Page 32 of The Hero I Can't Resist
I scrunch my nose up. “Can we talk about something else?”
She leans toward me. “Seriously. How are you holding up with the whole stalker situation?”
I laugh and point at Alex, who is sitting at the next table. He’s looking around acting like he’s not listening to every word I say, but I know better. “Are you kidding me? That stalker doesn’t have a chance. Zach has been with me every second. Except for tonight and he had Alex come follow me around.”
I lean toward Alex. “No offense.”
He just smirks without looking at me. “None taken.”
I roll my eyes. “I mean, it sucks, it really does. Zachsays the guy is escalating, and that scares me, but I’m just trying to go about my business.”
I look at my sister-in-law and notice the tiredness in her eyes for the first time. I’m so sick of focusing on me and my problems. “So how are you?” I ask her.
She gives me one of her fake smiles. “I mean, I’m good. You know… I’m fine.”
I tilt my head and search her eyes. Aria and my brother Penn met at the hospital when she had just graduated physical therapy school and he was a brand new attending and they had the same patient. They fell in love and have been married around seven years now, but I’ve noticed a difference in them both recently, and I hate it because neither one of them is talking.
I lean toward her. “Aria… talk to me.”
She looks as if she’s about to burst into tears, and it scares the hell out of me. Aria is one of the strongest women I know. I grit my teeth. “What has my brother done?”
She wipes at one lone tear that has escaped her sad eyes and is rolling down her cheek. “Nothing. He hasn’t done anything?—”
I cut her off. “Don’t defend him, Aria. You’re obviously upset. What’s wrong?”
She sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly. “Nothing. He works insane hours at the hospital. He’s always on call and working on cases when he is home. It’s just, I don’t know, we’re not connecting. Nothing’s happened or anything.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Good, I thought you were going to tell me he cheated or something, and I was going to have to disown him.”
Her mouth falls open as she stares at me. “Oh God, you think… he wouldn’t cheat on me… would he?”
I realize my mistake, but there’s no taking it back. “What? No. God, of course not. I’m sorry, I freaked out when you started crying. Penn would not cheat on you. He loves you.”
She sniffs. “Yeah, he did. I mean… I don’t know anymore.”
I grab her hand. “Sis, talk to him. I know he’s busy and all that, but he needs to make time for this. He has to because if he wakes up one day and it’s too late and he can’t fix this, then he won’t survive it.” I shake my head. “I’m telling you that man lovesyou… Why don’t you plan a vacation or something? You need this… you both do.”
Aria wipes at another tear. “He can’t get away from the hospital. You know what? How about another drink? You want another one?”
She waves at the waitress, and when she comes over, Aria orders a Miami Vice and then gestures to me.
“I’ll have a Miami Vice too.”
The Whiskey Whistler is picking up. A lot of people come here after work to drink or just let off steam. Tonight there is a live band, and they’re setting up, telling me that it’s about to get loud and packed in here.
The waitress brings our drinks, and Aria takes a huge gulp. I wish I had the magic words to fix this, but I’m not sure what to say. One thing is for sure: My brother loves her. I have no doubt about that. As the youngest sister, my brothers don’t look at me as their equal with my own thoughts and my own ideas. No, they have always looked at me as the one they have to protect, and when I was younger, just put up with. Penn wouldn’t want to talk to me about this.
I say the only thing I can think of. “I’m so sorry, Aria. I really am, but I’m sure if Penn knew how you were feeling, he would fix this.”
She opens her mouth to say something but quickly closes it. She throws up a hand and wipes her eyes again. “Look at us. We’re supposed to be having fun here. Let’s drink, let’s talk about your new relationship, and then let’s dance.”
I know she’s upset and just trying to get the topic of conversation off her. It has to be hard for her since I am Penn’s sister. I nod. “Okay, it’s a deal.”
We look around the bar, and I find myself looking at Zach again. The woman has moved next to him instead of across from him, and she’s relentless. In the span of one minute, she’s touched him on the arm at least ten times and tossed her hair three times, and she’s openly flirting with him like he belongs to her.
I grit my teeth and look back at Aria. “Let’s dance.”
She smiles and stands up, holding her hand out to me. As I stand up, I point at our drinks. “We should probably finish these. We don’t want to leave them unattended.”
