Torque

by Gillian Archer

  “Okay, I think it might be time to dial back the alcohol. And I don’t have the app anymore. I deleted it.”

  “Ooooooohhh.” Hope and Sabrina moaned in unison.

  “So it’s serious?” Hope asked.

  “I don’t know.” I groaned and covered my face with my hands so I could hide if only for a second. I didn’t know what to say, how much I could tell them. I wanted to tell them everything. I felt like the lowest, crappiest friend ever because I was hiding so much from them.

  These guys were my soft place to fall. I should tell them.

  “Can I just say that I’m so glad you finally got over that silly crush you had on Nathan for so long?” Sabrina said with a sad smile. “You wasted so much of your life mooning over him, and he’s never looked at you the same way. And to be honest, you could do so much better.”

  “Sabrina!” Hope gave her an appalled look. “That’s so rude. He’s your brother. And my future brother-in-law.”

  “But it’s true. Come on you know it is. They would’ve been like Romeo and Juliet—doomed from the start—a freaking tragedy, not a romance. Nathan is just…he’s got such a hot temper and always has to be right. He thinks he knows what’s best for everyone and gets annoyed when you don’t agree with him. He would’ve crushed Maddie’s spirit in a second if she dated him. You know I’m right.”

  Hope bit her lip but didn’t say anything.

  Her silence was damning.

  “You agree with her?” I asked, hurt bleeding into my voice.

  “It’s nothing against you,” Hope rushed to say. “It’s just he’s so, and you’re… Sabrina’s right. He would’ve crushed your spirit. I don’t think you’d be a good match. Star-crossed lovers never work out.”

  Tears welled in my eyes, but I’d be damned if I let them fall.

  The fact that my friends—my best friends—thought so little of me, of my ability to stand up for myself pissed me off.

  And hurt. God, it hurt so much.

  Why didn’t they think I could stand up for myself? Was I really such a doormat?

  “But it’s a moot point, right?” Hope asked with a concerned look. “Now you have this wonderful man in your life.”

  “Right.” Sabrina answered with a tremulous smile. “Your new man. The great giver of orgasms. I’m so happy for you. I, uh, I don’t think you told us his name.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t.” I put my wine glass down with a quiet clink. “You know what? I don’t think my spirit can take any more quality time with the girls tonight. I’m going home. Or to the place where I sleep, anyways, since I don’t have a home to go to. Whatever. I’m pissed off, and I’m going to leave before I say something I can’t take back. Have fun talking about our book, or me, the minute I leave.”

  “Maddie!” Sabrina called from behind me as I headed for the door. “Don’t be like that.”

  “Like what?” I asked as I whirled around, my hand still resting on the doorknob. “A people-pleasing doormat? Isn’t this the exact opposite of what someone like me would do?”

  Hope raised her palms. “Okay, I think we all need to take a breath—”

  “Of course you’d say that!” I interjected. “You’re good at taking a breath and saying so much without saying a word.” I shook my head, so mad, and so…just done. “Have a nice night.”

  I pulled open the door and stepped through without another word from them. Closing the door quietly behind me, I headed for Dylan’s condo and tried to keep it all together. The last thing I wanted was to have to explain to Dylan or Ryan or Nathan why I was so emotional.

  But I didn’t need to worry. I didn’t run into Nathan or Ryan on my short walk, and like always Dylan’s condo was empty when I walked inside.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nathan

  It’d been a tough afternoon interviewing women who spent most of their time hitting on me. There hadn’t been a single qualified candidate—unless you counted wet t-shirt contest winners, in which case, you’d have your pick of applicants. I wasn’t joking; at least five women had it on their resumes.

  I was pretty sure my brothers thought I’d been exaggerating the quality of the applicant pool. That had been cleared up today when they sat in on the interviews. I thought Austin said it best when after the last candidate left, he put his head in his hands and groaned, “Holy fuck.”

  I didn’t know if it’d be aired but it was memorable for me. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like we were all on the same page.

