A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) (101)

Every muscle in her body jumped at once. “What did you say?”

“Does that mean something to you?”

Yes. It meant everything. She just didn’t understand how. How did he know where to find her? She wanted to turn around and look for him, but she couldn’t. Not with her insides suddenly shaking and tears stinging the back of her eyelids.

The bartender shrugged at her reaction. “Anyway, I’m also supposed to say, ‘To cheating, stealing, fighting, and drinking.’ Whatever that means.”

Her stomach turned to Jell-O as her heart rose in her throat. “Where is he?”

The guy pointed over her shoulder. “It’s the dude who looks like Clark Kent in the corner.”

Laughter bubbled up as if someone had uncorked a bottle of sparkling water in her throat.

“Aaand now he’s headed this way.” The bartender lowered his voice. “Do you want me to ward him off? I can get rid of him.”

She shook her head. “No, thank you.” She’d already made that mistake.

The bartender lifted his gaze over her shoulder before looking back at her. “If you need help, I’ll be at the end of the bar.”

He walked away, and her neck tickled with awareness at the man now standing behind her.

“Can I sit?”

His voice. It sent shivers down her spine and lifted the hair on her arms. She nodded and held her breath as the empty chair next to her slid back from the bar, its steel-tipped legs scraping quietly on the industrial carpet. She didn’t dare look at him as he sat, but in her peripheral vision, she saw the bright yellow of his puffer vest.

Her fingers shook as she wrapped them around the glass of whiskey. “What brings you by?”

Colton chuckled quietly at the question. It was exactly what he’d asked her when she’d found him at Old Joe’s. “I was hoping to talk to you.”

“Yeah? Well, here I am, honey.” When Colton had said it at Old Joe’s, he’d been cocky, confident. He’d spread his arms out wide. But when Gretchen said it now, it came out shaky, watery. She kept her arms tucked close to her torso. Because if she reached for him, if she touched him, the dam would break. She’d be a puddle on the floor.

Beside her, Colton leaned his elbows on the bar. “I’m here with a proposal of sorts,” he said, repeating, again, part of that first conversation.

“I’m all ears.”

“How would you like to come home with me and let me spend the rest of our lives earning your forgiveness?”

Joy swelled in her chest. She finally looked at him and— “Where did you get those glasses?”

“What?”

“Can you even see? Those are prescription.”

He sighed and whipped the thick black frames from his face. “They’re readers. The hotel store didn’t have a lot of options.”

“Well, I mean, it’s a pretty lame disguise.”

“Well, excuse me if I didn’t have time to properly plan this. I was a little bit frantic when I found out what you did.” He glowered then. “Which, by the way, what the hell were you thinking, Gretchen? Why would you sign that bullshit contract?”

“It was the only way Evan would drop the charges.”

“So you just decided to give up everything to protect me?”

Another one of their conversations came to mind, this one just two nights ago. It felt like a lifetime. “I would give up any amount of money for you. I would protect you a million times if necessary.”

The Adam’s apple in his throat rose and fell as he swallowed. “Why?”

“Because I love you.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He lifted a hand and draped it around the back of her neck so he could pull her closer. The brim of his hat collided with her forehead. With a curse, he whipped it off.

She laughed. “I think you’re becoming the grumpy one.”

“What if I am? Can you love the grumpy side of me?”

“I love every side of you.”

This time nothing stood in the way as he once again pulled her closer. Forehead to forehead, they spoke through touch. His thumb caressed her neck. Her hand found his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered after a moment, his voice rough.

“So am I.”

“The things I said to you . . .” His voice cracked, and so did her heart.

“I needed to hear them.”

“No, you didn’t. Because none of it was true.”

The sound of his sorrow brought a tremble to her lip. “It was, though. You were right. I ran away because I was scared—”

He didn’t let her finish. He covered her lips with his and kissed her so softly, so sweetly, that a whimper emerged from her throat. She leaned into him. Breathed him in. Memorized every sound, every touch.

Until a voice intruded. “Christ, it’s about fucking time.”

Gretchen’s eyes flew open. “Seriously?”

Colton laughed quietly and then turned in his chair just enough so she could see around him. Her eyes widened. How . . . how had she not even noticed them? Mack and Liv. Noah and Alexis. Elena and Vlad. In a Santa suit. Standing apart was Jack.

Colton slid his hand down her back. “Your family is here to bring you home, Gretchen.”