He wove through the gathered guests until he was at Ed’s side. ‘And here he is!’ Ed crowed, followed by another bellow of laughter. He slung the hand holding the beer bottle around Harry’s shoulder, nearly hitting him in the side of the head with it in the process.
Harry quickly relieved him of the bottle and put it out of the way on the mantelpiece. ‘It’s a long way to midnight, bro, you might want to pace yourself.’
‘Lighten up, H!’ Ed protested. ‘You never used to be such a killjoy! I was just telling everyone about the time I got you to pretend to be me because I’d double-booked myself!’
Harry cringed. Of all the bloody stupid things they’d done together, that had to be right up there. Swapping places had been different when they were little and there was no harm in it, but that poor girl had been smitten with Ed and was clearly excited about being asked out on a date by him. Harry hadn’t been able to keep the pretence up for long and had made an excuse about feeling unwell and got out of there in under half an hour. He should’ve told the girl the truth, and the shame of leading her on still bothered him.
‘That’s not something I’m particularly proud of, mate,’ Harry said, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn’t hear. ‘And definitely not something you should be boasting about either.’
‘Come off it, H, I’m only having a laugh!’ Ed protested.
‘That’s the story of your bloody life, isn’t it?’ Harry snapped as he shrugged off Ed’s arm. The flash of anger burned out almost before it started and Ed’s shocked expression only served to make Harry annoyed with himself for letting it out, especially in such a public setting. He prided himself on his hard-won self-control, and letting Ed get under his skin was as stupid as it was pointless. He took a deep breath and reached out to give his brother a quick hug. ‘Sorry, mate, it’s been a long day.’
Ed only hesitated for a moment before he returned the gesture. ‘I guess it wasn’t my proudest moment and I shouldn’t have dragged you into my mess.’
Harry pulled back so he could look Ed square in the face. There was a slight flush to his cheeks. It was warm in the busy room, but he wondered if the colour had more to do with his brother going at it two drinks at a time. ‘Fancy a bit of fresh air?’ he suggested, hoping if he got his brother outside where things were quieter they’d be able to talk better.
Ed shook his head. ‘No, I’m fine, you go ahead.’ His gaze was already wandering, as if he didn’t want Harry studying him too closely. His mouth spread wide in a grin. ‘There’s someone I want to talk to over there.’
Something tightened in Harry’s gut and he knew who Ed was looking at before he turned to confirm it. Kat was standing near the door, her back against the wall as she looked up at a man who was looming over her in a way that instantly set Harry’s teeth on edge. Kat appeared to be smiling, but Harry didn’t miss her body language cues. Her shoulders were pinned to the wall as if she was hoping it would open up and swallow her, and the hand holding her drink was raised in front and across her body, like a barrier. Whoever it was that was making her feel uncomfortable, Harry would deal with him in a minute. First, though, he needed to make something very clear to Ed. ‘Leave Kat alone.’
Ed dragged his attention back to Harry. ‘What do you mean?’
That wide-eyed gaze wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not Harry, who knew Ed almost as well as he knew himself. ‘She’s had enough shit to deal with lately without you mucking her around.’
‘I’m only having a la—’ For once Ed’s too-often absent self-preservation instinct kicked in and he had the grace to look contrite. ‘You know I’d never hurt Kitty.’
‘I know you’d never mean to,’ Harry replied, his tone full of sympathetic understanding. For all he could be frustrating as hell, Ed truly had a heart of gold. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Kat’s smile had wilted and her eyes had taken on a somewhat glazed expression. He needed to get over there, but he needed to make sure Ed had got the message too. He turned back to his brother. ‘Look, I don’t know the ins and outs of it but it’s clear something’s not right with Kat. I think her dad’s being an arse again.’ Asking for a nuclear strike on her family home had been a clue even he couldn’t miss.
‘Yeah, she didn’t seem happy when I asked her about Christmas earlier. Poor Kitty. What she needs is someone to comfort her.’ Ed’s knowing grin said he was more than willing to volunteer for that job.
The idea of his brother and Kat together set off something dark and possessive inside Harry. If anyone was going to comfort Kat it would behim. The strength of feeling shocked Harry to the core.Where the hell had that come from? ‘Leave her alone.’
Ed held up his hands in surrender, spilling half his champagne in the process. ‘Hey, hey, it’s just a joke. Jeez, H, did you have a sense of humour bypass earlier, or what?’ He glanced over Harry’s shoulder. ‘Speaking of sense of humour bypasses, it looks like Kat’s got herself cornered by Charlie Hicks, which is no one’s idea of a good time.’
Harry turned fully this time and could see Ed was right. The man who was talking to Kat had shifted sideways and their former classmate’s profile was immediately recognisable. He’d placed a hand on the wall, not quite over Kat’s head but too close for comfort. She’d moved a bit from where she’d been standing, but she was close to being hemmed in between Charlie and the back of the open door. That weird possessiveness towards Kat came roaring back at full force. ‘Come on.’
Knowing Ed would be less than a step behind him, Harry strode across the room, raising his arms wide. ‘Kat, there you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’ Ignoring Charlie, he held out a hand to her. ‘Sorry, I got caught up talking to Ed and didn’t mean to leave you on your own for so long.’
‘Yes, it’s my fault as usual,’ Ed said with a laugh as he all but barged Charlie aside to lean on the wall next to Kat. ‘You know I can’t be left unsupervised for a minute!’
The glazed look in Kat’s eyes vanished and she grabbed for Harry’s hand like he was offering her a lifeline. ‘That’s okay, Charlie was keeping me company.’
Harry and Ed both made a show of turning to look at Charlie, as if they’d not noticed him there. ‘Oh, hey, Charlie, long time no see.’
‘Hi, Harry.’ Charlie’s voice was as flat and as hard as the look he was shooting at him. It was all Harry could do not to laugh in the other man’s face. It’d be a cold day in hell before the likes of Charlie Hicks could intimidate him.
‘No greeting for me, Charlie-boy?’
The animosity in Charlie’s eyes turned white-hot with rage. ‘Piss off, Ed,’ he growled before stomping away.
Ed shook his head, his expression one of amazed innocence. ‘What did I do?’
‘Apart from sleeping with his girlfriend, you mean?’ Kat asked him with wry amusement. She hadn’t let go of Harry’s hand, and he found himself liking the feel of her soft fingers curled around his.
‘Oh, that!’ Ed waved a hand as he huffed out a breath. ‘He can’t still be angry about that, surely? And, besides, Natasha came on to me.’
‘You could’ve turned her down,’ Kat pointed out, still smiling.