  Well, all of us except Dylan. He’d never shown back up at the shop.

  Now all I wanted was my sofa, a beer, and the warm, wet heat of my girl.

  But Maddie was at girls’ night next door, and we were still pretending in front of my family that we weren’t dating. I couldn’t even crash the party and drag my lady home.

  Which was why I was sitting on my couch with a beer in my hand but not my girl when someone knocked on my door. I briefly debated not answering, but the quiet babble of my favorite niece clued me in on who was on the other side.

  I opened the door, and the second she spotted me Fliss screamed, “Na!” and jumped out of her daddy’s arms to me. I caught her and only slightly bathed us both in beer.

  “Sorry about that.” Ryan laughed as he stepped in, closing the door behind him.

  “No problem. I love holding my favorite niece.” I kissed the tip of Fliss’s perfect little nose while she babbled away, grinning at me. “What’s new with you, Felicity? Hanging out with Daddy? Is he treating you right?”

  Fliss blew a raspberry. Ryan and I both cracked up at her timing. She grinned and laughed with us.

  I looked over at Ryan. “You two get kicked out? Want a beer?”

  “More like fled the scene, and hel-heck yeah, I’ll take one.” Comfortable in my place and with me holding Fliss, Ryan headed for the fridge to get his own beer.

  “Does it get crazy during girls’ night?” I was totally pathetic, pumping my brother for a hint of what Maddie was up to.

  “When I left, Sabrina was teasing Maddie about the new guy in her life giving her orgasms.” Ryan’s upper lip curled. “Like I wanna hear Sabrina saying that. Or think about Maddie having—you know what? Let’s talk about something else. What’s going on with you?”

  “Not much.” I shrugged, acting lowkey when my mind was racing. Maddie had told the girls about me? Maybe since I’d told her mom, she decided we could tell others? I wanted to ask Ryan for more details but then he’d know something was up, and if she hadn’t told the girls, I really didn’t think Maddie would appreciate me outing us to everyone on the same day.

  After last night, I really wanted to keep her happy.

  “…last one. I never really thought about all that went into belly dancing. What did you think?”

  I blinked back into the present just in time to catch the last part of what Ryan’d said. “I don’t want to hire any of them. You guys should’ve seen the first round. At least these ladies kept their clothes on.”

  Ryan’s eyes rounded. “Maybe I will sit in on the next round of interviews.”

  “Ha. I’m sure Hope would love that.” Was I seriously discouraging him from helping me out? “You know what? I’d appreciate the help. It’s not like I can count on Dylan to show up when he’s supposed to.”

  “Yeah,” Ryan said quietly as he rubbed thumb over the condensation on his beer can.

  I sat on the couch and pulled out the little basket of baby toys I had stashed in the corner and let Fliss loose on the rug. She crawled over, pulled one toy out, looked at it, chewed on it, and then reached for another. Satisfied that she was distracted, I headed to the kitchen for a new beer and rinsed the sticky beer off my arm. After grabbing a wet paper towel, I took a second and wiped all evidence of our spill off Fliss then joined Ryan on the couch.

  Where he was giving me a funny look.

  “What?”

  He hitched a shoulder. “Nothing.” He smirked.

 
“What?”

  “It’s just you have this edge—that don’t fu-fudge with me attitude that keeps most people away. But you’re really just a big ole marshmallow. I mean, you keep toys in your house for your niece. That’s precious.”

  “Fu-frick you.” I tossed a look at Fliss, who was still happily occupied with the toys, but babies heard more than you thought. Or so Aunt Wendy loved to lecture us. “I love my niece. I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

  “There’s loving your niece, and then there’s keeping toys and diapers on hand for when she stops by.”

  “I don’t—”

  “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I swear I’m not trying to give you sh-shoot for it. I mean she’s my kid; I get why you love her.” He shook his head. “I’m screwing this up. What I’m trying to say is that sometimes I think we—as in your family—don’t give you enough credit for how much you do for all of us.”

