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  She trusted him, and he broke that.

  Again.

  “Hey.”

  Jumping a bit, surprised, she looked over to find Mekena. “Hey, y’all are back already?”

  “Yeah, we got burgers, quick and easy. Plus, everyone wanted to come back and drink. I saw you and wanted to say hi before we went upstairs.”

  “Gotta get it in before curfew?”

  She smiled. “Yup.”

  “Well, don’t let me keep you.”

  “Oh, you’re not,” she said, waving her off. “Markus is outside with Jayden, on the phone with Lucy. She just found out she’s pregnant, and they’re trying to figure out a creative way to tell Benji.”

  Brie’s mouth dropped open as she aww’d loudly. “That’s so sweet!”

  “I know, we’re all pretty excited.”

  “That’s so cool you guys are so close like that.”

  “Yeah, the Sinclair family is amazing. I love it, and they treat me like I’m a part of them, so it’s nice.”

  “I bet.” Brie was grinning from ear to ear. She loved Benji and his wife, Lucy. They had a little girl, and they were the epitome of love. Benji just loved his girls, and to know they could have another one or a little boy… Ugh, it just made her ovaries cry. Then it hit her, and she lit up. “You know what you should do? Remember how you did their family pictures, and Angie held the sign ‘Marry Benji’ or whatever it said?”

  Mekena’s eyes sparkled. “Yes!”

  “They should do that, but this time it should say that he’s gonna be a dad!”

  “You are a fucking genius,” she said with a little hop. “I’m gonna go tell them. I’ll holler at you later.”

  “Yeah, go!”

  Mekena started to run off, but then she came back. “Are you okay? You seem upset.”

  Brie laughed. “I’m fine. Go, this is way more important than my drama.”

  Her smile dropped. “Rod’s okay, right?”

  “He’s fine. Promise. Sleeping problems, but fine.” Mekena eyed her, and Brie waved her off. “Really, go, Mekena.”

  “Okay, we’ll talk later.”

  “Promise.”

  Satisfied with that, Mekena turned and ran off, leaving Brie to feel good about herself. She might be extremely upset over her own clusterfuck of a nonexistent love life, but at least she could help others. She was amazing. Vaughn’s loss.

  Douche.

  Shaking her head, she went back to eating her meal and watching the Minnesota game on TV. As she drank and ate, it felt good to have some peace and quiet. She had been going a thousand miles an hour since she had come to California for the Assassins’ West Coast trip, and she was just tired. Plus, she was mentally exhausted from trying to figure out what the hell was going on with Vaughn. She picked up her phone a billion times to text him, but she never did. She felt like he walked out on her, so why should she chase him? He should be chasing her. She was chaseable.

  Asshole.

  Leaning on her hand, she finished off the glass of wine she had and then set it down before looking for the bartender. She should probably go upstairs, go to sleep, but what else did she have to do? She’d probably just sit in her room alone. At least at the bar, she had wine on demand. When the bartender saw her, he smiled and started for her. But when he moved, she found that he had been blocking Vaughn, who was sitting across the square-shaped bar, with Jensen beside him. Vaughn looked up at that second, his eyes meeting hers, and she paused, her heart jumping up into her throat.

  Thankfully, the bartender stopped in front of her, blocking Vaughn. “Another?”

  She should say no. Go to her room. “Yes.”

  He smiled before walking away to refill her glass, and her eyes met Vaughn’s once more. Heat traveled down through her chest and right between her legs as their gazes stayed locked. Her eyes were challenging. She wanted to know what he would do, and she wanted him to know she was pissed.

  “Hey.”

  She was surprised he spoke. “Hey.”

  He nodded, looking away, and she wanted to cry out in victory at winning their staring contest that she had made up in her head.

  “Hey, Brie,” Jensen called over, and she smiled.

  “Hey.”

  “You look lonely.”

  She laughed as her glass was put in front of her. “Nah, it’s me and my wine. Happy campers.”

  Jensen smiled awkwardly, and she rolled her eyes. He probably knew everything, which was downright embarrassing. Taking a sip, she looked over to Vaughn as he ran his hand over his mouth before standing. So he was going to run off? Whatever, he was such a fucking—

  But when he started to walk, he didn’t go toward the lobby. Instead, he came around the bar and stopped beside her. Leaning on the bar, he looked across at Jensen, who he held his hands up as he said, “Fine, I’m going.”

  Shaking his head, Vaughn looked at Brie and then up at the TV. “Hey.”

  “Hey, once more.”

  “How’s Rodney?”

  “He’s fine.”

  Silence fell, but the heat between them was undeniable. She was pretty sure she was about to start sweating as she could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. She wanted so badly to reach out, move his hair over into his eyes before smothering him with kisses. But she refrained. He owed her an apology, and she wasn’t going to give him any sort of help on that matter. “Trish is there right now,” he said.

  “I know. I hear I should thank you for that.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t.”

  “I wasn’t going to.”

  He scoffed at that, his lips curving as he nodded. “So, you’re pissed, I see. Since you haven’t talked to me since Sunday.”

  “I haven’t talked to you?” She laughed. “You’ve avoided me like the plague, JoHo. I can’t make someone talk to me who doesn’t want to.”

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Then why haven’t you?”

  He shrugged, his eyes on the TV. “I feel like an ass.”

  “You are an ass.”

  His grin grew. “I’m sorry.”

  She rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to apologize, you’d better look me in the eye when you do it.”

  With his grin still intact, he turned, his eyes meeting hers. “Brie.”

  “Yes, Vaughn?”

  “I apologize for being an ass and running out on you on Sunday.”

  Her eyes held his. She wanted to tell him to fuck off; she did. Instead, she asked, “What made you run? Was I bad?”

  His eyes fell shut. “No, you were…fucking amazing.”

  “Then why did you run?”

  “I got spooked.”

  “Spooked?”

  “Yeah, too much at once.”

  She understood that. It was a lot. A lot of feelings she hadn’t ever experienced. To know he felt them too made her giddy inside as she nodded. “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” he asked, drawing it out, and she smiled, nodding her head.

  “Yeah.”

  His eyes turned playful as his lips quirked. “Kiss me.”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause I’m still mad.”

  Chuckling, he leaned in, his lips caressing her ear. “Want to go upstairs, and I’ll kiss away all that anger in the spot you love it most?”

  Looking ahead, she said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  His hand snaked into her lap, and she jumped, her breath catching. “You know exactly what I mean, Soledad. Come with me.”

  “Where?”

  “To your room.”

  “My room? So you can run off again? Been there, done that.”

  He chuckled against her ear. “I won’t run, but I will walk away slowly when it’s time for me to go.”

  Unable to hold it in, she sputtered with laughter as she shook her head. As her laughter died out, she turned her head, looking at him. His eyes were so playfu