38. Kian

38

KIAN

I could be sitting opposite Lorelei in a restaurant right now, trying to figure out the best way to score myself an invite into her apartment so that our night doesn't have to end at the entrance to her building like our afternoon did.

But no. Instead, I'm sitting in a hospital with one of my little sisters while the other has her ankle x-rayed. Mom is with Kenzie, and I was called in to keep Tilly entertained.

I don't mind. I love my irritating little sisters almost as much as I do my knuckle-headed brothers. But there are other things I could be doing right now than watching videos of the girls' cheer competition this afternoon that ended up with us here.

Kenzie is the flier, and well, let's just say that she didn't fly all too well when their stunt went wrong and she ended up crashing to the floor.

"We'd have won," Tilly complains for the fifth time. She's a year younger than Kenzie, but you wouldn't know it. They're exactly the same height and look almost identical. They get confused for twins on a daily basis. "All she had to do was hold that pose and we'd have smashed it."

"Next time, Tills," I say, hoping to pacify her.

"You should have come," she complains.

"Something came up. I'll be there for the next one," I promise.

"You said that about this one," she says sadly.

Guilt sits heavy in my stomach, and I hate myself for not putting them first.

I tell myself that Lorelei needed me after the elevator debacle the night before, but I'm pretty sure I'm lying to myself. Sure, she needed us to help get her out, but after that, she was more than capable of looking after herself.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Mom said you used to go to all Kieran's games as a kid. I know cheer isn't the same, but?—"

"I'll be there," I say, meaning every word of it.

Pulling my cell from my pocket, I open up my calendar.

"Give me the dates and locations. I'll make sure everything else is canceled. No matter where it is, I'll be there."

Her eyes light up with excitement before she begins rattling off dates and venues.

"I'll make sure my assistant knows that these trump everything else." Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pull her closer and press a kiss to the top of her head.

"Love you, Tilly-bob."

"Love you too. She's going to be okay, isn't she?"

"Of course she will."

"But if she's broken it then she won't be able to cheer."

"It'll heal, and then she'll be as good as new. And just think, in the time she's out, you can get even better," I say with a wink.

She smiles up at me with wide, dark eyes, and my heart tumbles.

These two little rugrats stole my heart from the moment they were born.

Our family might be a little disjointed, but when it counts, we all pull together. Even King, when he really has to.

I get it. His relationship with Mom is strained because he remembers more than Kieran and me. I'm pretty sure he'll always hold her infidelity against her. Me, though…sure, her cheating on Dad was wrong. But we don't know what their lives were like back then. Dad loved her, that's more than obvious, but love isn't always enough. We all know that.

She's happy with Neil. Probably happier than she would have been if she stayed with Dad. And Dad? He's…enjoying himself.

I figure that I either believe everything happened for a reason, or I'll end up all bitter and twisted about it like King.

I don't need that in my life. Nor do our sisters.

Our parents' decisions and mistakes are their own. At this point, the only person's actions who can influence my life are mine. Okay, and possibly a certain curly-haired woman I can't get out of my head.

When I glance over at Tilly, I find that she's distracted watching some other video on YouTube, and I take the opportunity to open my message thread with Lorelei.

She's read my message, but she hasn't responded.

I want to say I'm surprised, but I'm not.

She didn't want to go on this date tonight. She's probably feeling pretty smug about the fact that she got her way despite my slightly unethical win earlier.

I hate the thought of her sitting at home alone, thinking about the fun we could have been having.

Wanting to make it up to her, I find the phone number of one of my favorite restaurants and hit call.

"I've got to take this," I say, waving my cell in front of Tilly, not that she's paying any attention.

I make quick work of ordering each of my favorite dishes on the menu, along with a bottle of wine, before giving the guy on the phone Lorelei's address.

He promises me that it'll be delivered within the hour before I return to my seat and find myself dragged into some teenage YouTube drama.

Not the way I was expecting to spend my Saturday night.

" I 'm going to head out," I say, pushing from the chair I was sitting in next to Kenzie's bed.

Her x-ray showed that her break was worse than they were expecting, and she ended up in surgery having it pinned. Something that neither her nor her sister are happy with. It's going to put her out of action for months.

Neil, their dad, arrived an hour ago after being pulled from his golf weekend, and I can't help but feel like we're crowding Kenzie, who's still dozy from the anesthesia.

