The Best Mistake - Cookie O'Gorman Page 0,35

on a stool next to my brother, who had an ice pack pressed against his face. Dex had his elbow propped up on the bar, lips set in a sneer, but from where I stood, he didn’t look the worse for wear. It was only as I got closer and saw his eye that I blanched.

“What the hell happened?” I asked and gave a thank-you nod to Garret as he left to go serve his customers.

Dex shook his head. “This guy challenged me Archer, said a few choice words about our mother, too. What was I supposed to do? Let that slide?”

“Yes,” I said, pulling the ice pack away. Seeing all that black and blue near his left eye made me nauseous. “That’s exactly what you do. Walk the heck away. Why can’t you ever just walk away?”

Dex didn’t answer, just cocked his head.

“You look like hell,” I said after a moment.

He grinned at that, the idiot. “You should see the other guy. He was such a poser. Couldn’t take a punch for nothing. Didn’t last five minutes.”

I sighed, helping him up, looking sharply as he winced.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “lucky shot to the ribs. That’s all.”

“Dex. You’ve got to stop doing this.”

Dex frowned as we made our way to the door. “Stop what? Sticking up for my family? Never gonna happen.”

I understood where he was coming from. Really, I did. If someone had been badmouthing Mom in front of me, I didn’t know how I would’ve reacted. But this fighting shit had to end.

“Mom would never want you to get hurt over her,” I said.

Dex grunted.

“Maybe instead of accepting the challenge, just try to talk it out next time.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” he said, and I looked to him in surprise. “Then maybe, we could braid each other’s hair and go out for ice cream after.”

The grin he threw me was pure defiance, and I knew he hadn’t heard a word I’d just said.

I dropped him off at home, but I needed something to lift my mood after this crappy day, something just for me. And as I spied the copy of Jane Eyre on my nightstand, I knew exactly what I wanted.

“Arch, I don’t know what you’re thinking. But this isn’t going to go well.”

Chase was probably right, but heck, what did I have to lose? She’d already turned me down once. It wasn’t like I expected anything different—though I hoped for it. Seeing Honor would be a boon after everything that’d gone down this morning. After our little meeting in the hall and what Mom had told me, it looked like we’d be seeing more of each other. Plus…

“I told you, Chase,” I said and held up Honor’s book. “I’m just here to return this to her. Might need it for a class or something.”

He shook his head then knocked to let Emmy know we were waiting outside.

But it was Charlie who answered the door.

“Well, well, well,” she said, looking the two of us over. “If it isn’t Archer and the panty thief.”

I kept my frown, but inside, seeing the initial look of shock on Chase’s face, I died laughing.

For his part, Chase just shrugged. “I think you’re confusing me with my twin, Baylor.”

She squinted at him. “Hmm, seriously?”

“It happens a lot,” he said. “But yeah, I’ve never had any contact with your panties.”

“Your loss,” she said, pretending to study her nails, then looked up from beneath her lashes right at my brother—who wasn’t paying her any attention. It was kind of funny actually. Chase was checking his phone, completely oblivious to her flirting, while Charlie wore a look of surprise. “There are so many of you O’Briens coming in and out of here it’s hard to keep track. What did you say your name was again?”

Chase kept his head down. “I didn’t. Can we come in? Archer has something for Honor.”

Charlie crossed her arms. “I think I mentioned our rule before about not allowing men into our space. But maybe if you ask nicely…”

It was like watching a cat try to attract a mouse. In this case, Charlie was the cat and Chase was the mouse, but instead of trying to catch the mouse outright, Charlie was pretending like she didn’t want him to notice her. I could’ve told her that approach would never work, not with Chase, but I was enjoying this way too much.

Raising my hand, I said, “Hey Charlie.”

She stared for another second before turning her eyes to me.

“Sorry about him.” I