I hadn’t been interested in arguing with her about something so mundane, I’d given in.
Tristin shrugged. “We all know tonight is just for show. Neither of us has a real date.”
“Yeah, but you wish yours was real.”
He leaned his head back against the wall. “Can we not talk about this?”
“Okay. Why don’t we talk about why you moved out, then?” When my brother glared at me in response, I grinned. “Or, maybe it’s all the same topic.”
“Hayle.”
I heard the warning in his tone, confirmation that I was right. Maybe his moving out wasn’t all about Thea, but she was part of the equation. Of that, I had no doubt.
“You know, I want her too, and I haven’t run away.” Yet. The idea was growing more and more tempting by the day.
Tristin pushed away from the wall to face me “No. You just pine after her like a pathetic little puppy. That’s so much better.”
His biting response had zero impact. Because he was right. I’d screwed up my chance with Thea from the start, and now I had to live with the repercussions. And that meant walking an extra fine line between being her friend and straight up ignoring her. Earlier this week, I’d come way too close to crossing the line over into more-than-friends-ville, and I wasn’t sure if she would have forgiven me for that.
I’d already been handed my one pass for kissing her. I didn’t get—or deserve—a second.
Catching sight of our older brother, I jerked my head in his direction. “With or without the pining, I was always going to lose out to him.”
The moment Leo entered the room, he was the instant center of attention. People stared and whispered and smiled and waved. It didn’t even matter that he had a beautiful woman on his arm. He would have attracted just as much admiration without her. Maybe more.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was sporting a bruised face after getting mugged a couple of nights ago. I’d thought Dad was going to go into cardiac arrest when he caught sight of Leo. It had actually been kind of amusing. Minus the mugging part of the story.
“Yeah, well, the fact that he’s not here with Thea right now proves how much he doesn’t deserve her,” Tristin groused.
“He’s doing it for the team. She understands that.”
Tristin shook his head in disgust. “She might understand, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. He’s putting football before her.”
“Don’t you think you’re being too hard on him?”
Did those words come out of my mouth? Mine? Usually, I didn’t bother defending Leo. Everything came so easy to him, the last thing he needed was my approval or support.
Tristin gave me one of his looks that was so utterly blank it could only mean he thought I was a fucking moron. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Surely, holding a grudge is getting old, even for you.” I knew I was damn tired of it. I was tired of all the Sharpe drama. It had been going on for too long.
“Some days, it feels like holding onto that grudge with both hands is all I have left.”
Before I could devise a response, the girl on Leo’s arm turned, and I got a good look at her face. A chill ran up the full length of my spine. “Fuck. I know her.”
“Who?”
“Leo’s date. She’s not the athletic director’s daughter like Dad claimed.”
Tristin straightened, suddenly on full alert. “Then, who is she?”
“The one and only daughter of Jim Green.”
“The CEO of Green Industries?”
I looked at him, knowing my dread had to be written all over my face. “None other than.”
Tristin swore under his breath. “What the fuck is our father up to?”
“Exactly what I’d like to know.” I started walking, throwing “I need to warn Leo” over my shoulder as I made my way across the room.
My mind spun with the possibilities. What game could Dad be playing? If he truly suspected any of the Greens of being behind Amber’s death, he wouldn’t set Leo up on a date with one of them. Would he?
I knew he could be ruthless, but I’d always thought that was to protect the family and our business. I just couldn’t believe—couldn’t accept—that he would intentionally put any of us in danger.
It didn’t make sense, and I needed things to make sense.
When I reached Leo’s side, Jillian Green was peering up at him with a coy smile, and I wanted to gag on Thea’s behalf. I slapped my hand on my brother’s shoulder