"Thank you for coming," a weak voice says from the bed.

"Anytime," I promise before glancing up at Tilly and smiling at her. "If you need anything, I'm only a phone call away."

"I'll walk you out," Mom says, her eyes dark with exhaustion.

"It's okay. I can manage. Rest," I say sternly.

But in true Mom style, she ignores me and quickly follows me out of the room.

"Mom," I warn.

"Thank you for coming to help me out."

I dropped everything the second she told me what was happening.

"That's what big brothers do," I say, but the second I look over and see dark shadows in her eyes, I know it was a mistake.

Like everyone else in the world, it doesn't escape me that she'd probably prefer to call King in a crisis. But unfortunately, she's stuck with me. We both know that as much as Kieran would love to drop everything and run to the girls' aid, he's always got something on. I get it. I do. But I also can't help but feel like she ends up stuck with me when she'd prefer one of the other two.

"I hope you didn't have to cancel anything important tonight."

"Nah, you know how it is," I say, playing it off.

"Oh no, how many hearts did I break tonight?"

"Mom," I faux-gasp. "It's only ever one at a time."

She pats me on the shoulder patronizingly. "Whatever you say, darling."

I roll my eyes but give up arguing.

"Well, whoever she is. I hope she understands that your little sisters needed you."

"I'm sure she will."

My cell burns a hole in my pocket as I think about Lorelei. She should have been delivered her dinner by now. I was hoping to have heard from her, or maybe the restaurant to tell me that she refused delivery.

"Go and enjoy the rest of your night," Mom says after giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Shaking my head, I make my way to my car, and the second I'm inside, I pull my cell from my pocket.

Nothing.

The urge to call her burns through me, but I resist.

I don't want to be that man.

I've made my move. Now I need to wait to see what hers will be.

Despite my body wanting to head across town to Lorelei's place, I let my head lead and drive home. Although, once I get there, I don't let myself up to the penthouse. Instead, I wander down the street to the bar.

I need a drink, and for some reason, I don't want to be alone quite yet.

The security guard sees me coming and lifts the rope so that I don't have to slow my stride.

"Evening, Kian. How lovely to see you."

"You too, Brian," I say before continuing.

The place is busy. Almost every table is full, and there are more customers than usual lining the bar.

I instantly regret my decision. Maybe hiding in my apartment would have been the best option.

"Mr. Callahan," the barman smiles when he spots me. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Missed you," I tease as I hop onto a barstool.

"Well, I'm honored. You usually have much more beautiful company on a Saturday night than me."

"Don't I fucking know it."

He smirks. "Usual?"

"You got it."

Spinning away from me, he grabs their finest bottle of scotch and pours me a more-than-generous measure.

"I hope that does what you need it to, man," he says as he places the glass before me.

I'm about to ask what he means, but he's already gone, serving others.

With a sigh, I pick up my glass and swirl the amber liquid around.

Maybe all the answers do lie at the bottom.

I quickly check my cell again in case I missed her message, but when I find nothing but work emails and other shit I don't care about right now, I lift my glass to my lips and swallow every drop.

Tucked at the end of the bar, I'm awarded some kind of privacy, allowing me to watch the comings and goings around me.

I watch the couples on dates and the friends having a long overdue catch-up. Thankfully, everyone leaves me alone to get lost in my own little world. I'm about to call it a night after my third scotch, but just as my feet hit the floor, the worst noise possible hits my ears.

"Kian Callahan. Well, I never."

Fuck.

My body acts of its own accord, and I spin around to face a woman I haven't seen for years.

We had a couple of nights together when we were younger, before she landed a job in Hollywood and disappeared to live the dream on the Golden Coast.

"Tia," I say, sounding much happier than I feel.

Women like her are the exact reason I proposed that fake relationship deal to Lorelei yesterday.

Tia's eyes glitter with excitement and ulterior motives as she moves closer, ready to kiss both of my cheeks.

"Honey, it has been way too long," she purrs, her hand gliding up my arm. We might have once been close, but we're hardly long-lost lovers.

I take a step back, but she follows.

"Can I buy you a drink?" she offers, noticing that my glass is empty. "We've got a lot of years to catch up on."

"I was just leaving."

"Aw, come on. Just one—for old time's sake."