LuckoftheDraw Read Free

growing more disgusted with himself as
he did.
    Morrison men did not sulk. They did not brood or mope, and
they did not stand by and watch while the woman they wanted was offered up to
someone else by her best friends at a sex party. Morrison men were the
descendants of warriors who fearlessly went after what they wanted, especially
when it came to women, probably the last conquest worthy of a good fight.
    If his dad had been there he would have cuffed Alex upside
the head on principle.
    Alex knew Rachel and Bree had something up their sleeves,
and he knew it wasn’t him. He’d been helping Petra get through her breakup with
Jude because he was her friend and he loved her. He’d been biding his time,
waiting for the right moment to tell her just how much he loved her, and they
were about to cockblock him in a big way.
    He’d come to the party because he’d promised he would show
up to support Petra, but he didn’t support what was about to happen. He had to
figure out how to stop them from setting her up with someone who was not him,
and he needed to figure it out fast.
    She was no taller than five-eight and couldn’t weigh more
than one-twenty-five tops. It would be too easy to haul her over his shoulder
and carry her off into the night. She was already standing right there by the
front door. All he had to do was grab his keys, scoop her up and walk out. Too
bad she would break his fucking neck if he tried.
    “You look angry enough to kick a puppy,” Ben said, handing
him one of the two beers he’d brought over.
    Alex clinked the bottom of his bottle to Ben’s and drank
half the contents down.
    “Break time?” Alex asked after he caught his breath.
    Ben and Cooper had been taking turns tending bar throughout
the night.
    Ben leaned a shoulder on the fireplace mantle close to Alex.
“I can hold this up for you if you want to go take a leak. Get some food. Punch
a wall.”
    Alex simply looked at him.
    “The hors d’oeuvres Bree made are excellent and half the
women in the place aren’t wearing bras. You should check it out,” Ben added
when Alex didn’t say anything. “Seriously, Alex. You’ve been standing in this
same spot looking angry all night. No one is going to want to fuck you later if
you don’t lighten up.”
    Alex took another long pull from his beer and went back to
looking at the crowd.
    “I think my hookup days are over, man.”
    Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ben observing him
carefully for a moment. “Oh yeah? You think you’re finally ready to meet a good
girl and settle down?” He leaned in closer. “I highly recommend it.”
    Smug bastard. As far as Alex could tell, falling in love
with Rachel had been easy for Ben. They’d hit a couple of speed bumps early on,
which was typical, but things had been smooth sailing for them once they’d
cleared the initial rough patches.
    It was different with Petra, more complicated. She was his
friend, and as far as he could tell she didn’t consider him anything more than
that. Maybe she never would.
    Alex shook his head. “I’m going to become a monk.”
    Ben snorted as if to say yeah right . “Or, and this
might be a completely crazy idea on my part, you could tell her before it’s too
late.”
    It was Alex’s turn to snort. That was rich advice coming
from Ben.
    “The way you told Rachel how you felt before it was too
late?” he asked, referring to the night Ben and Rachel had been reunited at a
similar party.
    Ben shook his head the way he did when he thought Alex was
being stubborn. Alex had seen that headshake a lot through twenty-five years of
friendship.
    “Those were completely different circumstances. No, I didn’t
ask her to get out of the game the way I should have that night, but I made it
clear I wanted to see her afterward. And,” he held up one finger as though Alex
couldn’t tell there was more coming, “I got lucky. Petra had been planning to
set us up the whole time. I don’t think Rachel and Bree have