“Looks like you’re doing alright.”
She shrugs. “People need somewhere to go. Feels normal, you know?”
I nod. “Normal’s underrated.”
We chat for a few more seconds, and then she moves off to another table. I take a bite of the burger—greasy, perfect—and sip my beer. Around me, the conversations weave into a soft hum.
There’s a comfort to it, the ordinary noise of people who’ve been through hell and are still showing up. I throw another dart, hit near the center, and feel something unclench inside me.
Millie
They’ve been here for two hours straight, sprawled across my living room floor. Maddox and Liam are both hooked into headsets, eyes glued to the television, their voices rising and falling with the rhythm of whatever game they’re playing.
I don’t know what I expected when they said they’d “hang out,” but it wasn’t two enormous men, all lean muscle and dark laughter, bickering over who stole whose loot.
They’re both in black T-shirts that cling a little too well, the fabric stretching over shoulders that look carved rather than grown.
Maddox sits cross-legged, head tilted toward the screen, his long fingers flicking the controller with a focus that makes my stomach flutter in ways it absolutely shouldn’t.
Liam lounges beside him, one knee bent, his shirt riding up just enough to reveal a strip of tanned skin. I catch it out of the corner of my eye and quickly look away.
I’m supposed to be reading. That was my brilliant plan—sit on the couch, pretend I’m not half-distracted by the sounds they make. I take another bite of homemade pepperoni pizza and try to pay attention to the book in my lap.
It’s a romance novel, because of course it is, and the heroine is currently describing how the hero’s hands feel against her waist. My eyes skim the lines, but the words start to twist themselves into details I know. Maddox’s laugh, low and rough. Liam’s voice, light and coercive.
I wonder how good it would feel having both of them lavish all their attention on me.
“Get him, get him!” Liam shouts, pulling me out of my reverie.
“Would you quit yelling in my ear?” Maddox snaps back.
They sound like brothers. They move like it too—Maddox shifting to block Liam’s reach, Liam shoving his shoulder in retaliation. My pulse picks up for no reason at all, and I close the book with a thud, pressing my palm against the cover like I can trap the heat under it.
What is wrong with me?
I grab my soda and take a long sip, the fizz biting the back of my throat. “You two are loud,” I call over the noise. “I’m going to read in my room before I lose my hearing.”
Maddox glances over his shoulder and grins, all dimples. “Sorry, Millie. We’re about to crush this level.”
“Good luck,” I mutter under my breath. Maddox just waves at me, eyes back on the screen. Liam gives a distracted half-smile, thumb tapping buttons like his life depends on it.
I retreat to my room before my imagination gets me in trouble. The door clicks shut behind me, muffling their laughter. I lean against it for a second, eyes closed, breathing through the wave of heat curling low in my belly.
Suppressant. Right.
I cross to the medicine cabinet and take another one. The pill goes down with a swallow of soda. I sit on the edge of the bed and let out a long breath. Maddox is hot—no denying that—but I’vealready learned the hard way what happens when I blur lines with my best friend.
Liam was my comfort once. My mistake, too.
We met in high school, all of us orbiting around the same bonfires, the same late-night coffee runs. Maddox and Liam were in my class despite being older than me. We somehow ended up in the same Chemistry group. Out of the five people in the group, I ended up being their friend.
Then, after high school, I moved to New Jersey where I studied Library Science and thought I was never going to see my friends again.
When the opening for a chance to join the Driftwood Cove Public Library as a volunteer came up, much to my sister’s disapproval, I took the job.
I moved back to town and reconnected with my friends. Liam was working with his mother, learning the ropes and all that. They had left town for a few years before they came back and reopened the Nook. And Maddox had dreams of officially joining the firefighters.
We just clicked. We partied together, hung out outside work, and encouraged each other. I had been so surprised to learn that the two best friends had become a two-person pack, and I was just glad they wanted me to be part of their elite little club.
