Page 118 of Secrets in the Deep

A shadow suddenly fell over her features. It came and went quickly. Then she was smiling again. “I like you too, by the way. You might just be my favorite. But we can never date.”

He choked on his beer. “What?”

“You’re my brother’s best friend.”

Okay, he’d bite. “And you don’t date your brother’s best friends?”

“Nope.” She sipped her drink again. “Because most boyfriends are temporary. My brother isn’t. He’s my only family.”

Zac’s brows flickered. “And you think relationships are messy.”

“Of course. People fall in love, they fall out of love, they move, they change their minds, they wake up one day and decide they want something different.”

“That’s a lot of pessimism.”

“And a lot of truth. I don’t want my brother to be stuck standing in the middle of it. I love him too much.”

One side of Zac’s mouth lifted. “You could be missing out on something really great.”

“He’s worth it. Wouldn’t you do the same for your sibling?”

“I don’t have any siblings.”

“Uh, you’re an only child. That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

She just grinned. “I’m going to the bathroom. You keep watching your man.”

She walked away and he had to force his eyes away from her. Fucking force them.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He scrubbed a hand over his face and looked back at Preston. He was trying to pull Faye onto the dance floor, but she wasn’t having it. The woman clearly wanted to leave.

He sipped his beer. After a few minutes, Nora came out of the bathroom. Her head was down when a guy cut her off partway to the bar.

Zac straightened. He wouldn’t even call him a man, he looked more like a child. How old was he?

He waited for Nora to turn him down and walk away, but when they seemed to get into an argument, two more kids the same age stepped up, surrounding her.

What the hell was she doing? He glanced at Preston, still with his group, before looking back at Nora.

Nora turned toward the bar and seemed to try to flag down Dusty. When she did, the kid who’d first approached her, shoved her.

The fuck?

Zac stormed across the bar and grabbed the kid. “What the hell are you doing?”

The boy’s eyes were glazed as he put up his hands. “Whoa, man, this woman and I were just trying to work something out.”

Zac’s eyes narrowed. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one.”

Nora scoffed. “He’s a kid. I can tell. And he was trying to hit on me. When I tried to call Dusty over, he shoved me.”

“Why you gotta say shit like that?” the kid growled.