“How did the weekend go?” Ethan asks.
I take a sip of my beer, guilt gripping my chest like a vise. I’ll tell him eventually. Tell him everything, but not now, damn it.
Not when I have one more blissful day with Mariana.
Tomorrow.
“Fine,” I say, the word surprisingly smooth on my lips. Deception has gotten much easier these past few weeks.
Ethan’s quiet for a long moment. Maybe my lie wasn’t as convincing as I thought. “Even though you were with Mariana for forty-eight hours?”
I take a sip of my beer and glance at the basketball game on the screen high above us. “It was a busy trip. I was speaking most of the time.”
“You weren’t speaking at night.”
I set down my beer and pin him with a stare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His wide eyes tell me I overreacted. Fuck.
“Nothing.” He scratches the back of his head. “I just mean you had time to hang out with her. At dinner and… I don’t know. I really wasn’t implying anything. I know you’d never do that.”
My jaw clenches, and I look back at the screen, pretending to watch the game. Fuck, what will he think when I tell him?
Maybe I don’t have to. When I became a Christian, I opened up to him about the careless way I used to treat my sexual partners. I wanted him to see how Christ changed me.
What would he think, especially given what our worthless father has done?
A loud giggle resounds behind us, drawing Ethan’s attention. His confused expression fades. His posture stiffens, and his eyes grow alert. I’m thankful for the distraction.
I don’t want to have to answer the question I know he’s going to ask.
Not when I still have tomorrow. Eight precious hours of work.
“That’s Lily,” Ethan says, his voice hard. His gaze is still fixed on wherever the laughter is coming from.
“Oh.” A smile quirks at my lips. At least I’m not the only one pining over a woman I can’t have.
“Yes,” he grits out, those watchdog eyes darting over the scene. “She’s wasted and surrounded by men. And I do mean men. They don’t look like college students.”
I follow Ethan’s line of sight to a group at the bar. Three guys stand around a woman with bright-red hair. She releases another high-pitched giggle.
“She’s pretty,” I say.
“Yes,” he answers absently, his eyes fixed on Lily. “I need a favor.”
I frown. “What kind of favor?”
“I need you to walk over there and pretend to be her boyfriend.”
“What? Why can’t you do it?
His nostrils flare. “She’ll throw a fit if I do it, but with you, she’ll probably just be…confused.”
Ah. My sweet little brother, protecting the woman he wishes he didn’t want. What would I do if Mariana were wasted and surrounded by a bunch of creepy men?
Probably something stupid. Something that would wind me up in jail.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Make it seem like she’s your girlfriend and lead her outside. Use your pastor coaxing to get her to go home with you. I’ll order an Uber for her.”
I drain the last of my beer and set it back down on the counter. I turn to Ethan, holding his gaze. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Ethan’s shoulders visibly relax. “Thank you.”
After pushing off my chair, I make my way through the crowded bar. As I get closer, Lily’s giggles grow louder, and the three men surrounding her are closer than before. One of them has his hand on her lap, making my skin crawl. What if that were Mariana’s delicate thigh?
No wonder Ethan wants me to do this. I’d be far less calm right now if one of these men tried to touch my Mari.
I square my shoulders and take a deep breath, fixing a smile on my face as I approach. “Hey, love.”
Lily turns to look at me, her bright-red hair tumbling over her shoulders. Her eyes are wide and glazed. “Who are you?” The lilt of her voice tells me she likes what she sees.
Good. That’ll make it easier.
I shoot her a teasing smile. “We can play that game when we get home. You’ve had a few too many.”
She laughs again, this time into my chest, and it’s a relief to see the men backing off, each one looking down at their drink or phone, likely to avoid a confrontation. I don’t wait around to explain, leading Lily away from them and toward the exit.
With Lily leaning heavily against me, I walk her outside into the cool night air.
“So you’re my knight in shining armor?” she asks, the words thick with drink, “or were you just trying to get rid of the competition?”
“You’re going home,” Ethan says. “I’ve already called your roommate.”
Lily’s wide eyes dart to Ethan. “I should have known.”
“The Uber’s around the corner,” Ethan says, not meeting her gaze.
A saucy smile spreads over Lily’s face. “My lord and master, Ethan Harrington.”
Ethan only rolls his eyes, and I fight the urge to laugh. My poor brother. This one is even more trouble than Mariana.
He’s in for it.
The Uber comes shortly after, and I lead Lily to the car. She doesn’t put up any resistance, which is a relief. After the car drives off, I turn to Ethan. “You’ve done this before.”
His jaw is set. “She needs a lot of hand-holding. She’s a fucking mess.”
I pat his back. “You can’t take care of her forever. If you don’t want her for yourself, eventually you’re going to have to let someone else do this.”
He doesn’t seem to like that. His expression clouds over, and that same darkness fills me from the inside, threatening to burst its way out.
Let someone else take care of Mariana? Watch while he touches and kisses and protects her while I sit on the sidelines with her damn father?
The thought is agony.
