She nodded. “All true.”
“Right? Except then, after I’d given him a second chance and let him back into my life, I invited him to meet my brother, and he flat-out refused. Said he understood my feelings, but he couldn’t be around a man like that. A manlike that.” I huffed out an aggrieved breath. “I got seriously pissed.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“We got into a huge fight, and it brought up a lot of shitty baggage for me. My brother never would have been in prison if not for me. I called him that night and asked him to come rescue me. It was myfault.”
“Oh, Aiden…”
I discarded my straw and picked up my margarita to gulp the rest. “Anyway, I totally spiraled. I needed to beperfectto get the matches I wanted, because it wasmy faultFlynn went to prison and the least I could do was show him it was worthwhile, and the pressure just…paralyzed me. I couldn’t focus. I blew it.”
“Aw, honey. You can’t blame yourself like that. You were just a kid, and you were afraid. Of course you called your brother, and of course, he came to help you. That’s what loved ones do. Anyone with any sense at all is going to understand that. You don’t have to prove your worth.”
I inhaled a deep breath and let it out. “I know that logically.”
“Have you gone to therapy?”
I nodded. “Off and on for a few years. It was worseright after he went to prison. He’s been out for almost two years now.”
“He seems happy,” Liliana said. “At least, from what you’ve told me about him.”
“He is. He loves Bailey. But…he carries guilt about it. I know he always will.”
“And so will you,” Liliana said, “but that doesn’t mean you have to be miserable. Case in point, this hot roommate of yours. Not all distractions are bad.”
I laughed. “Not this again.”
“I’m just saying, don’t deny yourself a good thing. You deserve to be happy, too. Like your brother.”
We finished our drinks and walked back over to the hospital parking lot, chatting about Liliana’s irritation with the charge nurse she was working with the next day.
“I won’t be back in surgery until Friday,” Liliana said. “Will I see you at the clinic before then?”
“I’ve got to stay on top of my research hours, but I think I can swing by Wednesday evening.”
“Don’t overextend yourself, Aiden. If you don’t have the time?—”
“No, I do,” I said quickly. “I left a message for Larry Schumacher to come in and see me. He’s been cagey about picking up his prescription.”
She sighed. “He always is. Okay. See you later, babe. Just make sure to leave a little time for that roommate of yours.” She winked.
Luckily, I could burn my candle at both ends andstillhave time to hook up with Knight. That was one of the benefits of sleeping with my roommate.
I headed home. Usually, Knight had the Redemption Road guys over for a few beers on Mondays, but when I pulled into the drive, the porch was empty.
Knight’s bike was in the driveway, though, so he had to be home.
My heart quickened, and I huffed with annoyance at the anticipation that immediately flooded my system. I shouldn’t be this excited to see the guy I saw every morning and evening—who’d taken to sleeping in my bed becausethatwas casual—but my biology didn’t want to listen to my brain’s warnings.
I let myself in, catching the lingering scent of onions and peppers.
Knight sat on the sofa with a plate of fajitas in his lap. The TV was on, but he didn’t seem to be watching it.
“Hey,” I said. “No Redemption Road guys tonight?”
He swallowed his bite and reached for the beer bottle on the coffee table. “We went over to Hayworth earlier. Hauled Tex to his meeting.”
“Yeah? That went okay?”
