Page 86 of Karma

“Or is it the kid who went to a party and never forgot it?” Ethan asked somberly.

Damn, but his eldest brother was perceptive. Dare glared at him. “Maybe it’s a mixture of all three. All I know is that nothing but trouble can happen at one of these high school parties.” He cocked his head to one side.

“Is it supervised, or is that a stupid question?” Nash asked.

“Not stupid, and surprisingly yes. The parents will be home.”

“Doesn’t matter. If they’re dumb enough to host a party with all the liability these days, I’m not sure that means squat.” Dare leaned his elbows on the cleared-off tabletop.

Ethan exhaled a long breath. “I still say I don’t think we have a choice. I’d rather she know she’s earned our trust. She’ll understand she can call us no matter what happens, and we’ll be there. Better than sneaking out like we used to do.”

Nash stretched his arms over his head and groaned. “Sorry, man,” he said to Dare. “I’m with Ethan. We have to let the kid spread her wings.”

Dare remained silent. Legally, he had no say. Ethan was her guardian, sharing decisions with Kelly. They’d all agreed to it. Dare was just lucky Ethan asked their opinion on big decisions for their new sister.

And maybe, given his background and what he saw on the job, he was ultrasensitive on the subject. “I don’t like it,” he muttered under his breath. “But I appreciate you asking our opinion anyway.”

“I’m not an idiot. I know what can happen at these things. I also know how Tess reacts when she’s feeling trapped and unhappy. I just want to give her a little freedom in exchange for how much she’s come around,” Ethan said.

Dare nodded. “I get it.” He did. But as he’d told Liza the other day, even though he understood, that didn’t mean he approved.

“So any luck tracking down Brian McKnight?” Nash asked, knowing when to change the subject.

Not that this topic was any better, Dare thought. “No. Not yet.”

“So you’re still staying with Liza then?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah.” And wasn’t that a treat? Ever since their terse talk in the car about her brother, he hadn’t had the time to back away so he could consider his options. Liza had done enough pulling back for both of them.

It was as if admitting his inability to truly accept the realities of her life had marked the end in her mind. He fucking hated the distance between them, both in bed and out. But he also knew how unfair it would be for him to push his way past her barriers only to end up back in the same argument later down the road.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Nash asked. “Everything okay with her?”

“No.”

“Want to talk about it?” Ethan asked.

“Nope.” Dare reached into his pocket for money to pay his share of the bill and tossed the cash onto the table. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Not dealing with it won’t make it go away,” Nash reminded him.

Dare rolled his eyes. “Talking won’t change it either.” He raised a hand and headed out, unwilling to bare his soul when it wouldn’t make one damned bit of difference.

***

With Dare atwork, Liza spent Thursday evening with Kelly at the caterers. Liza had to admit she appreciated the chance to get out with a woman she’d come to consider a friend, away from the stifling time she’d been spending with Dare. When she was home, she had too much free time to think about everything they’d shared before the reality of her life had intruded. What she’d lost was enough to make her crazy.

Which told her she was smart not to let things between them go any further. Not that he seemed to be pushing, either. They were two polite strangers who just happened to share a bed until the danger to her had passed.

Kelly drove them to the large catering hall, where the head chef prepared choices and dishes for them to taste. To Liza’s surprise, she and Kelly agreed easily on most courses and talked through what they didn’t. Faith, who’d delegated the task, would approve on paper. Then the menus would go out to the printers.

After they’d chosen desserts and the catering manager who would run the event from Ethan and Faith’s left them alone, Kelly turned to Liza. “Spill.”

“What?” She met the other woman’s serious brown-eyed gaze.

“You aren’t yourself, and I want to know why. What did Dare do?”

Liza managed a laugh. “What makes you think it’s Dare? My life is crazy enough to make menot myself.”