Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men Book 9) by Linda Kage Page A

force of will would heal Aspen if nothing else did. I swear, he wanted it to happen so bad, it almost had to. She would get better, eventually. There was no maybe about it.
    Noel loved his wife with an intensity I saw in few couples, three of those few being all of my siblings.
    It was strange. Noel, Brandt, and Caroline had each found someone to fit them perfectly. In this day and age, that was unheard of, and yet…it left me with this hope, this determination that someday I’d find the same thing too. So I was always on the lookout, testing the waters to find that perfect fit for myself.
    I mean, I didn’t turn down casual hookups along the way. Hello, I was an eighteen-year-old dude. But in the back of my mind, the ultimate goal had always been to find her , that girl who filled the gaps in me the same way all my siblings’ spouses had filled the gaps in them.
    As my thoughts wandered back to Julianna, I decided something. Maybe I didn’t regret what had happened between us after all. I had tried something, tested the waters, and it hadn’t worked, but at least I’d tried, and now I knew without a doubt, the two of us were definitely not meant to be.
     

 
     
     
    J ULIANNA’S C HAPTER | 7

     
    M y eyes felt crusted over and dried up when I tried to open them. The sunlight was obnoxious and way too damn cheerful as it streamed through the blinds of my window and prodded me out of my sleep.
    Grumbling, I slapped my pillow over my face to muffle the stupid light, only to wince when all that soft cloth jostled my tender, aching temples. Fuck, I’d drank way too much last night, and ended up being way too stupid.
    I wasn’t sure what I regretted more: starting something with Colton, or stopping it—more aptly, stopping it the way I had.
    I wanted to say starting anything with him at all had to be worse, but no…no. Those asinine words that had tumbled out of my mouth had to take that prize. All I could remember was that lost, devastated expression on his face as he’d jerked his cock from my hand and backed away from me. So, yeah, that had to be the very worst moment of all.
    The kicker of it, though, was I had no idea why I’d even said it. I hadn’t even been thinking about Brandt. And why had I used the l-word? I’d had a crush but was pretty sure I hadn’t ever felt love for him because no way could my attention have been so utterly captivated by Colton that quickly if I’d been in love with someone else.
    Which had to mean I was the stupidest girl ever for saying the most untrue thing at the worst moment possible.
    But the weird thing was, I wasn’t that girl. I wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t say that, wouldn’t drink that. Some idiot must’ve taken control of my body, messed up my entire evening, and then returned me back to myself this morning. That’s all there was to it. Because I certainly had never gone to a wedding I didn’t even want to attend before, gotten drunk there, or made out with the best man who just so happened to be the brother of the very guy I’d kind of wanted to have a chance with.
    Nope. Not me.
    Denial set clearly in place, I pushed the pillow off my face and winced as the blinding sunlight burned my hangover.
    “Not cool, not cool,” I chanted to the sun as I slid out of bed and tiptoed to my closet.
    After gathering the first set of clothes to reach my fingers, I tiptoed to the door—no idea why I was tiptoeing—then I eased open the handle and peered cautiously into the hall. I so wasn’t ready to share any of my evening with either of my roommates.
    When I saw the coast was clear, and I didn’t hear any stirring, I darted into the hall and hauled ass to the bathroom.
    Once I was locked inside, I pressed my back against the wall, closed my eyes and blew out a breath.
    Then I muttered, “I am so freaking weird,” to myself as I ripped my night scarf off my head.
    Resigned to that fact, I took a bath.
    It was actually my scheduled day to wash my hair, but I