Page 77 of Cocky Brutal Sinner

“Any time,” I reply, even though it makes my soul melt a little.

Alessandra’s eyes flit over to me, and for a second, I think she might actually see me.

“Thank you for the coffee, Brinley,” she says, then turns to leave. Of course. I’m nobody special. Just a blip in her day.

The minute they walk out the door, Eden rushes over to me. I know she’s ready to be my shoulder to cry on, but I’m not in the mood. I know that everything happening is the result of my own choices. I don’t deserve her pity.

“Don’t,” I plead before she can say anything. “Not now.”

“Okay.” She glances at the floor. “By the way, Luke wanted to know if you’re doing book club this month.”

I sigh. I used to love book club at the Copper Cup. It started from a few patrons who met informally on Monday nights, and when they invited me to join them, we made it official. For the past few months, though, my brother has been showing up for them. He’s often the only guy, which makes the customers happy, but I don’t participate anymore. Hanging out with Luke is never my idea of a great time.

“You can tell Luke no, I’m not doing book club. When did you see him, anyway?”

Eden shrugs. “Ran into him on the street. He was friendly.”

I’m sure he was. Luke has always known how to turn on the charm to get what he wants, and for the past year or so, what he wants seems to have been to make up with me. Of course he’d try and get my best friend on his good side.

“You still look a little spooked,” Eden says. “Do you want to go hide in your office while I man the fort up here?”

“That would be great, actually.” I’ve got a bunch of new book orders to fill, and as a bonus, I won’t have to talk to anyone. “Thanks, Eden. I feel like ever since you moved in, the drama in my life has been on overload, and you’ve been so supportive. Sorry that I get grumpy sometimes.”

“Hey, you’re letting me live in your place for free in exchange for a tiny bit of free labor that’s mostly rearranging books on shelves. We’re even.”

As I retreat back to the office, I think about how Eden and the Copper Cup are my last safe place. I can help plan all the baby showers I want, but that won’t change how the girls will feel when they find out I’m Peppermint. Alessandra and Giulia think I’m just a side character in Beau’s life, and Beau—well, I think he sees a future for us that I’m not sure is possible.

The gap between what people think of me and who I really am is getting too wide. Something has to give. The walls dividing my lives are too thin and there are too many people leaning against them.

It’s only a matter of time until a barrier collapses.

26

BEAU

“What can I get you?” the liquor store clerk asks me as I walk up to his register. He’s in his sixties, with a thick white mustache and glazed brown eyes that tell me he’s seen a lot of shit in this store.

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but hear me out,” I tell him. “I want the weirdest whiskey you have. Not the best whiskey, or the most expensive, or the most popular. In fact, I want the least popular bottle, the one that even crazy whiskey aficionados haven’t drunk before.”

The clerk’s face freezes. The only sign that he’s not having a stroke or something is the slow blinking of his brown eyes. He looks like an old computer, processing a request that’s way beyond its computing abilities. Just when I’m about to repeat my request, he says, “You stay right there.”

He shoves aside the velvet curtain behind him and disappears into a dark storeroom. I tap my fingers on the counter while I wait. The store is almost eerily empty, considering that it’s almost 8:00 p.m., prime booze-buying hours.

It takes about fifteen minutes for the clerk to finally return, clutching a dusty bottle with an ancient-looking label.

“Here,” he grunts.

I peer at the label. The writing is in some alphabet I don’t recognize. “What’s this?”

“Reindeer whiskey.”

“As in…”

“They stuck some reindeer antlers in it as it aged.”

“And the ‘they’ who did this are…”

He shrugs. “Dunno.”