The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)(68)

But tomorrow night was the team Christmas party. The night when she would be spending a night alone in a hotel with him. And both of them knew what that meant.

Oh, the irony. Liv used to be the only person she trusted with the truth. Now she was back to faking it. For Liv.

Liv suddenly laughed behind her. Not a funny, ha-ha laugh, but an OMG cackle, as if she’d suddenly figured out the punch line to a joke she heard hours ago. “Holy shit,” she said with a snort.

Thea looked over her shoulder. “What?”

“I can’t believe it. I missed the signs, but holy shit.” Liv laughed again.

“Are you going to let me in on this little epiphany?”

“Yep.” Liv said and grinned, crossing her arms. “You’re horny.”

A hot flush raced up Thea’s neck. “Shut up.”

The door to the kitchens swung open and Alexis emerged. A cat named Beef Cake followed at her heels. “Who’s horny?”

“Oh my God, no one.” Thea returned to her mural.

“Admit it. You are. I know he makes nightly visits to your bedchamber—” She said that last one with a horrible British accent. “It’s starting to get to you. And if you’re this horny, think about the state he must be in. Serves him right. He’s probably primal at this point. I bet the sheets in the guest room are as stiff as he is.”

“Ew, Liv!” Thea choked.

Liv started dancing a little jig. “You’re horny. You’re horny. Admit it, you’re horny.”

Thea jammed her paintbrush into the jar and whipped around. “Fine. Yes, I’m horny. But why shouldn’t I be? Have you seen my husband? It’s like living with a walking firemen’s calendar. The shirtless ones. Every day it’s a different month—shirtless with the dog, shirtless with the kids, shirtless working on the wall, shirtless reading.”

Alexis shook her head. “Wow, I have no idea what is going on.”

Liv crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, your husband has a nice body.”

“Nice? Nice? His trainer has him doing some new core work, and you know those little V things guys have just above their hips?” Thea ran a finger up and down each side of her pelvic bones.

“Uh—”

“I mean, Gavin has always had them, but now he really has them. And then there’s the beard! And oh my God, Liv, do you know what he did tonight as I was leaving? He leaned. You know what I’m talking about, right? The man lean? He put his hands on either side of me and leaned to kiss me. He’s trying to kill me!”

Liv’s cackle sounded like a dying rooster. “So sleep with him already. Use him for his body and then throw him out.”

Alexis cleared her throat. “Um, who exactly are we talking about again?”

Liv and Thea spoke over each other.

“My husband.”

“Her husband.”

Alexis cocked her head. “You need permission from your sister to have sex with your husband?”

They spoke over each other again.

“No,” Thea growled.

“Yes.” Liv laughed.

Beef Cake meowed.

“Gavin and I have been . . . having trouble,” Thea explained, cheeks hot.

“Having trouble?” Liv snarked. “Is that how you’re describing it now?” Liv looked at Alexis. “She was ready to divorce him as of three weeks ago, but he sweet-talked her into letting him move home for a second chance.”

“He’s trying to fix our marriage.” There it was. She was defending him. The world had turned on its axis.

Liv’s laughter faded. “Wait. Are you—are you actually thinking about taking him back?”

Thea returned to her painting.

“Thea, you can’t be serious.”

Thea bit back a snarky response and settled for, “Why not?”

“Because you’re doing exactly what he wanted you to do. He has known all along how to get to you. This is what he does. He’s a professional athlete.”

Thea whipped around again. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“It means he’s a natural competitor, and you are nothing but a game to him.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Liv pointed a finger for emphasis. “Do not let him win.”

Alexis stepped between them like a referee. “OK, how about I break open a bottle of wine and we can talk about this like sisters and friends—”

“I am not going to stand by and let him hurt you again,” Liv interrupted.

Thea felt cold and hot and furious all at once. “Liv, I love you, but you seem to have a really low opinion of my ability to decide for myself what is best for me.”

“Your track record isn’t great.”

Alexis spoke quietly. “Liv, I say this as one of your best friends. You are not being very fair to your sister right now. Things get complicated in relationships. Things can change when you least expect it. Can’t you support her during this?”

Liv’s face fell with a betrayal that hit Thea straight in the heart. “No. I can’t.” Liv grabbed her coat from the chair where she’d tossed it earlier. “Maybe Mom will support you. You are officially her daughter.”