When We Kiss by Darcy Burke

He ought to find that annoying—he hated when they made assumptions about him—but he found it oddly nice. Which was stupid because they absolutely were not paired off. Still, had someone picked up on their fling? He hadn’t thought so. Hell, for months after Alex’s death, everyone had been pretty sure Liam despised Aubrey. He’d certainly been awful enough to her at the reading of the trust.
    But all that had changed later that day when he’d gone to her office. Yeah, he’d been pissed all right. That hadn’t stopped him from having the most spontaneous and, frankly, exciting sex of his entire life.
    â€œHey, I need to talk to you,” Kyle said in a low voice. “That gal you were kissing last week. I know who she is.” The low pitch of his blond brows and the tight set of his mouth told Liam exactly what he thought of it, too.
    â€œI wasn’t kissing her.”
    Kyle blinked at him. “I was there, dude.”
    â€œShe kissed me. Big difference.”
    â€œSo you don’t have a thing with Whitney Parker? Because that would be . . . Dude, I don’t even know how to characterize it. Bad form, for sure.”
    Liam could simply confirm that he didn’t have a thing with Whitney—at least not currently—and that would be the end of the conversation. For now. What if Whitney decided to tell all? She’d already indicated she could be bought—rather, seduced—into complicity. He could see her blabbing their past fling just to be a pain in his ass.
    He took a deep breath and hoped he didn’t regret this. He couldn’t believe he was going to fess up to Kyle, of all people. “We used to hook up. Before . . . before Alex died.”
    Kyle’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
    Liam kept his voice low. He’d need to come clean with everyone, but not right now over dinner. And not with Aubrey sitting over there casting him intermittent glances that made him wonder what she was thinking. He turned his gaze from her, as if that simple movement could stave off temptation. It couldn’t.
    He looked at Kyle, who watched him intently. “Whenever I was in Ribbon Ridge, we got together. It wasn’t serious. She got clingy, so I ended it.”
    â€œWhat were you doing with her last week, then?” Kyle asked.
    Liam rolled his eyes. “She’s still clingy, if you want to know. I went to Ruckus and had a few drinks. She drove me home.”
    Kyle picked up a piece of pizza. “And laid one on you.”
    â€œLike I said, clingy. It’s not a big deal. Or a problem.” Liam didn’t like the look of uncertainty in Kyle’s blue-green eyes. “I’ll tell everyone, okay?”
    Kyle swallowed. “You should. It’s just good for everyone to be on the same page. You said she’s clingy. Does that mean she’s hung up? Like maybe her dad’s not the only one who feels scorned?”
    Liam picked up his plate and his beer. “How the hell should I know what’s going on in her twisted head?” Why didn’t he just say that he’d wondered the same thing? Because that would make it more true, and he didn’t want to think that he was somehow responsible for this bullshit and the trouble it was causing everyone. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more pissed off he got.
    Liam took his dinner and went to sit next to Aubrey.
    She leaned over and whispered, “Everything all right?”
    â€œFine.”
    â€œDidn’t look like it. You and Kyle aren’t arguing again, are you? I thought you two were finally getting along.”
    He peered at her. “When did you become so involved in my family?”
    Her eyes widened briefly before she turned her head to her plate. “Sorry.”
    Shit, he was a jerk. Kyle had riled him up. No, he couldn’t blame it on Kyle. Whitney riled him up. Whitney and her dad and their fucked-up vendetta. “No,