday, Sammy. “You really want to marry him?” I groan and scrub my hand over my jaw.
She nods glumly.
The bartender hands me a bucket of beer, and with a heavy sigh, I murmur under my breath, “It’s your life, sparky.”
I stand and gesture with my head that we should go back to the group before anyone gets suspicious. We rejoin the group, and I decide that going beer for beer with Miles, who has a good three inches and thirty pounds of muscle over me, is a good idea. We clink bottles, and I do my best to forget what Maggie said at the bar and definitely forget about playing musical beds with her.
For tonight, I push aside why all of this bothers me so much. It definitely surprises me that she wants to marry that asshat. In the brief time we hung out over the past week, I got the impression she was better than that. I know I told her it was cool she was trying something different to win him back, but now knowing that she’s not just trying to get her dimwit of a football player back but plans to marry the guy—it scares me for her. And it makes me doubt everything I thought about her.
But hell, she’s not my little sister. She’s Miles’s.My best friend…in case I need reminding. And apparently, I do need reminding because I can’t stop checking her out all night. At one point, I have to squeeze past her to get around the table. Our fronts end up rubbing together, and I swear to fuck, I get a half-boner. My buddy’s little sister has turned me into a goddamned teenager, so I have a strong desire to slam my forehead into the wall until I black out.
I head downstairs to use the bathroom located in the dingy basement of Pearl’s. I’m getting drunk because this is fucking painful. The one girl I contemplate breaking my rules for ends up being the one girl I cannot touch.
On my way back up the steps, my eyes land on a sexy pair of legs covered in tights that could easily take my mind off my fishing buddy. But when I raise my gaze to her face, I’m junk punched by the stunning raven-haired, blue-eyed beauty who shares the DNA of my best friend.
“Hey,” I state, propping myself up against the wall opposite the railing to give her a wide berth. I pretend to tip a fucking hat that I’m not even wearing at her and then consider eight different ways I could dick punch myself for being so uncool.
“Heyyy,” she says slowly, pausing on the staircase and pressing her back to the wall opposite me.
Don’t stop and talk to me right now. Keep walking. The less I look at you tonight, the better.
