Chapter 20
SULLIVAN
We didn’t separate when we came out of the closet. Instead of dampening the sexual tension between us, that little tryst only seemed to have heightened it. All I could think about was burying myself inside her and actually taking my time.
Any reasonable adult would have created space or made a joke, anything to cool things down. Instead, I stroked my finger along the side of her hand as I held it, the air between us feeling and hotter and tighter, like all we’d done was crack a door instead of releasing pressure.
Bree glanced up at me, her lips flushed and her eyes dark. “We’re terrible.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Let’s be more terrible later.”
I just needed a bed instead of a closet next time. Bree’s lips formed a smile, drawing my attention to them and how swollen they were from our kisses. “Wow. Romance really is dead, huh? Is that it? Just, let’s be more terrible later?”
“What do you want, a written and embossed invitation? We already had some of those for today and look how that turned out.”
She laughed and I had the violent urge to pull her right back into that closet and finish what we’d started. To forget the ballroom, the DJ, and my sister’s almost-wedding turned liberation tour.
Why the hell didn’t I bring a condom?
I always had one somewhere—my wallet, my jacket pocket—but I hadn’t been thinking about hooking up at my sister’s wedding reception. I’d been thinking about making sure she didn’t implode.
Now, my body was still keyed up and furious about it, and I had to go back to the fucking ballroom. When we walked in, Bree nodded toward the bar. “Do you want a drink?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice clipped in my irritation with myself. “Several.”
She sent me a knowing smile, the look in her eyes still fucking filthy.
Or maybe I was projecting my feelings onto her.
Either way, we grabbed some champagne and found Liana at a table near the dance floor.
She was barefoot now, her shoes abandoned and a fresh bottle of champagne clutched in her hand like a trophy.
“There you are,” she said brightly. “I was just telling Mrs. Feldman that today is officially my villain origin story.”
Mrs. Feldman blinked. “I thought it was very empowering.”
“It is,” Liana said. “I might get a motorcycle.”
I sat down beside her and Bree took her other side without hesitation, like she belonged here with us. Like we were already a unit.
That thought hit me sideways, but Liana took a long pull straight from the bottle and then saved me from my own brain. “You know what’s funny? I ignored so many red flags.” She shook her head. “Like… so many.”
Bree leaned in. “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to dance it out?”
“Oh, I want to talk,” Liana said. “I’m drunk enough to be honest, but not drunk enough to cry again. It’s the perfect window.”
My jaw tightened. Great. We’re talking about it. On top of the fact that I’m going to have a permanent imprint of my zipper on my cock, I now need to listen to everything this asshole did to her. Fucking fantastic.
“He hated when I wore red,” she said casually and I drained half my glass of champagne. If this was how it started, I was going to be hammered by the time she was done. “Apparently, it makes me look like I’m trying too hard.”
“What?” I said, swallowing back a wave of aggression that made my veins feel like they were on fire for a whole other reason now.
Liana nodded, then flicked a glance back at Bree. “He also always wanted to know where I was. Like, always. If I didn’t text back fast enough, he’d ask who I was with. At first, I thought it was romantic. You know, protective.”
Bree’s hand slid onto Liana’s knee like she was trying to steady her. “That’s not protective. It’s controlling.”
Liana nodded, like she’d already figured it out but needed to hear it confirmed by someone else. “He also told me I ate too much sugar. Which is just rude.”
I felt heat climb up my spine, but I kept my voice even with an effort that deserved a medal. “He said that to you?”
“Mm-hmm. Said he was just worried about my health.” She snorted. “Meanwhile, he lived on protein bars and judging me.”
Bree smiled tightly. “That sounds exhausting.”
“It was,” Liana said. “I think I was just lonely, you know? And he was there. Until he wasn’t, anyway.”
My hands curled into fists in my lap. Violence flickered at the edges of my vision as I mentally catalogued things I could break, starting with his face and his career.
Bree shot me a look like she knew exactly where my head was going and was quietly asking me to stay here instead. I gave her a curt nod. If she wanted me here, I’d stay.
“That’s not on you,” Bree said to Liana. “Men who are like that don’t start out that way. They ease into it.”
Liana leaned her head on Bree’s shoulder. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” Bree said softly.
As I watched them together, something in my chest became uncomfortably tight, but Liana straightened after a moment, squaring her shoulders. “Okay. Enough about Neil. He doesn’t get any more airtime.”
“Agreed,” Bree said.
“I’m taking a trip.” Liana grinned. “Not the honeymoon we had planned. I’m thinking Paris. Or maybe Greece. Somewhere with hot people and bad decisions just waiting to be made.”
