Page 26 of The CEO I Hate (The Lockhart Brothers #1)

“Sophie around?” I asked, my eyes dropping to those tiny pajama shorts. There was a lot of leg on display, and it made my mouth go a little dry.

“No, she’s working,” Mia said. I glanced at the screen, seeing she’d paused the show she’d been watching.

I frowned, recognizing it. “ End in Fire ? Gretel, please tell me this is not how you spend your evenings. You shouldn’t be doing work stuff in your free time. ”

She laughed. “Guilty as charged. I’m making sure we’re not retconning things that have already been established. But it was only this one scene, I swear. Then I’m totally putting on the K-dramas.” She grinned at me, and I couldn’t help grinning back.

“Good,” I said, then blinked, realizing I was staring at her too long—at her smile, at those tiny pajamas, at her legs!

I shifted my gaze somewhere else, clearing my throat as I mentally scolded myself for letting my thoughts wade into dangerous territory.

My eyes landed on a stack of yearbooks spread across her coffee table.

These seemed familiar. “What's all this?”

Mia’s smile turned into a knowing smirk. “Recognize these?” She picked up the top yearbook, flipping it open to a page she’d clearly bookmarked. “You were such a handsome young boy, Liam.”

The teasing lilt in her voice made my stomach flip. I leaned forward despite myself, catching a glimpse of my seventeen-year-old face grinning back at me from the page, all easy smiles and carefree confidence.

“Very funny,” I muttered, but I could feel heat creeping up my neck.

“I’m serious,” she said, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Look at that smile. So bright and optimistic. What happened to him?”

I cleared my throat again and ran a hand through my hair, trying to act casual. “Right,” I said. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

That’s why I was here. Because I was concerned about Jake. Not because I wanted to stare at her backside or get sentimental over old yearbook photos.

“About what?” she asked, reaching for the remote control.

“Your brother.”

Mia whirled around so quickly she almost tipped over. I reached out to steady her. “Did he say something?”

“I mean, yes and no. You don’t think Gabrielle’s going to break up with him, do you?” I winced as I said the words. It felt like saying them out loud was speaking them into reality.

Mia hummed uncertainly and plopped down on the couch. I sat down too, leaving an appropriate amount of space between us because there was an awful lot of tempting skin on display. “If you’re asking if they’ve been fighting a lot lately?—”

“Jake said they have been.”

“Feels like it’s every day at this point,” Mia said. “But I don’t think there’s anything we can do about that. If the relationship is falling apart?—”

“We just let it happen?” I asked. That was a hard no from me .

“I don’t think it’s up to us to let anything happen or not happen,” Mia said. “We can’t force something that’s no longer working for them. And frankly, I’m more worried about Jake’s mental state than his relationship right now.”

At least we were on the same page about that. “He’s lost his sense of purpose,” I said. “I just don’t know how to reignite that. I’ve suggested a wheelchair basketball league.”

Mia made a face. “Not sure he’s healed enough for that. It hasn’t been that long since his last surgery, you know.”

“Yeah, he mentioned the same thing. I just figured sports was a good place to start.” It’s where we’d originally connected. “But I also suggested going back to school, which he immediately shot down.”

Mia sighed. “Before he could go back to school, he’d have to figure out what he wants to do—and I don’t think he ever saw himself as anything but a firefighter.

So much of his self-image was wrapped up in the idea of himself as the guy who saves people.

He’s feeling lost right now because he doesn’t even know how to save himself. ”

“I think we’ve got to get him out of the house,” I said, sagging back against the couch. “For more than just doctor’s appointments.”

“He needs to be around people,” Mia agreed. “He’s always been that guy, you know. The center of a room.”

“Oh, I know,” I said, chuckling under my breath. “Used to have to fight the girls off of him at the bars.”

Mia smirked. “If we can get him out more, I think he’ll realize that even though some things are going to be different now, there’s still plenty he can enjoy. He’s still the same Jake, just on a different path.”

“Maybe I can get him to come out to my place,” I said. “I’ll tell him I need help with something. ”

“Or maybe you can get him to use your pool,” Mia said.

“I’ve read a lot about aquatic therapy recently.

It can be great for balance and improving range of motion for wheelchair users.

Even helps with pain management. Maybe he’d be up for it at your place versus a public pool.

Lord knows when my mother mentioned it months ago, he said no immediately. ”

“Sounds good. I’ll see if I can find a certified instructor willing to come out to the house first.” I cleared my throat. “Speaking of your mother, I was actually a little surprised Jake knew I’d be coming to dinner at your parents’.”

“Sorry,” she said. “Forgot to tell you I mentioned it to him. I just figured if I hadn’t told him, he’d have heard about it from Mom or Dad, and then he would have wondered why we hid it from him. Better to keep him in the loop so he knows it isn’t real.”

I nodded slowly.

“Because it isn’t real,” she said, her voice quiet…uncertain. “Right?”

Her question stirred up that guilt in my chest again.

It couldn’t be real. I knew that. But I also couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Fantasizing about her. And frankly, sitting next to her on her couch, while she looked so incredibly soft and kissable—and most definitely wasn’t wearing a bra—wasn’t helping me stay strong. At all.

“Liam,” she said softly. “Why can’t it be real?”

It wasn’t a joke, and it wasn’t a challenge.

This was just…Mia.

“You know why, Mia,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster—because looking at her now, I was having a hard time remembering why myself.