Page 2 of Players Like Us (Reunion Gap #7)

“Why didn’t you come, Neal? Aside from Tate and of course, Daniel, you were the only other person I wanted there.” Her voice wobbled, turned pitiful. “You said you’d come.”

He’d said a lot of things over the years and he’d meant them when he said them, but when it came time to put words into action?

Huge fail. Most of the time it happened because a person could promise anything.

It was the damn follow-through that caused the problem.

That changed three years ago along with his expectations, his goals—his belief in himself and his capabilities.

Life became about a lot more than the next feel-good adventure with a for-now woman.

Meredith deserved to know why he’d no-showed her wedding, even if he risked the bombardment of questions that would follow.

Neal sucked in a breath, blew it out nice and slow as he recalled Dominic’s pale face grimacing with pain as they rushed to the hospital.

“My friend’s appendix burst and it was bad.

He doesn’t have any family and I couldn’t leave him.

” The memories of Dominic’s fight and the sepsis that followed, burned through him, brought it all back.

He’d never had a close friend or anyone he trusted other than his family—minus his father because he’d never trusted Harrison Alexander.

Neal’s friendship with Dominic taught him that it didn’t matter how much money you had, or how much you wanted something to happen, or even how hard you worked.

When your time on this earth was done, it was over, and there was nothing you could do to extend it, not even by a second.

That knowledge had scared the hell out of Neal, made him desperate to save Dominic and unwilling to leave his side.

He’d never been much for prayer, but he’d prayed that day in a way he hadn’t since his mother’s death.

“Friend?” Meredith’s curiosity pinged his brain, brought him back to the present. “Is it someone I know?”

She loved to poke around in his business, try to figure out what he was up to and who he was hanging out with.

.. Mention of a “friend” definitely had her intrigued.

What would she say if he told her Dominic was his best friend?

Best friend? Since when? she’d ask. I thought I was your best friend?

There’d be humor and the tiniest bit of hurt laced through her words because his sister truly believed they were two parts of a whole, one half complementing the other.

What she didn’t understand and Neal didn’t have the courage to tell her was that she was the better part, had always been the center while he was merely the shell.

Meredith was goodness, love, hope, beauty.

Neal was complication, aggravation, and disappointment.

“Neal? Who is he?”

He rubbed his jaw, evened his voice. “His name’s Dominic. You’d like him. Honest, straight-shooter, hard worker.” Pause and a laugh. “You know, nothing like me.”

“Don’t talk like that.” Her voice dipped, spilled too much emotion.

“You’re all of those things and so much more.

Why are you so hard on yourself?” More emotion and a sniff that probably held a tear.

“Why didn’t you tell me about him? All this time, I thought you just didn’t care enough to come or were tied up with your next bit of fluff.

Oh, Neal, I’m sorry for what I thought.”

He could have told her about Dominic sooner and maybe he should have, but then there would be other questions.

Who’s the guy? What is he to you? And if he answered with truths like He’s my best friend , should he tack on We’re business partners?

Then what? She wouldn’t leave it at that.

Business partners? What kind of business?

Where? When? If Tate heard those comments, he’d home in on every single one.

What’s the business? Who’s the guy? What are you bringing to the deal, other than your money?

Tate would demand clarification, and then he’d insist on verifying.

Because it wasn’t like Neal had ever been 100% honest about anything, right? There’d always been an angle or a cover-up, and Tate would assume this time was no different.

Meredith’s new husband would have a thought or two because he was a no-nonsense, overprotective guy who believed it was his responsibility to protect Meredith from her wayward, bent-on-fun twin brother.

She’d let a few comments slip and it didn’t take an Einstein to realize this guy wasn’t going to sit by while Neal took advantage of his sister’s kind nature.

Be careful, he’d tell her. I don’t want your brother to hurt you. Again .

Jerk. Hadn’t the guy created his own brand of destruction and hurt not that long ago?

Of course, “Mr. I love you and want to protect you” had conveniently forgotten he’d lied to Meredith about his identity.

Neal cleared his throat, determined to get past this conversation.

“Let it go. Please? I’m finally figuring out a few things and I’m not ready to share. Can we leave it at that?”

Hurt sifted through her next words, and the sniff said she didn’t like his answer. “Of course.”

Neal cleared his throat, tried to change the subject.

“Anyway, are you calling to see what I’m up to, or.

..?” Meredith called him at least once a week for what she called “chat time” but they both knew she was checking up on him, making sure he was not in jail, not in trouble.

.. Once she confirmed those details, she’d start in with a “sideways” agenda that involved forming a life plan, getting a job, connecting with a decent woman.

In other words, his sister wanted to play “mama bear” and he didn’t have it in him to tell her no matter how she delivered the “life and personal improvement” recommendations, he probably wasn’t going to listen to her.

Correction: he wasn’t going to listen to her.

Meredith could never turn away from someone or something that needed fixing, and that’s probably how she ended up with Daniel Reese.

Neal had heard the stories of the guy’s past, filled with too much of everything, most of it not good, all of it leaving him with a hole deep inside his soul.

Until Meredith. She’d patched the hole and filled her own sad heart with love.

Okay, that sounded sappy, but it was his sister’s story and she loved sappy.

“Do you remember Rachel Reese, Daniel’s kid sister?”

Rachel Reese. Dark-haired spitfire with amber eyes, lots of curves, and a mouth that.

.. He blinked, tried to push back memories of that hot July night the summer before college.

She’d been fire and temptation, and he’d wanted her.

There hadn’t been many occasions in his life that he’d not given in to his own needs, but that time he had.

Rachel Reese, the girl he sat behind in English class and fantasized about for an entire year, didn’t care that he’d boosted a car at fifteen, spent a night in jail at sixteen, or provided the booze for all the wild parties that summer.

None of that seemed to bother her. In fact, maybe that was why they’d ended up in the back seat of his BMW, with a bottle of whiskey on the floor and three condoms in his back pocket.

The girl sure knew how to wind him up with those deep, open-mouthed kisses and tiny moans.

Hot. Sweet. So damn tempting. And when she crawled onto his lap and straddled him, never breaking the kiss?

It was past intense, past surreal. Better than the hundreds of fantasies he’d had about her.

But damn if something didn’t ping his brain when he slid his hand inside her shirt, traced the flesh rimming her lacy bra.

Desire and need burst through him as he anticipated the pleasure of giving and receiving.

He would not leave her unsatisfied or wanting. He would...

A strange unfamiliar sensation he recognized as his conscience had gripped him, blew up his intentions and rendered him incapable of continuing the much-anticipated exploration of Rachel Reese and her lusciousness.

If he’d been thinking of anything other than spending time alone with the elusive Rachel Reese, he might have realized there was a reason she’d sought him out and asked him to meet her at Goose Creek and that reason had nothing to do with talking.

Nope, she’d wanted him for something else.

I thought... I heard... People said you didn’t care who you. ..

Well, you heard wrong.

Yeah, go figure his heretofore practically nonexistent conscience had decided to kick in and create a rift between himself and Rachel Reese that would span more than a decade.

He’d hoped he’d never have to see her again, and the cuss words she’d slung at him as she slammed his car door that night said she’d sooner run him over than face him.

The aftermath of that debacle would torment and haunt him for years.

And then his sister went and married Rachel’s brother. Great. At least Dominic’s emergency surgery avoided a potential confrontation with her. No doubt it couldn’t continue since Neal and Rachel were technically “related” now, but he could and would avoid it as long as possible.

“Neal? Do you remember Rachel?”