I snorted. “I’ll fund the bad decisions. With conditions.”
“Much appreciated,” she said. “But I can fund my own bad decisions.”
Bree laughed and the sound hit me low and hard. I was so incredibly aware of her right now that I felt like my nerves had electrified or fine-tuned specifically to her frequency. Meanwhile, she didn’t seem to be aware of me anymore at all.
She was focused on my sister, and honestly, she was good with her. Their friendship seemed to be evolving so naturally with practically no effort at all. One of the things Liana had always hated most about girls was that they usually came with an agenda, but that wasn’t true with Bree.
She’d walked into a mess and made it lighter. My sister was the most important person in my world and Bree had been an amazing friend to her in an unfamiliar city.
She would make a great sister-in-law. The thought came out of nowhere, but it hit like a knock-out punch to the sternum.
I blamed the wedding. It must’ve messed with my perspective even though it didn’t even happen. Makes a guy think about things he doesn’t usually think about.
I’d never thought about marriage seriously and one closet blowjob didn’t exactly equal a relationship, but still. This woman did stuff to me no one else ever had. She’d occupied my brain long before I’d ever touched her.
Purely because she had this unique fire in her soul, the flames somehow unbearably soft and blazing hot at the same time.
As I watched her laugh with Liana, seeing the way she kept one hand anchored on my sister’s arm like it was a silent promise she wasn’t going anywhere, I kept having one annoying, reckless thought.
She could be something real. Long term. Not just a fling.
I scowled into my drink. This was exactly why I usually avoided weddings. If anything, today should’ve been a cautionary tale. Exhibit A for why marriage was for fools, optimists, and men who didn’t notice red flags until they were strangling them.
My sister had loved someone who couldn’t even show up. Literally. That should have cured me of any notions of stepping into that same trap, but then Bree looked over at me.
It was just a smile, but I had the absurd, terrifying thought that I’d like her to smile at me like that for the rest of my life. I drained my glass.
Eventually, the party wound down and Liana sagged a little, the adrenaline finally bleeding out of her. “I’m tired. So tired. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually.”
“Let’s get you to bed,” Bree said. “You’ve had a day.”
“A character-building day,” Liana corrected, then squinted at us. “You’re both coming upstairs with me. I don’t trust myself not to spiral alone.”
Neither of us argued. We just took the elevator up to the hotel’s bridal suite—still bridal, even if the groom had turned out to be a coward. Liana kicked off the heels she’d reclaimed for the walk, groaning in relief when her feet hit the soft carpet.
“I’m going to shower,” she declared. “Do you think I can wash Neil out of my soul?”
“Take your time,” Bree said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Liana paused, her watery, unfocused eyes flicking between us, and a slow smile spread across her face. “I know.”
She disappeared into the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind her. Bree moved further into the suite and sat down on the couch, exhaling as her shoulders finally dropped.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. Of course. You?”
“I’m fine.” I sat beside her, but I very deliberately did not touch her. “That was just… a lot.”
She breathed out a gentle laugh. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
I turned toward her at the same time that she turned toward me, and the space between us just seemed to vanish without either of us making a decision about it.
Without that urgency or the frantic edge, the kiss was slower this time, and I felt my heart skip a beat as we made out like teenagers on my sister’s couch.
God help me.
When the bathroom door opened, we jumped apart like we’d been jolted with electricity. Liana emerged with her hair damp, wrapped in a hotel robe. Her eyes immediately narrowed when she looked at us. “Really?”
“This isn’t—” Bree started.
“Don’t even,” Liana said, waving it off. “I’m happy. Do whatever you want. I’m going to pass out for twelve hours.”
She crossed the room, hugged Bree hard, then pulled me in next. “Thank you. Both of you.”
“Always,” I said.
She yawned. “The liberation party was a ten out of ten, but my review on weddings is definitely would not recommend.”
Bree and I looked at each other once Liana had gone into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. I stood immediately, offering her my hand. “Come on.”
She arched a brow. “Where are we going?”
“My suite is just down the hall, and I came prepared for… contingencies.”
Bree lit up like a kid who was going to be allowed to run rampant in a toy store. “Condoms?”
“Lots of them.”
“I thought you said you didn’t have any because you didn’t bring a date.”
My lips curved into a slow smirk as we left the bridal suite. “I said I didn’t have one on me. My overnight bag is an entirely different story. So what do you say, Nurse Bennett? Do you want me to take you home, or are you coming with me?”