“Thanks.”With a shy smile, she tugs the thick coat drowning her a little tighter around herself.Fuck.It must belong to him.I’d been so distracted by her pretty smile when she first approached that I hadn’t even noticed she was cold.If that doesn’t make me feel like a dick, I don’t know what does.I scan her up and down.The fireman crest peeks from between the creased fabric, confirming my suspicion.It is.It’s his coat.
She’s wearing his coat.
And why do I fucking care?
“Everyone, this is Bryan,” June says, introducing him.
He takes turns shaking hands.First Rome, then Jagger and Violet, even though he drove her here.
What a fucker.
Finally, he stretches out his hand to me.“Hey, man.Nice to meet you.”
Meet me?Meetme?He doesn’t remember me from the coffee shop?All right, I’m officially offended.
Looking him up and down, I say, “Look at that, we meet again, Fireman Bryan.”
“Just Bryan’s fine.”
“All right, Just Bryan.”I smirk and shake his hand.“Name’s Ford.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“We met at the coffee shop,” I repeat.“Though I get why you might not remember.June has a way of consuming our thoughts, am I right?”
I ignore the daggers June throws at me, giving her new boy-toy my full attention.
He tilts his head in confusion.As if the bastard doesn’t remember.What.An.Ass.
“Coffee?”Bryan hesitates.“Oh!”Recognition dawns on him, though I can’t decide whether or not it’s legit.“Nice to see you again.”
“You too,” I lie.
His handshake is firm enough, but it doesn’t erase the dread in my stomach.All right, dread is a bit of a stretch.Annoyance?Jealousy?Both are pretty fucking spot-on.It’s not that I like June.Okay, I do like June.But not in an I-want-to-make-babies-with-you kind of way.Okay, I do want to make babies… Well, not babies, babies.I want to fuck.A good, solid fuck would do wonders for me right now.Clear my head.Remind me of my principles.That sort of thing.Trouble is, I know June, and I know fucking isn’t on the table.Not with this one.And if she deserves better than me, she sure as shit deserves better than a guy like Bryan, too.
“So, how was your date?”I ask.“Good enough for a second one, clearly.”I glance at June beside him.“Lucky man.”
Biting the inside of her cheek, she holds my stare even though I know it’s killing her.Question is, is she mad or amused or annoyed or turned on or?—
Bryan’s awkward chuckle grates on my nerves as it breaks my little staring contest with June.He lets my hand go and pushes his hair away from his forehead.“Careful, man.I’m right here.”
For now, I want to say, but I bite my tongue.
Let’s see how easy it is to walk on this guy, shall we?I fold my arms again, keeping my feet spread wide and my cocky grin on full display.“Only returning the favor,” I quip.“Or did you forget how you hit on our girl here while pretending like you didn’t even notice she was with someone the first time we met?”The tone is light enough that I could get away with sweeping it under the rug.Or not.
Your ball, Bryan.
“Did he just say she was with someone?”Roman questions.
“Did he just say our girl?”Violet murmurs.
“He says that about everyone,” Jagger whispers as if they’re having their own conversation.“He thinks it’s part of his charm.”
It’s true.Not the charm part, but the fact that I claim everyone as my own in hopes of making them feel a connection to the Harden name.Since my brothers are kind of dickheads, someone had to step up.The question is, does Bryan buy it?That June is no one special?Or does he see the truth?
His smile is tense.So tense, I can practically see the wheels turning in his head.Does he push it?Does he let shit go?He’s a guest here.And he’s meeting his date’s friends.Probably not the wisest idea to push shit, right?To be fair, I should probably cut the guy some slack.If the roles were reversed, there’s no way I’d let some asshole claim my date right in front of me, no matter where we were or who we were with.Does Bryan share the sentiment?
Decisions, decisions.
