“Excuse me, Adelaide?” the older of the two asks softly. Her light eyes go from me to Daire, something familiar flashing in them as her cheeks flush.
Lust.
I know the look well because it’s how I look at him, and that does something stupid to the pit of my stomach.
“Hi!” My gaze goes from the mom to the little girl who’s partially hidden behind the pantleg of her mother. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
The little girl’s head tilts up to her mother for permission to answer before they turn back to me. “Cassie.”
The mom rubs her daughter’s hair. “She’s been a huge fan of you since Elemental High. I swear when she saw you walk in with your boyfriend—” Her cheeks grow darker as they give the ink displayed on Daire’s arms a quick look. It’s totally unfair for him to look the way he does. As soon as we were seated, he slipped off his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his button down to his elbows to reveal the black ink that I know go all the way to his shoulders. “—she nearly lost it. She drew you something.”
Cassie hands me a folded piece of paper with crayon scribbles and nearly illegible words across the front. She goes back to being shy, hiding behind her mom’s legs.
“This is so pretty, Cassie,” I tell her softly. Based on Daire’s appraisal of the drawing, he doesn’t agree.
I lightly kick his shin under the table, so he doesn’t end up hurting the poor girl’s feelings. She’s young—younger than the usual audience for my former TV show. I’m sure the things I drew at her age were way worse.
Cassie’s mom gives me a sheepish smile, then steals another glance in Daire’s direction, who has one of those thick arms thrown over the back of his seat. She quickly turns back to me. “Would you mind if she got a picture with you? It’d mean the world to her.”
My money is on it meaning a lot more to the group of soccer moms that she’s going to be sharing that picture with online as soon as she puts her daughter to bed tonight. I keep that to myself, though, as I carefully slide out of the booth and get to Cassie’s level as her mother takes a few photos.
After they leave, I sit back down and let my eyes trail over to my discarded cell. The screen lights up with notifications from various social media accounts of mine, but none from any messages left by Noah.
“Trust me,” Dairen says, tipping his chin toward the device I’m scowling at. “He’s not worth it.”
I shake my head, digging back into the nachos to console my hurt feelings. “It’s been years, Daire. Why do you still hate him so much?”
“Hate is a strong word…”
“But is it an unfitting one?”
He levels me with a narrowed glare. “If the roles were reversed, how would you feel if you were in my shoes? I had everything taken away from me, Adelaide. I worked my ass off for it all to be stripped from me before it ever really started.”
I imagine that doesn’t feel good. “But you still play. You coach. You—”
“I do those things because it’s all I can do. Showing off a few moves to high school hopefuls is hardly anything compared to what I used to be able to do out there. Don’t think I don’t remember how many times you’d be there watching my games. You remember how good I was.”
I sink into my seat a little. “Yeah, I remember.” My cheeks prickle with heat. “I’m sure you still are.”
“But you wouldn’t know that, would you?” he questions, settling guilt into my gut. “I never see you at any of the games I coach. Never seen you check out my new place ever since I got it. Strange, isn’t it?”
“What?” I ask quietly.
“How you could show up at my hotel room almost every single night when I was injured, but not after you kissed me. Not after I was finally better. After my career was done.”
My eyes widen.
Oh my God, he went there.
“Dairen—”
“I bet that wasn’t the only thing you were hoping for that night, though, was it?” he guesses, eyebrow quirking up as a knowing grin curls half of his lips. “You wanted me to be your first kiss, and probably your first—”
“Keep your voice down,” I hiss, cheeks turning crimson as a waitress walks by our table with a tray full of dirty dishes.
“Afraid people will find out you want a little revenge dicking?” he asks in obvious amusement over my humiliation. “Or are you afraid they’ll find out you’ve wanted to fuck your boyfriend’s brother for a long time now? Hmm? That probably wouldn’t look good in the press.”
“Is that a threat?”
Snorting, he shakes his head. “Nah. You’d know if I was threatening you.”
“What the hell is your problem?” What did I ever do to him?
“Is acting what you always wanted to do?” is how he replies.
I stare at him cautiously, knowing he already knows that answer. “Yes…”
“Well, I was never interested. Ever.” He stretches his long legs out, bumping his big feet with my bare ones and not caring that he’s invading my space. “I couldn’t stand the thought of it. Noah always liked the attention. Auditioning for plays, singing in front of a camera, anything that would draw people to him. You know that. He’s an attention seeker of epic proportions, and mom banked on that.”
I’m quiet, watching him with interest.
“I liked sports. Liked it way more than I do now. I enjoyed putting on skates and hitting the ice, smacking around a puck and a few guys, and scoring. That was my thing. My passion. My dream. Just like acting is yours and Noah’s.”
His eyes trail somewhere off in space. “Do you know that it’s competitive as hell to get interest from professional teams? Athletes who get drafted are some of the best ones in the country. You need to be in damn good shape, fast, and ready to be pounded out there in front of everybody watching. I was about to show my family just how much I was worth. Earn my own damn money from the work I put in despite them missing games, championships, and award ceremonies for Noah’s shit. I was this fucking close from proving what I was worth when Noah took that all away. Everything.”
His palm scrubs at his ticking jaw before he drops it down on the table, bending those long fingers into a fist. “Did you know that Mom wanted me to work with Noah? Work for him? She thought the Scott brothers could be in business. One big happy family.”
I didn’t know that.
“He ruined my life and never even apologized for it, Adelaide. Then he wanted me to work for him. That’s my fucking problem.”
I have no idea what I could possibly say, so I sit back and fiddle with my fingers and let the bustle of our surroundings fill the silence in our booth.
Daire drops his arm from the back of the booth and leans forward. “Did he tell you he was bailing on you tonight? Tell you that he was sending a replacement?” When I shake my head, he doesn’t stop there. “Did he apologize once for ditching you? Give you any explanation as to why he couldn’t take one night off work to be with his girl?”
My mouth twists and gaze dips to the blank screen once more, defeat clouding my rational thoughts.
I’m hurt. Plain and simple.