“You can try to fight this happening between us,” he said, his eyes seeming to burn hotter than his skin. “But it will happen.”
“Hey, guys,” Bryan said flatly, and I shifted to see him standing in a pool of light beside the garage. “It’s late. My mom texted. I gotta go.”
“I’ll come with you,” War said as he released me.
My hands slipped from his forearms, but he captured one before it could fall away. Bringing it to his mouth, he pressed his lips to my skin. Then he tugged me alongside him to where Bryan stood on the driveway, only a few feet away from where we’d been.
From that vantage point, he would have had a clear view of War and me. How long had he been standing there?
“How is your mom?” I asked, my cheeks warm at the thought he might have seen War kiss me.
“She’s fine.” Bryan’s gaze dipped to my mouth, then lifted. His gray-green eyes glittered with fiery emotion of some sort, but I no longer knew him well enough to guess which one. “She works at Seattle General.”
“She’s a nurse now?” My eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes,” he said with a nod.
“That’s wonderful. I remember how much she wanted to be one.”
“She’s pretty stoked about it.” Yet he frowned, his gaze now focused on where War’s hand and mine were joined.
“And how are your sisters?” I asked, trying to extract my hand from War’s grip. “Miriam? Ann?”
“They’re fine.” Bryan seemed reluctant to share. “Everyone’s good.”
My brother approached us and opened his arms, motioning to Bryan. “Cool seeing you again, Bry.” Dizzy leaned in and slapped his friend on the back. “Almost like old times.”
“Better, I hope,” Bryan said, his expression somber. “With you two away from all the bad stuff with your mom, I mean.”
“Yeah, of course it is,” Dizzy said evenly, although not exactly truthfully. Uncle Bruce’s apathy toward us wasn’t all that different from our mother’s. “No more pretend-band shit. We finally have a shot at something real.”
“We just might.” Bryan hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Hey, I gotta take off, but please know I’m truly glad to have you back as a friend again. I missed you.” His gaze flicked to me. “Both of you.”
“Ditto, man,” Dizzy whispered gruffly.
Tears threatened, stinging my eyes and tightening my throat. I wasn’t the only one who’d been lonely without Bryan in our lives.
“Lace, see you around.” Bryan gave me a chin lift, but he didn’t touch me. An awkwardness stretched between us now, a restrained tension that hadn’t been there before.
“Sure, see you.” I pretended that awkwardness didn’t hurt. But it did.
“Lacey.” War reached for me. His hands heavy on my shoulders, he studied me, his eyes dark and active. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Sure,” I said, but that wasn’t very likely. Restroom incident aside, it was a big school. War was a junior, and I was an academic sophomore. Our classes were located in different halls.
“Later,” Bryan said, and he and War moved away together, their ambling strides similar.
“What the hell’s going on with you and War?” my brother asked, sounding more than a little alarmed.
Busy watching Bryan and Warren hunch their wide shoulders against the cold as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, I didn’t immediately answer. They were obviously close, but so different in personality. I wondered what had happened to make them such close friends.
“Nothing’s going on.” Refocusing on Dizzy, I tossed a lock of my hair over my shoulder.
“Not nothing, Lace.” He frowned. “He kissed you, didn’t he?”
“Not talking about this with you.” I turned away from him, moving toward the garage, stopping to scoop up discarded Solo cups from the ground.
“He did. Fucking shit. Bry told me he was cool, but this is unacceptable.” Coming up alongside me, Dizzy gave me a censuring glare. “He’s too old for you, Lace.”
“Not significantly,” I gritted out between my clenched teeth. “Not that it’s any of your business. He’s the same age as Bryan, right?”
“Bry would be a much better choice.”
But Bryan wasn’t a choice at all, apparently. Though maybe just for a moment, there had been something. A flare in his eyes when I’d flirted with him. But it had been there and gone so quickly, I was afraid I’d only imagined it.
“Let’s not fight about this. It’s not a big deal.” I touched my brother’s arm. In the end, it was only Dizzy and me. “Help me clean up. Okay?”