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Authors: Shannon Stacey
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answer.”
He didn’t even want to imagine Kate and Brittany’s reaction to finding out their best friend had spent the night with the guy who’d broken her heart. Of course theirs had been the shoulders she’d cried on, and they wouldn’t easily forgive him the hurt he’d inflicted on Del. “I get that.”
“Can I ask you a personal question before I go?”
Brendan arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s probably a standard for how many times you’ve been naked with a person before you stop asking if you can ask a personal question. I don’t know what it is, but I’m pretty sure we’ve blown by it.”
“That’s true. Janie said you stay on the local MMA circuit and don’t chase after big fights, even when you have a win. How come you don’t try to moveup the ranks?”
It wasn’t something he usually talked about. Eric and Jonathan knew, of course, and they rarely pressured him to change his mind, but very few other people knew. But this was Del, so he braced himself and told her the truth. “I was working toward that goal. I was saving money and trying to decide which of the big city gym trainers I wanted to work with when Garrett spun outon black ice and didn’t make it. That was two years ago.”
Even though he expected it, her gasp and the way she covered her mouth with her hand still unnerved him. One of the reasons he rarely talked about his brother was because he ended up not knowing what to say to comfort other people and that seemed weird to him. “I’m sorry, Brendan. I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t.” She’dspent some time with his parents, but she hadn’t known Garrett well. They’d only met a couple of times, mostly in passing. “He’d been helping Dad run the company, so I had to step in there. And I definitely couldn’t leave my mom because she was devastated, of course, so here I am. Two years later, the company’s doing well, my parents are okay and I get to fight when I feel like it.”
“Whydidn’t you tell me about your brother when I asked you about your family last night?”
“I didn’t want to talk about my family. I wanted to talk about you.” He pushed her hair back from her face, trying to smooth it out a little. “If you don’t want Brittany asking questions, you should go.”
“I really should. And you should go let your people take care of you. Promise?”
“I promise.Text me tomorrow,” he said.
“I will.” She kissed him on the side of his mouth, avoiding the split he barely noticed on the other side, and then she was gone.
After the door closed behind Del, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against the steel. He needed to rejoin the others and let Eric check him out. It was a big win for all of them and he shouldn’t have skipped out on thecelebration, but his heart wasn’t really in it.
His heart was with the woman who’d just left and even though he was going to have to say goodbye to her tomorrow, he let himself hope that this time he’d be stepping into the possibility of a future with her and not away from it.
Chapter Five
Del got to her room just in time to strip off the Brendan Quinn T-shirt and jeans—shoving them into her laundry bag—and pull on the bathrobe before there was a knock on the door at the same time her phone chimed.
It’s me.
She still looked through the peephole out of habit, and then flipped the security bar to let Brittany in. “You made it!”
They huggedand then Del stepped back to get a good look at her friend. Night owl or not, Brittany looked tired, but other than that she looked great. She was a brunette like Del, but she kept her hair short. She was thin like Kate, though having twin daughters had left her with a few more pounds than she’d weighed in college. Del thought it looked good on her and, according to Brittany, so did her husband.
“How are the girls?” she asked as Brittany made herself comfortable, sitting cross-legged on the bed.
“Great. Growing like
He didn’t even want to imagine Kate and Brittany’s reaction to finding out their best friend had spent the night with the guy who’d broken her heart. Of course theirs had been the shoulders she’d cried on, and they wouldn’t easily forgive him the hurt he’d inflicted on Del. “I get that.”
“Can I ask you a personal question before I go?”
Brendan arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s probably a standard for how many times you’ve been naked with a person before you stop asking if you can ask a personal question. I don’t know what it is, but I’m pretty sure we’ve blown by it.”
“That’s true. Janie said you stay on the local MMA circuit and don’t chase after big fights, even when you have a win. How come you don’t try to moveup the ranks?”
It wasn’t something he usually talked about. Eric and Jonathan knew, of course, and they rarely pressured him to change his mind, but very few other people knew. But this was Del, so he braced himself and told her the truth. “I was working toward that goal. I was saving money and trying to decide which of the big city gym trainers I wanted to work with when Garrett spun outon black ice and didn’t make it. That was two years ago.”
Even though he expected it, her gasp and the way she covered her mouth with her hand still unnerved him. One of the reasons he rarely talked about his brother was because he ended up not knowing what to say to comfort other people and that seemed weird to him. “I’m sorry, Brendan. I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t.” She’dspent some time with his parents, but she hadn’t known Garrett well. They’d only met a couple of times, mostly in passing. “He’d been helping Dad run the company, so I had to step in there. And I definitely couldn’t leave my mom because she was devastated, of course, so here I am. Two years later, the company’s doing well, my parents are okay and I get to fight when I feel like it.”
“Whydidn’t you tell me about your brother when I asked you about your family last night?”
“I didn’t want to talk about my family. I wanted to talk about you.” He pushed her hair back from her face, trying to smooth it out a little. “If you don’t want Brittany asking questions, you should go.”
“I really should. And you should go let your people take care of you. Promise?”
“I promise.Text me tomorrow,” he said.
“I will.” She kissed him on the side of his mouth, avoiding the split he barely noticed on the other side, and then she was gone.
After the door closed behind Del, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against the steel. He needed to rejoin the others and let Eric check him out. It was a big win for all of them and he shouldn’t have skipped out on thecelebration, but his heart wasn’t really in it.
His heart was with the woman who’d just left and even though he was going to have to say goodbye to her tomorrow, he let himself hope that this time he’d be stepping into the possibility of a future with her and not away from it.
Chapter Five
Del got to her room just in time to strip off the Brendan Quinn T-shirt and jeans—shoving them into her laundry bag—and pull on the bathrobe before there was a knock on the door at the same time her phone chimed.
It’s me.
She still looked through the peephole out of habit, and then flipped the security bar to let Brittany in. “You made it!”
They huggedand then Del stepped back to get a good look at her friend. Night owl or not, Brittany looked tired, but other than that she looked great. She was a brunette like Del, but she kept her hair short. She was thin like Kate, though having twin daughters had left her with a few more pounds than she’d weighed in college. Del thought it looked good on her and, according to Brittany, so did her husband.
“How are the girls?” she asked as Brittany made herself comfortable, sitting cross-legged on the bed.
“Great. Growing like
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