Page 103 of My Brother’s Best Friends Entanglement

"I don't know what you're talking about." He doesn't look at me, eyes fixed on the stretcher across the room like he can will himself closer to it through sheer focus.

"Rhys."

"Drop it, Marcus. Not now."

"I'm not dropping it, because those feelings aren't going anywhere. That's not what a woman like her does to a man." I nod toward the stretcher without meaning to, without being able to stop myself. "Work your shit out. Look at what it's done to me and Zach. You don't want to end up wondering what could've been different if only you'd had the courage."

He doesn't answer. His jaw works once, tight, and that's the only crack I get before Zachary appears at my shoulder, breathless, eyes going straight past both of us to the stretcher.

"How is she?" he pants.

"We don't know yet. They're still checking her out." I turn to him properly. "What happened out there?"

He gives us a brief report, eyes fixed on the same spot ours are. Guy's been arrested. Police working through witnesses, letting people go home once they've given a statement. Only two people seriously hurt — Alexia, and one other bloke. The rest just scrapes and bruises from the panic.

"It was some guy Betty had broken up with. Went full psycho," Zachary says, voice tight.

"Shit."

I know exactly what's happening in his head, because I've watched it happen before, every time something's gone sideways at one of the bars. He's already cataloguing the damage, the injuries, everything that could've happened, and already blaming himself for all of it. For not being here. As if his presence would've stopped what happened tonight.

"This isn't on you, buddy,” I say.

He winces. "I wasn't here."

"Zach."

"She got hurt in my bar and I wasn't even here." His voice breaks under the weight of his pain, and I don't wait, I just pull him into my arms, hard. He stands rigid, but doesn't push me away. “This is why I don’t take days off!”

Rhys steps in a second later, one hand on the back of Zachary's neck, low and steady. "Hey, listen to me. This is not your fault. You couldn't have known. Nobody could've known."

He shakes his head. "Doesn't matter. I could've been here."

"You're here now. That's all that matters," Rhys says. Something like a sob racks through Zachary's body, and I hold him tighter.

"You can see her now," someone calls, one of the paramedics, waving us over. "Go easy, though. She's a bit shaken, will probably have a headache for a day or two, but I don't think it's a concussion. Just some scratches and heavy bruising."

She's still lying down when we reach her, propped up slightly, a graze along her hairline already starting to bruise, and the second she sees us her whole face brightens.

"Hey. Is everyone okay? Are Aria and Betty okay? And that poor man who got hit with the second chair, I saw him go down⁠—"

I lay a hand on her arm. "Shhh. Everyone's fine. You're the one we're worried about."

"I'm fine. I'm so sorry about the bar." The corners of her mouth drop. "The damage, I saw the whole front window bre⁠—”

"Lex. Sweetheart." Zachary's voice is gentle, cutting through the spiral before it can build any more momentum. "Nobody cares about the stupid window. We only care about you."

She lets out a long exhale, her face visibly pales. "And the guy?"

I want to tell her we're going to make sure she never has to worry about him again, but the medic appears with a clipboard and a list of instructions. She's cleared to go home, but someone needs to watch her for a few hours. "Watch for dizziness, confusion, vomiting — the usual concussion checklist, even though we don't technically think it's one," he finishes, holding out an info sheet.

This starts an argument almost immediately, all three of us talking over each other about who's taking her, until Rhys shuts it down.

He holds up a hand, waiting for us to stop talking and then says, “I’m taking her home.”

"We should ask her what she wants," I say, almost smugly, some stupid, selfish part of me sure it'll be me. Sure I'll be the one she wants sitting up with her for the next two hours, making sure she's okay, getting her what she needs.

"You really want to put her in that position tonight?" Rhys doesn't raise his voice, doesn't need to. "Force her to have to worry about your feelings when she's making her choice, out loud, in front of all three of us, after the night she's had?” I hang my head. And he knows he’s made his point. “That's exactly why it has to be me. You two need to stay." He tips his head at Zachary. "He has to stay — this is his bar, his staff, his responsibility, and the only way he doesn't lose his mind while he's working is if you're standing right next to him and not cuddling up to her."