Join the Club - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,7

how I acquired so many trust issues.

“I’m tired,” I admitted. “And this party is something else.”

This party was like a fuckin’ music club.

There was a DJ, along with hundreds of writhing bodies out on the dance floor. Along with those bodies were the bride and groom who were both dancing—but not with each other.

The groom was dancing with a female cop that I’d seen over here with Bourne and Sammy earlier in the night. And then there was the bride, who was dancing very close to a tall man that I’d seen before but couldn’t say where from.

“It’s weird,” Sammy agreed. “I think they have an open relationship. That’s the only way that I can see them marrying.”

I didn’t know what to say to that but was thankfully saved from having to when Bourne arrived with three bottles of beer.

He was missing his tux jacket, and he had his white sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off very muscular, tattooed forearms.

He handed one to me, one to Sammy, and kept one for himself.

“There’s a table open in the back corner,” he said. “I put my tux jacket down so nobody would sit there.”

“Oh, thank God,” Sammy muttered as he gestured to Bourne. “Lead the way. My knees feel like they’re going to break.”

“It’s the weather,” I said. “When the weather changes, my bones start to ache.”

We were getting a cool front.

That was the reason for all the inclement weather over the next twenty-four hours.

We were supposed to drop down to eighty degrees, which was unheard of for Texas this time of year.

“That must be why my foot hurts where I broke it,” Bourne said. “I hadn’t much thought about the why of it hurting until just right now.”

I’d heard him explain to Asa once how he’d hurt himself, which was why he hadn’t been able to go into the military like his brother, Booth.

When Asa had been born, I’d been very thankful for Bourne’s presence in Asa’s life.

Though he hadn’t always been there, it’d been enough that it’d kept Asa from freaking out every single time Booth was able to come home for long enough to spend time with our son.

It helped that Bourne and Booth were identical twins. That way, when Booth came home, he didn’t have to crawl into Asa’s good graces all over again.

Which I’m sure would really hurt Booth if he heard that Asa had called Bourne ‘daddy’ first.

Not that I’d ever admit that to Booth.

I didn’t want to break his heart any more than I already had.

Though I wasn’t in love with Booth, I respected him as a person. He was kind, intelligent, and attractive.

He was also the identical twin of the man that I did like.

So of course, I would never want to hurt him if I didn’t have to.

“Here,” Bourne said as he gestured for me to squeeze into the small corner.

I did, brushing past Bourne’s hard chest as I did.

He drew in a low, shaky breath that had me pausing when I was right up against him.

I used the chair not being far enough in as my excuse to allow my backside to press against him for so long. Then, as if my body had a mind of its own and wasn’t connected to my brain in any way, I bent slightly at the waist and reached for the chair of the seat, pushing it in slightly.

While I did, I made sure to press back against Bourne.

The moment that my ass came into contact with his hips, I knew that I’d made a mistake.

Not because it didn’t feel good, but because it felt too good.

It made me realize that my attraction for Bourne wasn’t going to just go away.

Not when all it took was a brush of his hips against my backside to have me thinking all kinds of naughty things.

Too soon, he had the seat pushed in for me, and I had no other choice but to pass him and take my own seat.

I tried to dip my head to allow my face to be concealed by my hair, but Sammy’s laughter had me blinking at him in confusion.

“What?” Bourne grumbled.

He looked between the two of us, said nothing, then tipped his beer to his lips.

I was so glad that my face couldn’t be seen.

The corner we were in was dark, and thanks to all the lighting being focused on the dance floor, it meant that the particular shade of red on my face was undetectable.

“Nothing, man.” Sammy put down