Beautifully Shattered

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as the boys stop at our table.

I can’t tell if I want to die from embarrassment or kill Co

Co

“Yeah, we wouldn’t have come if I’d known you were going out on a date.” My brother shrugs. “Too bad you chose not to tell me. We could have avoided this awkwardness.”

“Yeah, too bad,” Jax says with so much sarcasm it’s impossible to believe him.

Yup, kill me now. Kohen raises an eyebrow, but I ignore him to glare at three soon-to-be dead men. To my absolute horror, my brother and Co

He shrugs before sitting down on my legs. I don’t know if I’m more upset that they crashed my date or that Jax seems so blasé.

“Ow, get your fat butt off of me!” I say more angrily than I should. Jax doesn’t even notice how upset I am.

“If you moved your legs, you wouldn’t be getting squished.”

Too many witnesses.

“Fine!” I shout.

Jax leans up so I can drop my feet back under the table where they belong. I want to breathe in relief that he’s not touching me anymore, but I can’t. I despise being this close to him and not being able to touch him. That weekend at my apartment comes to mind and I have to forcibly drink my wine to keep from reaching out to him. Probably not the best move on a date with someone else.

The waitress arrives with three more waters. “Can I get anything else for you three?”

“No,” I say at the same time that Jax says, “Yes.”

The poor waitress’s eyes bounce back from me to Jax and back at me again.

“No, we’re good, thanks though,” I inform her.

As the waitress leaves, Jax gives me a smug grin. “Fine, have it your way.” And before I can say anything, he picks up my wine glass. I yank it from him mid-sip, spilling wine on his tailored shirt.

“I don’t even feel bad!” I say when he looks from the stain to me.

He glares at me and I glare right back. I will not be the one to back down first. Someone coughs not too discreetly, but we both ignore him. Jax raises his eyebrow, silently challenging me. It isn’t until I hear Kohen clear his throat with obvious a

“So help yourselves, there’s more than enough to go around,” Kohen says with forced indifference.

Ignoring the three men that have decided to stay and make this the date from hell, I look at Kohen. “So you were about to tell me why you chose to be a neurologist before we were rudely interrupted.”

“How old are you?” Jax shifts in the booth. His hand grazes my thigh. It’s only a whisper of a caress, but it’s enough to ignite my entire body.

“Thirty-one come July.”

Jax noticeably stiffens. “Don’t you think you should date someone more your age?”

My brother’s baby blues meet mine. I silently beg him to leave. I nod from the table to the door. Twice. Logan is either being obtuse or ignoring me.

“So, about that career choice . . .” I trail off uneasily.

Talk about awkward silence.

Kohen seems a little uncomfortable as he clears his throat. “Oh . . . right . . . eh . . . well, my mom died from a brain tumor when I was twelve so I think that’s the reason why I chose neuro instead of a differently specialty.” He fiddles with the Parmesan shaker. “I guess when I was little I thought that I could prevent what happened to my mom from happening to someone else and it just always stuck with me.”

Wow, and I thought this date couldn’t get any more awkward. Clearly the boys weren't expecting this either from the looks on their face. I have no idea what to say to that. I thought I was staying on an easy topic. Guess not.

Reaching over, I squeezes his hand. I see Jax’s fist tighten from the corner of my eye, but I ignore it and focus solely on Kohen. “Your mom would be very proud of you.”

He squeezes my hand back. “Thanks,” he says quietly before taking a long drink from his wine.

The guys help themselves to pizza and Co

Co

I stare at Co

Di

“Ow,” Logan says as he bends to rub the shin that I thought was Co

I don’t even bother giving my brother an i

“I guess that will teach me not to crash your dates.”

“Too bad you couldn’t figure that out a lot sooner, you could have gone home without limping,” I snap, hoping that he’ll see how insane he is for crashing my date.

Then again, I don’t really have anything to be upset about since I’ve been able to witness Jax’s reaction firsthand. Maybe I should be thanking them? Never.

Suddenly Co

I narrow my eyes at him, but follow Co

Co

Co

“And what happened?” I whisper back.

He rubs his hand through his hair. “Because once he saw your name, he stole my phone and the next thing I know we’re on our way here. Your brother came over just in time to tag along.”

“You couldn’t have stopped them?”

“Look, I’m sorry. I thought it would be better if I dragged Logan here with me so it wouldn’t just be you two and Jax.” He gives me his puppy dog pouting lips.

I hate how easily it is for me to sympathize for him. With his pouty lips and sad eyes it’s hard to stay mad at Co

I nod so that he knows I’m no longer mad at him before hugging my brother. Jax steps back as I move over to him. I sit down, feeling more than awkward. He doesn’t deserve a hug. He’s the reason why I’m on what can only be described as the worst date in history.

“Really?” Jax asks with his arms open.

Who does he think he is? He’s the one who just stepped back when I went to give him a hug and now he’s demanding one?

I ignore him. “Bye,” I say only to my brother and Co