Chapter 1 #2
“You bet. You heading out, Liv?”
I glance around the bar again while I consider his question and then finally shake my head. “Not yet. It’s cozy in here, and apparently, I’ve got a party menu to plan.” I roll my eyes, and Jeremy laughs.
“You’re saving my ass, girlie.” He turns to Brian. “Can you make sure she gets out to her car okay when she’s done? It’ll be slippery outside.”
“Of course,” Brian says, his eyes back on me, that stupid shiver shooting right back down my spine.
“I don’t need a damn babysitter,” I mutter, turning my gaze to Jeremy.
“Since you, my brother, and all of your little friends seem to have forgotten, I’ll remind you for the millionth time that I’m a grown ass woman.
In less than a month, I’ll be on a plane to Italy all by myself for six whole months without a single brother to watch out for me.
I can definitely manage to get myself to my car. ”
“I’ll walk her out.” Brian is talking to Jeremy but he’s looking at me, and I roll my eyes again, feeling like a bratty teenager. Exactly how I want to feel in front of the hot, older guy. Yay me, I guess.
“Thanks, man,” Jeremy says, like I’m not even sitting here, and holy patronizing shit.
I wonder if I can change my flight and leave for Europe tomorrow.
I suddenly have the overwhelming urge to assert my independence to all of these friends of Gabe who insist on acting like overbearing brothers.
“Thanks again for helping with the gala, Liv. I appreciate it more than you know. And make sure you have those mini hot dogs wrapped in the puff pastry shit. Those are the best.”
I send him a mini-glare. “You’ll take what I give you and you’ll like it.”
Jeremy just grins at me, entirely unaffected. “Whatever you do is going to be amazing. Catch ya later, Liv.”
“Bye, Liv,” Maddy calls as they walk away.
“What’s in Italy?” Brian asks, still standing like a sentry next to my table, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, the sleeves of his white button-down shirt rolled up to expose the sexiest forearms I’ve ever seen.
Do not ogle Gabe’s best friend’s forearms, the better angel in my head hisses.
Don’t listen to that bitch. That’s some serious forearm porn right there. It would be practically sacrilegious not to ogle, says the devil.
I’m in a devilish sort of mood on account of meddling brothers, so I keep my eyes right on those forearms as I bend down and grab my laptop from the bag resting at my feet. “The Italian Culinary Institute. I was accepted to a six-month program there that starts right after New Year’s.”
I sit up and look at him just in time to see a flash of something in his eyes.
It’s a blink and you’d miss it kind of thing, but I didn’t miss it, and it looked weirdly like…
regret, maybe? Strange. But he seems to recover quickly, his lips tipping up in a smile.
“Wow, congratulations, Liv. That’s a huge accomplishment. ”
His words are genuine, and it doesn’t escape me that he’s the first person who has been entirely happy for me when I told them the news.
Everyone else’s responses were layered with sadness over how much they’ll miss me and concern over me being alone in Europe for six months, but Brian seems genuine, and that sends warmth careening through me. “Thanks, I’m really excited about it.”
He nods, smile still on his face. “You should be. I’m taking over the bar until close so Ben can get home.” He gestures towards the bar where Jeremy’s business partner and best friend, Ben Parker, works. “Just let me know when you’re ready to head out and I’ll walk you to your car.”
I shake my head. “You so don’t have to do that.
I’ll be fine, honestly. Jeremy was having an overprotective attack.
You can just head upstairs.” Brian lives in the loft apartment above the bar, and I’m sure he’d rather be there than here watching over me.
The thing about taking over for Ben for a couple of hours seems made up.
“No way, Liv. I really am taking over for Ben. I live here, and he has three kids at home. It’s freezing cold, snowing, and pitch-black outside. If you think I’m going to let you go out there alone, you’re out of your mind.”
I roll my eyes for the millionth time tonight. Brian is the best of my brother’s friends when it comes to treating me like I’m five, but he still has his moments. “Stop thinking of me like a little sister,” I mutter.
Brian’s eyes flash. “Liv, I promise that nothing about the way I think of you is even a little bit sisterly.”
Those butterflies flap in my stomach again as Brian’s cheeks tinge pink, like he didn’t mean to say what he just said. “Just tell me when you’re done,” he says in a low voice, turning on his heel and striding towards the bar.
I watch him go, my eyes glued to his back as I turn his words over and over in my head. He might not have meant to say it, but I heard it loud and clear.
Nothing about the way I think of you is even a little bit sisterly.
What the actual fuck?