“No thank you,” I tell the waiter, never pulling my eyes from Kit as the waiter takes my empty glass.
I don’t want to think about the past or the future. I need to live in the now.
Kit Riggs used to be the lanky kid, always wanting to hang around his siblings. He spent just as much time with Beth growing up as he did with his brothers, and that’s just how the Riggs family is—close-knit and involved. Since my mother’s death, I’ve been a part of that. I’ve come to see Beth’s family as my family, and they’ve welcomed me with open arms into their loving fold.
But I’m not looking at Kit the way I would a family member. There’s nothing family-like in my thoughts right now, because Kit is no longer the lanky boy with a crooked smile.
I can’t believe I leaned in and kissed his cheek on the damn elevator. I didn’t even have the excuse of three drinks running through my bloodstream when I did that. Sober as a judge, I did that, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
If I concentrate long enough, I can still feel the tingle of his rough stubble on my lips, feel the warmth of his forearm under my fingers. It’s been wreaking havoc on my mind since it happened several hours ago.
“You seem to be having a good time.” I roll my lips between my teeth as Brooks catches me watching his best friend.
If I’m Beth’s family add-on, then Brooks is the same for the youngest Riggs. He doesn’t come to the Sunday dinners as much, but he’s a regular fixture there, nonetheless.
“They’re so happy,” I tell him, my eyes drifting to Spencer and Beth.
The groom-to-be has his arm wrapped possessively around his fiancée as they smile and laugh with a small group of people.
“They are,” he quickly agrees.
Brooks doesn’t know the full story of Beth and Spencer, but I had a front-row seat to the beginning of their relationship, and it looked nothing like the happy couple they are now. If anyone deserves happiness after going through hell, it’s those two.
Beth never shared with her family the struggles they went through, the heartbreak she suffered while Spencer was fighting the love he had for her. Even the people closest to her don’t know what he lost, what he sacrificed to be where they are today.
“Are you?”
I look over at Brooks, confusion a deep line between my eyes. “Am I what?”
“Are you happy?”
His famous smile is still in place, but his tone is what draws me up short.
“Of course,” I say, but even I can tell the smile tugging up the corners of my lips doesn’t reach my eyes.
“Hmm.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“I’m happy for them,” I argue, getting annoyed that he’d even think I wanted anything less for my best friend.
“I didn’t ask if you were happy about Beth and Spencer. I asked if you were happy.”
“Like in general?” I need to make a plan to get away from this man. He’s too damned empathic, or a mind reader. Can he sense the ache I have at losing a small piece of my friend’s attention?
“You’re reading too much into my question.”
“I’m happy. Work is good, busy. I get to wear an amazing dress on Saturday.”
He nods, that grin on his face now beginning to annoy me.
“You’re lonely.”
The damn audacity of this man.
“I’m—”
“Kit is lonely, too.”
I’m left with my jaw practically on the floor as he waves to someone else across the room.
“I’m fine,” I mutter.
“Said no woman who was ever fine,” Brooks says, his eyes back on mine.
“Why are you—”
His ringing phone draws his attention, and I clamp my lips closed, just glad that he’s distracted enough to possibly drop the subject. I’ve known this man for more than a decade, and he’s never been so far up in my business as he is right now.
“Gotta take this,” he says as he lifts the phone to his ear. “Archer, give me a minute to get to a quiet place.”
I hate that I relinquished my empty glass because now I have nothing to do with my hands.
“It’s always a pleasure, Jules,” Brooks says, leaning in to press his lips to my temple before walking away with his phone to his ear.
Brooks walks past Kit, slapping him on the chest before leaving the room, and my eyes stay on the man’s back until he disappears. Then, like they’ve done nearly every second tonight, they drift right back to Kit. Only he’s no longer smiling or laughing. He’s watching me with heated eyes, and not the sexy kind. He seems annoyed or disappointed by what he sees, and that just won’t do. Although an irritated Kit is still a sexy Kit, I don’t like the scowl forming the tiny creases around his eyes.