She laughed. “Yeah, I know. And to be honest, I’m less worried about making him happy than, you know, actually making the babies. I want some.”

It was a totally understandable desire—one Bri shared. “We’ll figure it out.”

Drew appeared in the doorway leading into the rest of the bar. “What are you two doing hiding in the hallway? Is this one of those girl bonding moments?” He glanced between them and brightened. “Or are you going to make out? Because I can get on board with that.”

“You’re a pig.” Avery let go of Bri and straightened her spine. Typical of her to show only a moment of weakness before charging on with life.

“Oink.” He met Bri’s gaze as Avery walked past, and she recognized the concern there he’d never let their friend see. Drew was great at distracting people with his dirty jokes and wry humor, but his carefree attitude masked a lot of things.

After the revelation with Ryan and his family’s past last night, she couldn’t help but wonder what else she didn’t know about Drew.

“What’s Avery’s problem?”

As if the thought of Ryan had conjured the man himself, his voice washed over her body, all warm, and deep, and decadent. Bri spun around, hating that he’d managed to sneak through the door and surprise her. Did he have to look so… God, there weren’t words for what he looked like.

He crossed the distance between them, worry written over his face. “Is she okay?”

Right. He wasn’t as affected by her presence as she was by his. Better to remember that if she was going to keep her panties where they belonged—something made more difficult by the way he seemed to care about Avery as much as his brother did, at least in his own way. She squared her shoulders and grabbed the balloons within easy reach. “She’ll be fine. She’s just going through a rough patch.”

Before he could ask her anything else to weaken her resolve, she hurried through the door and followed Drew and Avery into the bar.

…

She was afraid to be alone with him. He couldn’t decide if that counted as a victory or a defeat, so Ryan snatched up the rest of the balloons and walked into Chilly’s main room. He’d waited outside because he knew it was only a matter of time before his favorite little librarian showed up, though they’d been interrupted before things could get interesting. That was fine. He had all evening to push Bri’s buttons. He could be patient.

He searched for a chair, pleased to find the only open one sandwiched between Drew and Bri. She looked horrified when he settled into the seat beside her, purposely brushing against her side as he made himself comfortable. Good.

Avery’s dad waved from his place at the head of the table. “Hey, Ryan. Destroy anything since you’ve been back in town?”

Ryan sighed, and as everyone at the table laughed and laughed, he officially regretted coming home. His frustration peaked when he glanced at Bri. Her eyebrows were raised and a smirk twisted up one side of her lips. Of course she would sit there looking so damn superior—the entire room wasn’t laughing at her.

He reached under the table and squeezed her thigh. “Actually, yeah. I’ve been burning up some panties lately.”

Avery’s dad looked stunned, and her grandparents glared, but everyone else laughed. Everyone except Bri, who blushed a deep red and smacked his hand away. Good. She should know what it meant to be a resident of Wellingford. It wasn’t always a positive experience. He nodded at Avery’s sister, who sat across the table. “Hey, Alexis.”

“Hey.” She didn’t look much happier than Avery.

“How are things? When’s the wedding?”

If Bri’s elbow in his stomach wasn’t enough of a hint, the way Alexis looked sick told him he’d fucked up. She gave him a smile that was so fake his teeth hurt. “Eric and I didn’t work out.”

Ryan Flannery strikes again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.” She shot a look at her grandparents, and sighed. “Mostly okay. Excuse me, please.” Then she was gone, making her way in the direction of the bathroom.

He sat back, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. “I didn’t know,” he said again.

“It’s a recent thing. Don’t worry about it,” Drew said, then turned to field a question from Avery’s grandmother.

“You would have known if you weren’t so busy running away from this place.” Bri spoke so softly he almost didn’t catch her words.

“For the last time, I’m not running from anything.” He smoothed her hair off her shoulder. “I sure as hell didn’t run from you the other night.”

Bri huffed out a breath and reached for her water. She fumbled it, knocking the glass over—and into his lap. Ryan cursed and she stammered out something that might have been an apology, followed by, “I can’t believe this is happening.” She grabbed a handful of napkins from the dispenser in the middle of the table and started dabbing at his crotch.

