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“How do you two know each other?” Mark asked, clearly confused.
“From school as kids,” Steven said, his tone light. But then—oh God, then he frowned. And he gave her a long,
searching look. “How did you two meet?”
She licked her lips. “I…uh, Lydia…” Crap. Her voice squeaked again. “Uh…”
“Your sister set us up on a blind date,” Mark said slowly, staring at her strangely. She didn’t blame him. “Lydia’s your sister, right?”
All three of them slowly turned toward Lydia…who smiled and waved, clearly unaware of the tension among them. Holt grabbed Lydia and whispered something in her ear, gesturing wildly. Her mouth dropped open, and she shook her head.
“Yeah.” Steven’s jaw ticked. Twice. That was not a good sign. “She’s my sister, all right.” Then he stared at Lauren, fists tight at his sides. “And Lauren is my best friend.”
He didn’t lay claim to her. Didn’t do some juvenile thing where he kissed her to show she was his, or throw his arm around her and pull her close. And yet, somehow…
He managed to do exactly that with a few words.
Lauren’s heart palpitated. She couldn’t look away from Steven, who held himself so tautly that it was a miracle he didn’t break. “I just found out about this, Steven.”
Mark, for his part, caught on to the tension quickly enough. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. “You know what? I think I misunderstood her. There’s clearly something going on between the two of you, and anyone with eyes can see that. Can I buy you both a drink to make up for all this confusion?”
Lauren blinked. “We’re not…I’m not…”
“We’re not together,” Steven interjected, his jaw harder than ever before. “That’s what you’re trying to say, right, Lauren?”
Lauren stared at him, not sure what she was supposed to say. It wasn’t like they were going to announce to the world that they’d had sex a few times. It was no one else’s business, and Lauren only assumed he wouldn’t want to go around telling everyone.
Had she assumed wrong?
“I don’t know what to say at all,” she finally admitted.
The men stared at each other.
Stared each other down, was more accurate.
Mark smiled, even though it was clear he wished he’d never come up to Lauren in the first place. She didn’t blame him. “So, about that drink?”
The silence stretched on for way too long not to be awkward, so Lauren cleared her throat. “I’d love a diet coke, Mark.”
Mark shifted away from her immediately, the relief clear in his expression. “Great, I’ll—”
“No. You stay,” Steven said, his voice hard. “I’ll get her a drink. I wouldn’t want to interrupt your date.” Steven turned on his heel and stalked off toward the bar without another word.
Well, crap.
Swallowing and forcing a smile, she turned back to Mark, who watched her closely. “So…misunderstanding, huh?”
“Yeah.” He winced. “It seemed like the best excuse at the time. I had no idea you and Steven were a thing. I’m assuming Lydia doesn’t, either.”
“We’re not. I mean, we are. But we’re not.” Lauren laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s, yeah. It’s complicated.”
Mark raised an impeccably shaped brow. “I got that.”
“Yeah.” Lauren laughed again. “I guess you did.”
“Does he think it’s complicated?” he asked, waving at someone over her shoulder and smiling. Lauren glanced behind her, but there were only a few possibilities—all women. The only other person behind them was an old lady and a child. “Or does he think it’s simple?”
“Yeah, I think so. But it just recently became…complicated.”