Shit.
It took a moment for the high tide of my jealousy to recede.
My best friend was flirting withKillian,not Ryan.
I should have known this would happen because I couldn’t distinguish between the two of them at all.If I were lucky, with enough time, I’d figure out a way to tell them apart.
“Babe?”Ryan asked, shifting so he stood in front of me.
“It’s fine.I’m fine.I just got a little confused for a moment.”
He stared at me, looked over his shoulder, then turned back with a nod.“You knew I was at your side, right?”
I put both of my hands on his chest and leaned into him.“I did when we got off your bike, but that obviously fell by the wayside when I caught sight of my friend and your brother.It threw me, and the worst part was that deep down I knew something like this would happen, I just haven’t had a chance to spend time with both of you which would help me figure out a tell-tale sign to distinguish you from your brother.”
I listened to his low chuckle while he traced the bottom of my jaw with his index finger.“I hate to tell you this, but there really isn’t one.”He tilted his head then righted it.“Well, I suppose you could tell the difference when we’re shirtless because our chest tattoos are different.Otherwise, you’re gonna be shit out of luck until you get to know us.”
I nodded.“I’m sorry.Really.I shouldn’t have freaked—”
“Ivy, I’m used to it.Hell, I had the money for a kickass forearm tattoo.Killian talked me out of it because he gets off on women being confused about which one of us is which.It’s one of the few things that makes me grateful Mickayla’s female.If there really were three of us…there’s no telling how awful we’d be on the ladies.”
“What’s the hold up, Nickel?”a man yelled, and I peeked around Ryan to see it was his brother.
Ryan turned around and took my hand.“Nothing, Ricochet.”
Kristen saw me and dashed over to give me a hug.“Oh my God.Chad told me this morning what happened to you!Are you sure you’re okay?”she asked pulling out of the hug.
I gave her hands a squeeze before letting them go.“I’m fine.Seems you met Killian, but I’d like you to meet Ryan.”
Kristen and Ryan shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.He nodded at both of us and wandered over to his brother.
“Chad wasn’t kidding.They are both smokin’ hot,” Kristen muttered under her breath.
“Right.Where is Chad by the way?”
“He got held up by a train.He’ll be here soon,” she said.
“I’m right here,” Chad said, strolling up from behind us.His gaze shot past us to Killian and Ryan before he focused on me.“I didn’t believe you when you said those two hotties were going to join us.”
“Like you mind,” I said.
“Well, this should be fun,” Chad muttered.
“Come on, now that we’re all here, they should give us our table,” Kristen said.
“Where’s Mickayla?”I asked.
Kristen slanted her head toward the doorway.“She went to talk to the hostess, and now she’s waving us over.”
As worlds colliding went, this could be deemed a success.Killian kept shooting looks at Kristen, but she was acting cooler than a cucumber.Considering her earlier laughter, I wondered if she was playing games and if so, why?
I was able to share with Chad and Kristen what happened with me and Lark.
“That is not how I expected that to go,” Chad groused.
If Killian or Mickayla were eavesdropping, they hid it well.
“What did you expect, Chad?”Kristen asked.
