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She shook her head at me, about to say something else when the guys got back. Before they could sit down, she got up. “Hey,” she said to Fletcher, standing from the booth. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got a major migraine. Would you mind taking me home?”
Concern knit his eyebrows together. “Oh no, where are you feeling it? Maybe some water would help?”
She gestured all over her head. “Just this general area. I’ll be fine with a bit of sleep and an aspirin, really.”
Knox said, “I’ll take her home. I actually got a call from the station while I was back there. Someone called in sick.”
I frowned. Was my date really leaving right now? “You have to go?”
He nodded, leaning across the table and kissing my cheek. “See you around, Liv.”
My stomach sank. That wasn’t a we’ll-do-this-again-soon kiss on the cheek. It was a goodbye with no promise to call or reschedule. Had I really been that awful of a date already that he wanted to run away?
Knox and Morganne waved goodbye and exited the restaurant, leaving Fletcher and me at our booth... alone.
22
Fletcher
Liv’s wide blue eyes landed on me. “Well this is awkward.”
“I’ll say.” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck.
“Shall we go back home?” she asked.
My stomach was sinking, and my heart was beating fast. After that conversation in the bathroom with Knox, I felt like the world’s biggest jackass. I couldn’t date Liv. That much was true. But clearly, I was shit at hiding my attraction to her because Knox refused to date a girl I liked, whether I planned to act on my feelings or not.
He was a good brother that way.
And I was a shitty one. That much had been established.
“We haven’t even gotten our food yet,” I said.
She nodded, blinking quickly. “I guess we could get our food boxed up and then go home.” She let out a sigh. “I was looking forward to dancing tonight. Maybe I can see if Della or Hen wants to go out.... Shit.” She lowered her phone. “I forgot they’re both busy.” She shook her head. “I guess the night’s a dud.”
I hated seeing her this disappointed, on the verge of tears, all because of me. “You and I can go dancing,” I offered.
I knew I was playing with fire.
But I was a doctor. I could handle the burn.
She raised her eyebrows at me. “You seem surprisingly okay for someone who’s date just fled the restaurant like it was on fire.”
Right. Why wasn’t I upset? Or at least acting that way? “Can’t control migraines,” I said lightly.
“So you’ll reschedule with Morganne?”
I drank from my whiskey, the liquid burning my throat. “Probably not.”
Her lips parted, sending fire to my stomach to match the whiskey. I needed to stop thinking about those lips as much as I was. “Why not?” she asked.
I leaned forward, my elbows resting on the table. “Have you ever been with someone you knew would be right for you on paper, but you didn’t feel it?”
“Feel what?”
What I feel when you’re in the room. “A... connection,” I said instead.
“But connections are built over time, right?” she asked, watching me carefully. I couldn’t pull my gaze from her. Not if I wanted to. Not if I tried.