Page 102 of Nothing to Win

Because if Gia met Alice Breckenridge as a potential daughter-in-law, she’d be lost for good.

“You want to do it yourself?”Tripp asked.“Looking for brownie points?Mom might name the next hospital after you, or do you want to be namesake for mine and Gia’s firstborn?”

Julius was all hilarity.

Brogan didn’t find it so funny.“You’re trying to piss me off, Priest.”

“No,” Tripp said, doing a good job of projecting innocence.“You broke up with Gianna, didn’t you?You broke up with her.”

“What the hell does—”

“Implies you were finished with her,” Julius explained.

“Finishing with a woman does imply you’re finished with her.”Tripp nodded.“You might not be compatible, but she’s very compatible with my family.”

“Compatible with your family,” Brogan said at the same time Tripp’s phone made a noise, causing him to take it from his pocket to check out the message.“But not compatible with you?”

Tripp typed a quick message into his phone.“Oh, I’m damn sure she’d be compatible with me… In fact, I’ve got to ask, what’s wrong with you?”

Julius laughed again.What the fuck was wrong with him?

“What’s wrong with me?”Brogan asked.

“Yeah, I saw you and Gia together.I’ve never seen you like that.Didn’t you tell him he was in love with her, Julius?”

“Oh, I did,” Julius said.“I tried.”

Brogan couldn’t force himself out of Tripp’s line of sight even when the guy patted him on the shoulder.

Smiling, Tripp pushed back in his chair.“It’s okay, buddy.I’ve got to say, it worked out for me, so…”

That made no fucking sense—his favorite scent distracted him.

Gia.She came to a stop behind his seat.

“Where have you been?”Gia demanded of Tripp, once again ignoring him.

“Me?You’re the one who split.It’s rude to run out on a guy while he’s on the phone.”Tripp stood up, lacing his fingers with Gia’s.“We weren’t done.”

She grinned and raised her chin.Brogan didn’t like the way that move took Gia’s chest closer to Tripp’s.She wore some kind of cover-up thing; the bikini still beckoned beneath.

“No, we weren’t,” she murmured.“But you were rude to me.”

“Rude?”Tripp said.

The glint in his friend’s eye wound him up too.What the fuck?His jaw worked, tightening the clench of his teeth.He hadn’t known where Gia was all morning.It had torn him apart to think she might be with Gault; it hadn’t occurred to him to suspect one of his oldest friends.He hadn’t even known fucking Tripp Breckenridge was here.

“You said my panties were retro,” she said, amusing Tripp.“That means old-fashioned.”

“It does not!They were neon, Gia.Neon is retro.”

Nodding, her lips were parted when she murmured an, “Uh huh.Neon’s coming back.”

“Says who?”

“Roxie.”

Tripp scoffed.“Oh, and the empress knows?”