“Callaghan!” Sawyer calls out, and I wince. Thank God he’s behind me and can’t see my face.
“Uh-oh,” Asher mutters under his breath, the asshole.
I make my feet stop and turn around, plastering a grin on my face that doesn’t falter even when I realize Kat isn’t with him. “Hey, man. How’s it goin’?”
“Great, just doing some Christmas shopping with my sister.” Sawyer stumbles forward at that second, and the woman in question steps around him.
“Seriously, Sawyer? You couldn’t wait two minutes for me to finish paying?”
I clear my throat. “Hey, Kitty Kat.”
She whirls around, eyes wide. “Oh. Hunter. Hi.” Fuck me, she sounds a touch breathless.
I wonder if she would sound like that in bed. Underneath me.
I don’t even realize I’m drowning in the endless pools of her eyes until Asher shoves my shoulder, hard.
“We’re heading for dinner at Robbie’s. Want to join us?”
My head spins, exorcist style, to look at him. What the fuck is he doing inviting them? But even though I know hanging out with Kat and her brother would be an epic disaster, I still feel a pang of disappointment when Sawyer declines.
“Sorry, we gotta get back for family dinner tonight. Callaghan, see you at the gym sometime?”
I give some sort of reply that’s obviously good enough because Sawyer and Kat turn and walk away, leaving Asher and I in the middle of the crowded mall.
“Seriously, dude? I haven’t seen you this fucked over a woman since Becky the bitch.”
I wince at that name. That’s not a memory I need right now. “What the hell were you thinking, inviting them to the bar?”
“I was thinking this is the girl my buddy’s interested in, and I could play wingman and hang with the brother while you get your groove on.”
I stare at him. “You’re fucking insane.”
Asher just throws his arm over my shoulders and pulls me toward the bar. “I prefer engaging and enigmatic. Now, let’s go. I’m hungry.”
A short while later, we’re sitting in a booth, a hockey game is playing on the television screens all around us, and two ice cold glasses of beer and a plate of nachos are on the table between us.
“You know I love you like a brother, right?” Asher starts, and when I move my gaze from the hockey game to him, I notice a strangely serious expression on his face.
I put my phone down. “Yeah. I know.”
“So don’t be mad at me when I say this. Why the fuck are you holding back from going after Kat? You said she’s single now, so why not ask her out? And don’t give me that shit about the first responder’s code or whatever the fuck that was.”
“You don’t date a guy’s ex, sister, or daughter,” I say, automatically stating the words one of my colleagues told me on my first day. “Rules for working in a small town.”
“Okay, but rules forlivingin a small town should trump that. Because wouldn’t that basically make every woman off-limits?”
I consider that for a split second. “Maybe? I don’t know. But it’s not just that. She’s way too good for me, man.”
Asher scoffs. “Don’t you fucking dare start with that again. You’re a good guy, Hunter. At the risk of getting sappy and shit, you’re a catch.”
I duck my head and pick at the paper coaster my beer sits on. It’s damp from condensation and shreds easily. Asher has known me since childhood. He knows all about my learning disability and my anxiety. He was there when the only serious girlfriend I’ve ever had shattered not only my heart, but also my confidence.
When I told him I was moving to Vancouver Island for work, it was only a few months before he sold his apartment in Vancouver and moved over as well. We’re closer than brothers, and I know he’s always got my back.
But the one thing he doesn’t get is how deeply damaged I am. How fucked up my head can be sometimes, and how impossible it is to get out of the mental holes I dig myself into.
“Can you just drop it for now,” I ask quietly.
