My Cone and Only (King Family #1) - Susannah Nix Page 0,5

shithole apartment. On top of that, he played occasional gigs at a few bars around town with the band he’d formed with some of his high school buddies. I highly doubted that both of Wyatt’s “jobs” put together came close to a forty-hour workweek.

Which meant he just didn’t want to tell me what he’d been up to. Fair enough. If he’d been spending more time than usual with someone, I didn’t actually want to hear about it. I already had a sick feeling in my stomach just imagining the possibility.

When the day finally came that someone managed to make Wyatt fall in love, my heart was going to break into pieces.

The song ended and Wyatt let go of me to clap for the band. “Thanks for the dance. I’ll let you get back to your friends now.” Then he started to walk away.

“Wyatt,” I said, and he stopped, just like I knew he would, spinning on the smooth floor to face me again.

His eyebrows tilted, his forehead creasing slightly, and he lifted a hand to push his hair back from his face. I took a second to drink in the sight of him. The layer of stubble that covered his jaw. The languid cant to his hips. The way his jeans hugged his thighs.

When I’d looked my fill I said, “You’re my favorite partner too.”

For a second, his smile seemed to freeze in place, and he blinked at me the way Kaylee had blinked at him earlier. Then he seemed to come back to himself, and his lips twitched at the corners. Without another word, he sauntered away.

Straight to another woman, no doubt.

I didn’t know what I’d expected him to say. It wasn’t like he was going to suddenly profess his undying love for me because we danced well together.

If anything was ever going to happen between us, it would have happened long before now. Maybe there’d been a window once and I’d missed it. More likely, he’d never seen me as anything other than a surrogate sister.

I turned my back so I wouldn’t have to see which direction Wyatt headed and which girl he went to after me. There was a simple enough solution to my problem, at least temporarily.

I needed to find my own company.

Someone who could make me forget Wyatt King, at least for one night.

2

Wyatt

It took all my effort to walk away from Andie Lockhart.

I always had to force myself to walk away from her, and each time I did, it got a little harder. You’d think it would get easier after all these years. You’d think I’d have so much practice it would be a fucking piece of cake. Except it was the opposite of that. I was like that Sisyphus guy pushing the rock up the hill. Instead of me getting stronger, my rock kept getting heavier each time.

So I distracted myself the only way I knew how. I headed straight to the bar and ordered two shots of whiskey, downing them both in quick succession. Once I was good and drunk, I’d find myself a woman to take my mind off my best friend’s little sister.

The bartender gave me a knowing smile when I ordered another shot with a beer chaser. Her name was Mariana and I’d taken her home once, a few years back. Or maybe she’d taken me home. My memories of that night were fuzzy.

I considered the possibility of a repeat engagement, but she probably wouldn’t get off work until three. I wasn’t in the mood to wait that long tonight.

My dilemma solved itself when Brianna Thorne sidled up to the bar next to me and ordered herself a beer. She’d made her interest pretty clear earlier when she’d stuck her tongue in my ear. It wouldn’t take much effort to close the deal, which was exactly what I needed tonight.

I leaned over, letting my hand skim the small of Brianna’s back, and told Mariana to put her beer on my tab. We took our drinks over to one of the nearby two-tops, and I pretended to listen as Brianna chattered about her cosmetology classes.

While she talked about barbering and beard trimming techniques, my gaze wandered away in search of Andie. I found her almost immediately, my eyes seeming to know exactly which direction to look, like she’d been implanted with a tracking device wired directly into my brain. She was talking to two dudes I didn’t recognize. City boys down from Austin, by the look of them. Tourists checking