Page 642 of One More Kiss

Swallowing, I force my gaze away from her and look at the bottle.

“You drink Hennessy?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“I drink anything,” she replies, staring at me with those big doe eyes of hers.

Those eyes.

They’re fucking beautiful and sad… so damn sad.

“Well, then you’ve come to the right place,” Maverick says, turning to me. He crosses the room, swipes the bottle of Hennessey from the bar and grabs a bunch of shot glasses. Keeping her eyes on me, Jo straightens up and joins us. She stands right beside me as Maverick fills the shot glasses. Ink, Ghost, Leftie and Shady all crowd around the bar, but my eyes don’t leave Jo.

I should be beating myself up over Andrew’s death, grieving the brother we both lost, not staring at his sister, loving everything from the way my shirt falls to her knees to the scent of my soap on her skin. She must sense I’m gawking at her because she turns her head and stares at me under the long fringe of her lashes.

“Is this okay?” she whispers. “Me, being here?”

I don’t answer right away, I’m too enthralled by her presence.

She’s not a signature on a letter or a face in a photograph.

Nor is she a dream.

She’s made of flesh and bone.

A beautiful tragedy at my fingertips.

Without giving myself a chance to change my mind, I drape an arm around her shoulders and bring her closer.

“It’s all good, Jo,” I tell her, fighting the urge to press my lips to the top of her head. I turn my attention back to Maverick, taking the shot glass he extends, and I hand it to Jo. When everyone has a glass in their hands, I raise mine and look at Jo, who holds hers high too.

“To Andrew,” I salute.

“To Andrew,” she whispers, her eyes full of unshed tears. We continue to stare at one another as my brothers all raise their glasses to honor Jo’s fallen brother, then we knock back the shots. Maverick doesn’t let our glasses stay empty for long and soon we’re taking shot after shot. By the third round, we start sharing stories of Andrew with the club.

Jo slides into one of the stools and Maverick hands her a beer as she continues to tell us about the time he stole Aunt Barbara’s Buick and side-swiped a bus.

“Now, to really appreciate this story, you should know Aunt Barbara was notorious for being on top of us. I mean, if we snuck out of the house, she was sitting on the grass waiting for us to fall out the window. She used to clock the miles on the Buick too.” She pauses, her brows pinching together. “You know come to think of it, I don’t know how she didn’t realize.”

“Realize what?” I ask, filling our shot glasses again.

“Well once he realized the bus had taken the side-view mirror off the Buick, Andrew panicked. He called the Buick dealership and tried to have a replacement put on without Aunt Barbara finding out, but they needed to order the mirror which meant he wouldn’t be able to have it installed until the next day.”

“So what did he do?” Ink asks.

“Well, he played the doting brother card,” she says, a smile playing on her lips as she takes the shot glass from my finger. “I had night school that night and my brother told Aunt Barbara he felt bad for me, having to take bus back and forth was a lot for a girl my age.” She tosses back her head and swallows the shot, slamming it down on the bar. Her eyes sweep around the bar, taking in everyone. I don’t know if they’re just being nice or if they’re just as enthralled by her, but she’s got their undivided attention.

She focuses on Maverick and continues.

“It was total bullshit because I can count on one hand how many times he drove me to and from night school after that, but Aunt Barbara bought it. Anyway, he took me for a milkshake after he picked me up, and by the time we were done the sun had gone down for the day. He pulled the car all the way up in the driveway and because he brought Aunt Barbara a milkshake too, she didn’t clock the miles on the Buick. The next day he was up before the sun and at the dealership. Aunt Barbara didn’t find out about her new mirror until Christmas rolled around…” her voice trails as she breaks into a full-belly laugh. Clutching her stomach, she lifts her head and I spot the tears rolling down her cheeks. “He brought her outside and there was a little bow attached to the mirror…told her it was special edition made to catch blind spots or some crap like that.”

I smile at her, loving the way her whole face lights up with laughter. I try picturing Andrew like that, but the Andrew she knew and the one I did don’t seem to be the same.

The front door opens, and we all turn our attention toward it as Torque walks in with a trail of sweet butts behind him, all of whom used to be regular fixtures around here before Holly and Maverick reunited.

I snatch the bottle from Maverick and tag Jo’s hand. Her eyes widen as she quickly slides off the stool.

“Where are we going?”

“Back to my room, things are about to get ugly in here.” I pause for a moment.

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