Groaning, I toss my phone to the side and cover my eyes with my hands.
I need to escape from all of this.
Chapter Fifteen
BREAKER
JP: How’re you feeling, Big Boy?
Clutching a cup of coffee, I text JP and Huxley back in our group thread.
Breaker: Don’t call me that. And not fucking great. I texted some really stupid shit to Lia last night.
JP: I’m going to need a copy of that text thread for my own enjoyment.
Huxley: I normally don’t participate in JP’s shenanigans, but I’m interested in what you said as well.
Breaker: Love how supportive you two are.
JP: If anything, we’re here for you, bro.
Breaker: Yeah, I can tell.
Huxley: What did you say?
Breaker: Oh, pretty much everything besides I love you, and I wish you were mine. Just skirted around all of that. Her responses showed clear confusion, for obvious reasons, and now I have to get myself together to go taste cake with her and her soon-to-be mother-in-law because the fight she got into with Brian last night clearly wasn’t bad enough for her to warrant calling off the wedding.
JP: Sounds like the seventh circle of hell.
Breaker: Pretty much.
Huxley: Are you going to mention the texts?
Breaker: Should I? Or should I just act normal, as if nothing happened?
JP: I would go with the nothing happened. Don’t bring attention to your stupidity. She has enough stupid to deal with when it comes to Brian.
Huxley: I don’t tend to agree with JP very often, but I would have to say he’s probably right on this one. Just act like everything is normal.
Breaker: And what happens when I see her, and all I want to do is reach out and kiss her?
JP: Uh, remember consent is a real thing.
Huxley: You can’t just kiss women without them saying yes, so there you go. Avoid the lawsuit. We already have one we’re dealing with.
Breaker: Thanks for the reminder. Okay, I have to get going. Not going to mention the texts, not going to kiss her, and I’m going to act like everything is normal.
JP: Best plan of action.
Huxley: Still going to wait on the texts from last night.
Breaker: Hux, you’re starting to sound like JP.
JP: Can’t say that’s a bad thing.
I stand, take one last sip of my coffee, and then go back to my bathroom where I brush my teeth and then rinse with mouthwash as well. I check myself in the mirror one last time and then head toward my front door just as there’s a knock on it.
Right on time.
I muster up a smile, open the door, and say, “Morning, Lia,” in the cheeriest, non-awkward, nothing happened at all tones.
Dressed in a purple pair of shorts and a white lace top, she has styled her hair half up and half down, pulling the front strands away from her face, which emphasizes her gorgeous green eyes.
Fuck, she’s so beautiful.
“Hey,” she says shyly. I need to drive our conversation right past last night’s awkward texts and straight into denial, acting like it never happened.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask while I pat my stomach. “It might be early, but I held off breakfast so I can take down some cake.”
Actually, eating cake is the last freaking thing on my list at the moment since I still have a touch of booze belly, but we make sacrifices for the ones we love, right?
“Uh, yeah. I didn’t eat breakfast either.”
“Two peas in a pod, aren’t we?” I loop my arm around her, shut my door behind me, and walk her toward the elevator. From the confused look on her face, I might need to tone down the chipper attitude a bit. I hit the down button and stick my hand in my pocket. “Get a good sleep?” I ask, not sure what else to say.
“Not really,” she says.
“No? Were you thinking too much about what flavor The Beave will force you to get? My guess, something boring like vanilla on vanilla.”
She glances up at me while the elevator doors open. I can sense her confusion and her desire to talk about last night, but like I said, we’re plowing ahead. No need to dwell on the past and things I might have said under the influence.
Denial.
Denial.
Denial.
“So what do you think the flavor will be?”
We ride the elevator down as she says, “Uh, well . . . you’re probably right. Vanilla on vanilla.”
“But we’re going to fuck up that idea, aren’t we?” I wink at her.
“Yeah, I guess we are.”
“That’s the spirit.” We step off the elevator and walk toward my car. “Now, there’s one thing we need to talk about before we arrive at the bakery.” I open the passenger car door for her and say, “Where do we stand on red velvet? We’re both huge fans, but is it crazy enough to drive her nuts?”