Page 49 of Love: Take Two

"Pouting? What am I, thirteen?"

"Well, something's off," Henry insists. "Spit it out, or I'll tell everyone about the 'energy drink incident'."

I gasp.He wouldn't dare!

"You swore you'd take that to the grave!" I protest.

Years ago, I pounded four energy drinks to stay up partying with some models in Palm Springs. Coachella had just wrapped up the day before, and I would've been dead on my feet without it.

Everything was fine for the first two stops of our impromptu pub crawl; I was my usual charismatic self, and one of the women was even looking for representation. But as we walked into the third, I broke into a run, shoulder-checking the bouncer and barely making it to the bathroom before all that caffeine made its escape.

I had to bribe the bathroom attendant a hundred bucks to get me a new pair of pants, and I snuck out the back entrance rather than face the models in the gray sweats I ended up in.

Henry raises an eyebrow in challenge.Fuck!He knows the brothers would never let me live a story like that down, which is exactly why I swore him to secrecy. So much for "twin code".

"Fine!" I growl. "It's just something going on at work."

They look at me expectantly. When I don't continue, Henry smiles and swivels in his seat to face Damon, Cory, and Adam.

"Do you know why they warn you not to drink more than two cans of energy drinks in a day? It's not just the heart palpitations."

I slap my hand over Henry's mouth before he can continue.

"You're a real dick. You know that?" He just folds his arms, not even bothering to remove my hand.

He's well within his rights to tell my secret, considering I blurted out one of his when he and Camila first started dating. I didn't mean to tell the brothers about what went down with his ex-turned-client, Naomi. I also didn't realize he was the type to get even.

"Me and Tabitha Styles's lawyer have…history," I admit begrudgingly. "We had a few classes together in college. We used to study together…and we hooked up."

"And?" Damon asks, obviously confused.

"Yeah, that doesn't explain why you're stinking up the place with your bad attitude," Cory adds.

I miss when Cory was just a one-dimensional dick. Ever since he got together with Denise, he's been unnervingly perceptive, calling us all on our shit.

"We may not have left on the best of terms," I grumble, and Henry raises both eyebrows this time.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" I sneer back, my hackles raised.

Henry has always been a clone of Dad. Straight A's in high school and college. Following in Dad's footsteps to become a top attorney. But I don't need Dad's disapproving scowl right now. I need my brothers.

Or maybe I don't. Maybe they've got their women and are fine to leave me on my own…

"Why don't we try to bring things down a notch?" Adam suggests. Around the bar, a few other patrons have noticed our conversation.

"I didn't do anything," I say again, trying to keep my voice low. "We hooked up. She knew the deal ahead of time, then got mad when I didn't give her hearts and poetry. I thought it best we make a clean break so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. But then, twenty years later, she shows up with Tabitha, and I have to see her every fucking day!" I finish, exasperated.

"Tabitha Styles…" Henry murmurs, like he's trying to remember something. "You used to date Awa Faye?"

Of coursehe knows her. Because fuck my life.

"We never dated. We hooked up.Once!She got the wrong idea."

I left out that, for those few hours that we cuddled in her tiny bed, I had the wrong idea too. Until I got my head screwed on straight. I didn't date. I didn't have girlfriends. I couldn't keep seeing her without hurting her, so I had to leave.

"I'm guessing," Cory cuts in, "that the reason you look like you might punch a wall is because you want to date her now?"