He groaned, instantly going harder than a steel pike as she patted him. She was so busy trying to clean up her mess, she didn’t seem to realize what part of him she was spending so much time stroking until he cleared his throat.

Bri froze. “Oh crap.”

He pulled the wet napkins from her suddenly limp hands. “This was fun, but I can take it from here.”

Her goddamn perfume teased him much the same way her pink lips did, tantalizing and yet subtle. She finally looked at his face and frowned. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” He knew exactly what she meant, but he wanted to see if she’d actually call him out on it. “I didn’t knock over your water—you did.”

“You’re staring at me like you’re thinking—” She blushed and frowned harder. “Knock it off.”

“You’re projecting. I wonder why?” He abandoned the napkins and traced a finger up her thigh, chuckling when she shivered. “Could it be that you recently had your mind blown?”

She elbowed his side again. “Shut up. We’re in public.”

“That didn’t bother you the last time we were together.” Nor did his touch, since she hadn’t shoved away his hand yet. Interesting.

“Oh my God, will you stop talking?”

“It’s not my fault someone has their panties in a twist.” He trailed his hand higher than was proper and squeezed her thigh. A flush stole over her chest, creating a fascinating contrast to her white V-neck T-shirt.

She leaned in, kissably close. “Don’t think for a second that you had more than a passing effect on my panties.”

The heat and unmistakable challenge in her eyes was all too similar to the other night on the porch, right before she’d called his bluff and kissed him. It wouldn’t take much to shove her over the edge again. He opened his mouth, though he couldn’t say for sure if he was going to push her away or closer…

Drew cleared his throat. He leaned on the table, his gaze jumping from Ryan to Bri and back again. “Is there something I should know?”

“I…” She went red and then pale. “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.” And then she was gone, moving so quickly she was almost running.

“What the hell was that about?” Drew said, though his face said enough—he knew. Goddamn it. His brother shook his head. “You sure know how to clear a room—and you didn’t even use any stink bombs this time.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Ryan pushed out of his chair and headed for the door, cursing when his wet pants clung to his hips. Even as he pushed out into the cold night air, he told himself he wasn’t chasing Bri down. But when he saw her leaning against almost the same stretch of wall he had earlier, he walked over. “Listen—”

“No, you listen.” She stepped up and smacked her hands against his chest—and then left them there. “I don’t care what happened the other night. It’s not going to happen again.”

“Who said I wanted it to happen again?” He did, though. He wanted to kiss his way across the flushed skin of her chest and pull down her shirt to taste her nipples. Just one more time.

“Why, you!” She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. “You’re insufferable—an arrogant ass of a man and—”

“You want me.” He stepped into her and put his hands on her hips, mimicking the way they’d stood the other night before things got so out of control. Bri froze, her body tensed as if she couldn’t decide whether to kiss him or run back into the bar. He didn’t give her time to decide. He pulled her closer, until she could feel just how much she affected him. “You want me so bad, you can’t see straight. You’ve touched yourself thinking about me. And all you can think about is how badly you want to do it again.”

She licked her lips. “You have a very high opinion of yourself.”

“Am I wrong?” He reached down to cup her ass, grinding her against him, loving the way her lips parted in response. “Tell me I’m wrong and it’s done.”

She moved closer, her breasts pressing more firmly against his chest. “Stop talking and kiss me already.”

He crushed her against him, and it felt so terrifyingly good to take her mouth and have those luscious lips pressed against his again. They both groaned at the first stroke of tongue against tongue. Her arms went around his neck and he squeezed her ass. She may have been hell-bent on hiding beneath her frumpy sweaters and loose skirts, but her behind was goddamn biteable.

“Not here.”

She kissed him again before he could respond, and it took a truly outstanding amount of self-control to break it. “My SUV.”

“Okay.” She let him back them off the curb and to his vehicle. He had to release her long enough to open the door and climb into the driver’s seat, but then Ryan lifted her in with him. The large front seat gave her plenty of room to straddle his hips, and he groaned when she pressed against his cock.