Page 48 of Heartsmashed
Hudson didn’t flinch. “Where did you meet Sawyer?”
“Hotel lounge.” Technically true.
“Which hotel?” Drew asked.
“Greenwich.”
Hudson and Drew exchanged a glance, and then Hudson was back acting as the firing squad. “What do you do for work?”
“Sports therapist.” Thank God for easy questions. While it was also technically true, Sawyer didn’t know that, but I couldn’t exactly say “escort,” could I?
Hudson’s gaze flicked briefly toward the DJ table then back to me. “Would you say things have been good?”
“It’s early days, but…yes.”
“I ask because Sawyer’s been in a bit of a…”
“Funk?” Rome said.
“Downward spiral?” Drew supplied.
“Yes.” Hudson nodded in agreement. “So don’t you think it’s strange that if he’s in a new relationship he’d be so upset over the old one? And in all the time you’ve known him, he’s never mentioned you?”
“Unless”—Rome pointed at his brother with the end of his swizzle stick—“Sawyer’s borrowed some of my incredible acting skills to keep us in the dark until he could surprise us.”
“Hold on, have you met Sawyer?” Drew said. “Heart-on-his-sleeve Sawyer, who couldn’t keep a secret if he tried?”
Rome directed his swizzle stick at me. “Hello? Secret boyfriend. Standing right here.”
All three of them turned to face me again, and I had to admit, this was entertaining. I was glad Sawyer had a protective trio grilling his date; I only wished they’d been harder on Peter.
“Wasn’t really my call,” I said before sipping on my drink—if you could call it that. It was like a fruit cocktail with a splash of alcohol.
Rome tilted his head, studying me. “You’re not nervous.”
“Should I be?”
“Most people are.”
“Was Peter?”
That had all of them stopping in their tracks. Mouths snapping shut, looks exchanged.
That’s what I thought.
“Maybe you should direct some of this energy to the one who broke his heart, not the one who’s here now,” I said casually. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but the fact that I’d tracked Peter when we walked in and he kept looking in Sawyer’s direction told me he was trying to look for an in.
“You like him.” Hudson’s voice was softer, his eyes studying me, and I didn’t back down from his gaze.
“I do.”
There was a beat of silence, and then Rome let out a low whistle. “Shit, he’s in deep. What exactly are your intentions with our brother?”
There it was. The real question. The only one that mattered.
“My intentions are the same as his,” I said.
“And that is?”
