“Just get it out, kid,” Zane said, his voice a little clearer now. “I’m having one of those moments where I’m wondering why in the hell I stopped smoking.”
“Because Mom was going to kick your ass if you didn’t after Dad had that cancer scare.” He closed his eyes and blew out a breath. “Keelie kissed me.”
Silence dropped like a ten-ton weight, crashing down heavy and destructive, smashing everything into oblivion.
He could hear the call and chirp of the night creatures but nothing else. It was like Zane had even forgotten to breathe.
And then finally, in a low, rough voice, the other man said, “What?”
Something sick moved inside him as he remembered something. Zane chased after hundreds of women, it seemed. Chased them, but it didn’t really matter if he caught them. With Keelie, though . . . with Keelie, it was different.
Now as that sickness spread, he could have kicked his own ass. “Look, I need to—”
“Say that again, Zach,” Zane said quietly. “Just say it again.”
“She kissed me. I’m sorry . . . I think I . . . you got a thing for her, don’t you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Zane said softly. “What’s going on with Abby?”
“She walked in. I was pulling away and . . . shit.” He shoved away from the car and started to pace, fighting to hold the words inside him. He needed to talk, but he couldn’t hurt his brother, either.
“Zach. Just talk okay?” Zane said tiredly. “Maybe I . . . fuck. Screw maybe. Yeah, I thought maybe there was something with Keelie, but I guess it’s not ever going to work out so it doesn’t matter. You and Abby, though . . . that’s a different story. What’s going on there, Zach?”
“She walked in,” Zach said again, an ache spreading through him as he remembered the look on her face. “I was pulling away and I swear, Zane, there isn’t anything between me and Keelie. I was pulling away, but I know that’s not how it looked and—”
“You don’t need to explain it to me,” his brother said. “Look, you’re so gone over Abby, there’s no room left inside you for another woman. I know that. Anybody with a functioning brain stem should be able to see that, if they bothered to look. Abby excluded because she doesn’t see it. That’s because you always worked damned hard not to let her. But you’re not as careful with the rest of the world as you are with her. You don’t hide it and you never hid it from Keelie . . . so why in the hell did she kiss you?”
“She said . . .” He groaned and shoved a hand through his hair, staring down the road like that might make her car magically appear. It didn’t work. It hadn’t worked for the past few hours, but he wasn’t giving up hope. If he just kept watching, if he just kept waiting, if he just kept hoping, that car of hers would show up.
“Keelie . . .” He blew out a ragged breath and then made himself continue. “She’s got this fucked-up idea that she’s in love with me. It’s not real. It can’t be. But—”
“Don’t speak for her, Zach.” Zane sounded even more tired now. Tired. Resigned. “She’s a big girl and I’m pretty sure she knows her feelings better than anybody else does. And again, this isn’t about Keelie . . . or me. I appreciate the concern, but it’s not about that. This is about you and Abby, okay? Let’s keep it about you and Abby. Have you talked to her?”
“No. She won’t answer the damn phone. It’s almost midnight and she’s not home and . . .” He trailed off as his imagination started to supply him with all sorts of nasty scenarios.
“Well, it’s not surprising that she hasn’t called. She’s pissed off. She saw you in a liplock with another girl.”
“I wasn’t kissing her, damn it!” he snarled.
“No. She was kissing you . . . and that will count for something, once Abby isn’t so angry, when she gets past the hurt, but for now? She’s hurt. Okay? She needs to get past that. Once she does, it will be okay.”
Zach drove the heel of his hand against his eye socket. “Okay. Shit. It will be okay. Zane, what in the hell does that mean?”
A few seconds ticked by and then Zane said, “It means it will be okay.