  I shrugged and stared at my beer can. Shit like this always made me uncomfortable. I didn’t do stuff for my family to score points.

  “I didn’t notice Dylan’s weird behavior lately.” Ryan continued. “I got so caught up with Hope and Fliss and then helping Austin plan his proposal to Rachel. Too much fell through the cracks. Thank you for picking up the pieces.”

  I had to clear my throat as it was suddenly hard to talk. “Yeah, man. That’s what family does, right?”

  “Right.” Ryan shook his head then took a pull from his beer. “So you wanna talk about Dylan?”

  “Not much else to say. I told you all my concerns after the reveal today. Something’s going on with him, but he won’t talk to me about it.”

  “That’s because it’s you.”

  I blinked. “Seriously? Where’d all the love go? A minute ago, I was the family savior and now I don’t count?”

  “No, kinda the opposite. I’m saying that whatever Dylan’s got going on, he doesn’t want you to know because he looks up to you. Which means it must be bad. Like really freaking bad.”

  A pit formed in my stomach. “That was what I was afraid of.”

  We sat in contemplative silence for a moment then Ryan asked, “Have you asked Maddie about it?”

  “What?” I jolted. “Why?”

  Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Because you said you would in the parking lot after the reveal? Before all those mind-numbing interviews?”

  “Right, right.” I rubbed the back of my neck and tried not to look like I was clearly hiding a secret. “According to her, Dylan’s been MIA most days. Sounds like they’re not hanging out as much as they used to, despite the fact that she’s living with him.”

  “Huh, that’s weird.”

  “Yup.”

  Ryan sighed. “I guess I’ll have to hunt him down and make him spill his guts. I might need you to hold him down like the good ol’ days. You in?”

  “Just name the time and place.” I laughed, remembering all the times we ganged up on the youngest brother. Dylan had been such an easy target. Which was why Austin usually weighed in and took his side. Out of anyone, Austin should’ve been the one Dylan looked up to. How and why Ryan thought it was me was a mystery.

  “Is there a game on?” Ryan tilted his head toward my tv.

  “Probably.”

  We spent the next hour watching a basketball game and entertaining Fliss. But after a while, she got fussy, so Ryan had to head home.

  As the door closed behind them, I enjoyed the peace that his visit had brought. For so long, it’d felt like my brothers had moved on without me. It was nice to know that Ryan at least appreciated what I brought to the table in terms of the family and maybe our business too.

  And of course, his absence meant I could check in with Maddie. Him going home might mean that girls’ night would break up early.

  I got out my phone and fired off a text.

  Me: You still being all girly?

  Maddie: What is that supposed to mean?

  Shit, my attempt to be all cute and flirty had clearly fallen flat.

  Me: You still over at Hope’s doing girls’ night?

  Maddie: Oh. Sorry. No.

  Me: Want to come over?

  She didn’t immediately reply. I knew she’d read the message. What was going on? Maddie hadn’t struck me as the type of woman who played games. What you saw was exactly what you got with her. I was on the verge of calling her when her reply came through.

  Maddie: I don’t think I’d be the best company right now.

  What the hell? She’d been so adamant about going to girls’ night. What could’ve happened between then and now? This was too complicated to text. I broke the social law of texting and called her.

  It rang four times before she answered.

  “Hello.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, concerned. “I thought you liked girls’ night. Did something happen?”

  She gave a sad laugh that about broke my heart. “You could say that.”

  But then she didn’t elaborate, and I had no idea what that meant. I felt like a lumbering tool who didn’t know how to talk to women. I had plenty of experience picking up chicks in bars, but the whole emotional aspect or whatever of a relationship was confusing as hell. And I didn’t want to fuck it up. This thing with Maddie mattered.

  Maddie mattered.

  So I sucked it up and tried. “Ryan mentioned something about Sabrina giving you a hard time about the guy you’re dating. Did she say something that hurt your feelings?”

