Page 2 of Bliss

He did not get to exist for seven years without me and look that good. How fucking dare he stand in a room full of his peers, teammates, subordinates. Whatever the hell they were to him, because I knew they were something, I didn’t know yet. This man would not have been here if he weren’t already someone important in this circle. He was the kind of prick who considered the cost of his time and judged who was worthy of each minute of it.

For a short while, he’d graced me with a significant portion of his valuable time. I’d basked in his supposed adoration, let down my walls, allowed him to take up space in my heart. And then he destroyed me, and I’d been slowly, silently, putting myself back together ever since.

Loving Noah Kavanaugh had been so damn easy.

Surviving him had nearly ended me.

And no one, not a single person in my life, knew.

So what the fuck was he doing in this house in the Hills with my little brother?

Bliss

A familiar blonde stumbled into my brother, and I shoved all thoughts of Noah Fucking Kavanaugh out of my mind, stomping over to the drunken mess who had her hand on Damien’s chest. I was barely a few feet away when Evan joined the group, pulling Caprice back enough so she wasn’t touching Damien.

Although I hadn’t gotten an explanation from what my little brother needed saving from, I was quickly putting the pieces together. Evan and Damien had no doubt come to the party, and Caprice had followed Evan like she always did. And because Evan was still in his girl-best-friend era, he let her do whatever the fuck she wanted.

Caprice Knight was an epic pain in the ass. Once upon a time, she’d been obsessed with another guy, and when he’d gotten married to Ali St. Charles, she’d switched her obsession from Sixx to Damien. He loathed Caprice, but Evan was his best friend and Damien thought that meant he had to tolerate her. If I’d had my way, there would have been a restraining order against Caprice the first time she started crossing lines.

Damien was too nice for his own good, and Evan was too stupid to see that he was being used. Caprice had been playing the long game with him, and if she didn’t eventually end up baby-trapping him, I would be surprised. As long as it wasn’t my little brother’s baby, I honestly couldn’t care less. Damien was too good for Caprice. Really, Evan was too, but whatever.

Walking up to my brother, I grabbed his arm. “Let’s go,” I half snarled.

“Bliss!” he cheered, wrapping his arms around me in a warm hug, lifting me off the floor a few inches. “Thank gods. I was getting worried.”

Once he had me on my feet again, I glared up at him. “You have access to a car service. There are multiple ride-share options. And, oh look, there’s your dumbass best friend who looks perfectly sober to me. Why is it that I’m the one who got called out to be your designated driver?”

Damien had been going out more and more lately, drinking almost every time now. Nothing extreme. Not really getting drunk, but also not sober enough to drive. Which, admittedly, was smart of him to be careful. It wasn’t just his life on the line if he drank and then drove.

He was an adult and knew the risks. It was his own life, and he could live it. But he knew how I felt about it, and he needed to stop expecting me to save him, damn it.

“Evan wouldn’t leave because Caprice wouldn’t leave, and I didn’t feel comfortable abandoning him. She listens to you.”

I turned my glare on Evan, who thought flashing his dimples at me would save him. Twenty-two years of seeing those dimples on the regular had desensitized me to them, and they couldn’t sway me. “Do not even try me, Evan. I will take out one of your knees and leave your ass right here to be trampled.”

Caprice stumbled against him, not yet noticing me. Running my gaze over her, I felt disgust curdle in my stomach. Her obsession with Damien didn’t stop her from chasing after anything with a dick and a big bank account. She’d come dressed for the party in an outfit that barely covered anything. Her assets were perfectly proportioned from head to toe. No one could say this chick was anything but gorgeous. The problem was that it was only skin-deep. I knew firsthand that beneath all the pretty, she had a rotten, dark soul.

In her heels, she was half a foot taller than me. How she was still standing in them when she was so blitzed was a small miracle of its own. “Where are all the servers? I need another glass of champagne. We’re celebrating!”

Her shout stirred the crowd nearest us, which set off a chain reaction that soon had them all whooping and cheering louder than the music.

“Welcome home, Coach!” a mocha-skinned man with dreads called from nearby, lifting his glass.

“Coach!” two other players for the Titans shouted.

“Coach Kavanaugh!”

“Coach K!” They sounded more like barking dogs than humans with the way they were hyping each other up.

It registered at the same time I finally allowed myself to look at the man still standing beside my brother. He locked his gaze on mine and refused to release it. A million memories flooded my mind, attempting to crack my heart open. Noah shifted, just a single step forward, and I took three back out of sheer self-preservation.

Ah, fuck no.

I did not follow sports, especially not basketball. It was for my own mental health. To avoid the chance of hearing this man’s name even in passing. Yet, I had still heard some of the buzz going around about the Los Angeles Titans getting a new head coach. Jake, my newest brother-in-law, had said something about it just the day before when I’d been at Heavenleigh’s, and I’d tuned him out the moment he’d said basketball.

Obviously, I should have paid more attention.

If I had known there was even a minuscule chance that I would see this man, I never would have left my couch. Standing in front of him in sleep shorts and a hoodie that was yet another reminder of a time when he was my entire world—without a bra on, for fuck’s sake—was a nightmare.