30. April

CHAPTER THIRTY

april

Why the hell did that murderous look from Liam make me let go of Preston like he was on fire? I thought a day without seeing Liam might help loosen the hold he has on me, but clearly not.

He's coming my way, so I brace myself and stand as tall as I can.

I will not be fazed by him, I will not be fazed by him , I repeat to myself as a mantra.

"Good evening. Max, doctors." Liam shakes Max's and Dom's hands, offers me a champagne flute, and kisses me on the cheek with a hand on my waist and a wandering thumb over my belly. I feel it in my skin; like there wasn't any fabric between us. His finger leaves a burning sensation in its path long after it's gone.

He turns to Preston with a sly little smile. "I don't believe we have been introduced. Liam Gunn."

I make the introductions with a show of my free hand, poker face in play, pretending Pres isn't privy to at least half of what happened between Liam and I.

"Liam Gunn, this is Dr. Preston Jett. He's the ortho consultant at HSS, aka, my boss back in NY. We operated on Max together. Preston, this is Liam Gunn. He owns the club."

Liam's hand halts in the middle of the handshake. " You're Dr. Jett? Nice to put a face to the name." His arm regains movement, but he doesn't look nice at all.

My head turns from one to the other and back again, waiting for someone to volunteer an explanation.

"Gunn flew me in today to show a united front at the press conference."

I stare at Liam, mouth agape. And how convenient of Pres to skip that detail before. The son of a bitch let me think the hospital had sent him.

Liam watches me with an inquisitive face. "So he's your boss?"

What? Why's that surprising?

"Yes, my boss. My mentor," I add. Jett puts his arm around my neck, pulls me in, and kisses my forehead. "Soon enough, you'll be introducing me to people as your colleague, baby girl."

At the sound of "baby girl" Liam chokes on his whiskey and almost coughs a lung out. Whiskey actually comes out of his nose.

Oh. My. God. Is he jealous of Pres? I press my lips together as tight as I can so I won't laugh. This is hilarious.

Poor Max comes to Liam's rescue and slaps his back until Liam catches his breath again. He grunts, adjusts his collar, and most likely gathers his pride before he speaks again. "My apologies. Whiskey went down the wrong pipe."

Pres still has his arm around my shoulders and I'm up to no good when I link my hands around his waist to bring him closer. "Awww, you're too good to me, Jett."

Liam's eyebrows furrow so deep that I don't think any amount of Botox could erase those marks. I can't help but enjoy this situation. It gives me a false but welcome sense of control back.

A handsome man joins the group and asks if Max regrets not joining Arsenal yet. They laugh and joke around before Liam introduces him as his brother, Noah Gunn. Of course he is, I can see it now.

He's not as tall or big as Liam, but he's just as gorgeous. He keeps a clean shave and has short hair, lighter in color. They share the same Greek god nose and caramel eyes.

Noah seems more fun and outgoing, though. He hasn't stopped smiling and making others laugh since he joined our group. His presence is not as overwhelming as his brother, but yeah, that might be just me.

He shakes everyone's hands and exchanges niceties. When he gets to me, he brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. He has a knowing smile that tells me he's heard all about me. Goodness, I hope not all-all.

A red dress doesn't seem like a wise choice right now, as I feel my face heating up, making me wonder if I look like a damn chameleon mid-camouflage.

Liam grabs his brother's shoulders a little too hard and Noah drops my hand. I smile at the not so discreet maneuver and look up at Preston to see if he's caught any of that. He did. Oh boy, he did.

"If you could excuse us, I need to catch up with April before the interview." Pres lowers his hand to my waist and walks me to the other side of the room.

"Anything you feel like telling me, A?" The accusation in his tone makes me shrink. "Did I play a good part as your prop?" Okay, now he lost me.

"Prop?"

"Yeah, you were using me to make your boyfriend jealous back there, and I played along." My face jerks to the side—a fitting reaction, since I feel like I just got bitch-slapped.

But it doesn't last long. I face him, head held high, and give it as good as I get. "You were getting a kick out of pissing him off, too, Preston. Come to think of it, you started the show, and I went along with it." He gets more pissed, because he knows I'm right.

A waiter passes by and Pres grabs a glass that he gulps down so fast, I don't even register what was inside it. Did he?

"What the fuck, Jett? We're going on live TV in a matter of minutes," I whisper shout at him.

"I'll be fine. It'll help take the edge off." He waves a hand to dismiss my worry. "You told me it was a one-time thing. And you've never lied to me before, April." To a passerby, he might come across as a jealous man. But those who know us would see what I see—Pres is just acting like a concerned and caring father. Like the one I never had. "Were you ever going to tell me the truth?" Where is that waiter? That drink clearly didn't help .

"For fuck's sake, Dad . Bring it down a notch, will you?" I try to lighten the mood. "It just happened yesterday, when my whole life was getting fucked over too, so it seemed fitting." I plaster a smile on my face, trying to cut through this tense as fuck atmosphere with some awkward humor. The edges of his mouth twitch upwards and I take it as a win.

"I could really use a friend right now, not an overbearing father." I give him my best puppy eyes and he pulls me into a hug. "Perfect. Now. Is Liam watching? Can you see foam coming out of his mouth?"

"You asshole." He pushes me away and messes with my perfectly styled hair.

"Hey, this took hours," I cry as I push the pins back in until they pinch my skull.

"Okay, one more round of fatherly advice and I'll zip it. Deal?"

"Deal." Fists up in the air, I jump from foot to foot like a boxer in the ring. "Hit me."

"Be careful." His tone carries more warning than his words. "You're the one who's got something to lose." My shoulders slump with this reality check. "Be very careful not to let word get out. You don't want to jeopardize your name and career because of him. I don't know if I can help you again if whatever is going on between you two hits the newspapers."

"I will."

"Put yourself and your job first. Promise?" he asks, as if that wasn't already my mantra in life.

"Yeeesss, Daaaddy." I elongate the vowels and make the nasal, bratty voice I know he hates.

And that's when I feel a spray of liquid soak my sleeve. I look to my left to find Liam coughing and Noah roaring a raucous laugh. I didn't even see them coming our way. That makes it the second time whiskey comes flying out of Liam's nose tonight.

"Told you so!" I catch Noah telling Liam as he slaps his brother on his back.

Liam's still catching up his breath, his face bright red. But I can't tell if it's the choking, or anger painting his skin.