  She made a gasping sound like she sucked in a painful breath. But she didn’t say any words.

  “Maddie, you gotta help me out.” I felt so fucking helpless. I hated that she was hurting and I couldn’t do anything. “If you don’t help me out here, I’m coming over there.”

  “Because I’m so weak I can’t take care of myself?”

  “What? No, because I’m worried about you, and I want you to be the happy wonderful woman I woke up with this morning.”

  She sighed. “That’s so sweet. I’m sorry, Nathan. Like I said I don’t think I’d be the best of company tonight. I just want to curl up with a book and forget this night even happened.”

  “Okay, how about you do that over here? I’ll order some pizza and watch the game while you read your book.”

  “You’re kinda hard to resist. You know that?”

  “I hope so. It’s part of my charm and helps to deflect attention from all my shortcomings.”

  She laughed huskily, and I loved that I helped her even that little bit.

  “Fine, I’ll come over, but I’m not changing into sexy clothes. You’re getting yoga pants and messy bun Maddie.”

  “I can’t wait. Get your cute, messy bun over here.”

  “’Kay. I’m on my way.”

  I hit the red button and waited impatiently for Maddie to arrive. After a few minutes, I had to curb the impulse to march over there and drag her to my place. She probably had to pack a few things. Instead, I grabbed my tablet and ordered a pizza from Maddie’s favorite pizza joint—Uncle Vito’s—and her favorite pie—tomato pesto—and an order of Thai chili fries. Then I waited. Impatiently.

  The second her knuckles landed on my door, I ripped it open and pulled her into my arms.

  “Wha—umph.”

  She was rigid at first, but after a few breaths she sank into me, and I just held her. I didn’t know what was going on with her and her friends. She’d tell me when she was ready. Or not. But I could do this much.

  After a few moments, she took a step back and smiled up at me. “Thank you, Nathan. I had no idea how much I needed that.”

  “That’s what I’m here for. You want to talk about what happened?”

  She shook her head.

  “Did you tell them about us?”

  She shook her head again.

  “You want something to drink?”

  She tipped her head as she thought about it, and finally she nodded.

  “You going to use words or are we starting a game of charades here
?”

  Her giggle lit me up. “Only if you go first.”

  “Sorry, that’s not my rule. Ladies first. Always. Sometimes more than once before I go.”

  She ducked her head like I’d embarrassed her then shot me a coy look. Something about the way her chocolate hair was all gathered up on the top of her head made it look a thousand times more inviting than she probably intended.

  Still.

  I reached behind me and threw the deadbolt home.

  Her eyes sparkled as she took a few steps backwards—toward my hallway and my bedroom beyond. I slowly stalked her, copying her movements. Two more steps and she gave a shriek, dropped her oversized purse, and whirled around to run away. I gave a muted roar and followed.

  I ran her down in my bedroom.

  “Got you where I want you,” I murmured as I cornered her, shutting the door behind me.

  “Now you’re going to eat me?” She purred back with her eyebrows raised.

  “Sounds about right.”

  I grinned at the whoop she made as I picked her up and tossed her onto my bed. She sat up and pulled her shirt over her head then tossed it over the edge of the bed. Her bra followed a few seconds later. I was working on her pants when she placed a hand on my chest and pushed me away.

  “What’s—”

  “I like your idea and all.” She interrupted me. “But I think it’s my turn to lick you.”

  I raised my hands and smiled. “Who am I to say no to that charming offer? Do I look stupid to you?”

  Maddie rolled her eyes and smirked.

  I laughed as I pivoted to recline next to her on my bed. “Better yet, don’t answer that. I’m just gonna lie back and let you do your thing.”

  “My thing, being you?” Maddie murmured as she sat up next to me and ran a hand down my chest to my pants.

  “I’m not saying anything. I don’t want to fuck this up.” My breath hissed through my teeth when her teasing hands opened my fly and dove inside. I was already hard and throbbing. Just the thought alone of having her mouth on me had me aching and ready to come. Dammit.