She could tell this was uncomfortable for him. “Come on. Sit down and have a glass of iced tea with us.”
“I’m not sure I want to wade into these waters. Breakups are not my territory.”
“Oh, come on, Barrett. Surely you’ve dumped a woman before,” Harmony said, pouring him a glass. When he didn’t answer, she added, “Or you’ve been dumped.”
He pulled out a chair and sat. She’d never realized before how utterly . . . big he was. He’d always kept his distance from her, preferring to hang with Drake, so this was the closest she’d ever been to him. Both he and Drake played defense for the Hawks. Like her brother, Barrett was absolutely pure muscle. But she never paid attention to Drake. Barrett, though? Oh, yes. Just watching the way his muscles flexed as he moved was like watching liquid art. She could stare at his arms for hours, but she tried not to ogle. Too much, anyway.
“I’ve been dumped before, sure,” Barrett said. “And maybe I’ve broken up with a woman or two.”
Alyssa leaned close to Harmony. “He’s downplaying being the one who dumped the woman.”
“I heard that, Alyssa.”
“I meant for you to hear me, Barrett. You’re just trying to be the good guy right now because we’re roasting the not so good guys.”
Barrett narrowed his gaze. “I told you I shouldn’t be sitting here. If you both want to bad-mouth my species—which you have a right to, since some asshole broke up with you, Harmony—then I should leave. Also, I’d suggest something stronger than iced tea. It helps.”
So maybe he had been dumped before. It sounded like he knew how to get through it.
“It’s okay, Barrett,” Harmony said. “Me getting dumped is definitely not your fault. I’m not as broken up about it as I should be, all things considered. So you’re safe here.”
Besides, looking at Barrett could definitely make her forget all about Levon and his prissy bathroom counter. She wondered how many items Barrett kept on his bathroom counter? She’d just bet not many.
She turned her chair toward him, determined to find out. “Actually, I have a ridiculous question for you, Barrett.”
He turned his gorgeous blue eyes on her and smiled. “Shoot.”
“How many items currently reside on your bathroom counter?”
Barrett cocked a brow. “Huh?”
Alyssa laughed. “Very good question.”
“I don’t get it,” Barrett said.
“We’re conducting a poll about men and their bathrooms,” Alyssa said. “Indulge us.”
Barrett finally shrugged. “Okay, fine. Uh . . . soap, of course. Toothpaste and toothbrush. Deodorant. Maybe a comb?”
Harmony smiled when Barrett struggled to come up with anything else. She knew he was an absolute male of the not-so-fussy-about-his-grooming variety.
He finally cast her a helpless look. “I don’t know. I’ve got nothin’ else. Did I fail?”
“Oh, no,” Harmony said. “You most definitely passed.”
“You should go out with Barrett,” Alyssa suggested, nudging Harmony. “He’s a nice guy, and he obviously doesn’t keep thirty-seven things on his bathroom counter.”
Barrett laughed. “Yeah, and Drake would kill us both. Well, he’d definitely kill me.”
The idea of it appealed, though. She’d had such a crush on Barrett when Drake had first introduced them all those years ago. And now? Hmm. Yeah, definitely appealing.
“What my brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him—or you. What do you say, Barrett? Care to take me out?”
Barrett was at a loss for words. Harmony was his best friend’s little sister.
Only she wasn’t so little anymore.
He and Drake had been friends since sophomore year of college and had bonded then. They’d celebrated when they’d both been drafted by Tampa. Both of them played defense, they’d been roommates in college, and they’d become friends. It had been that way ever since.
He’d been coming to Drake’s mom’s house ever since college. Harmony had been just getting out of high school back then. She’d only been a kid. Now she was a woman, with a career of her own, and she’d just been dumped by some guy obviously too stupid to know what a treasure he’d had.
She was beautiful, with dark brown skin, straight dark hair that teased her perfect shoulders and those amazing amber eyes. She had the kind of body any man would want to get his hands on, curves in all the right places, and that sweet, kissable mouth . . .
And he had no business thinking about Harmony at all because there was a code—no messing with your best friend’s sister.
Absolutely not. No. Wasn’t going to happen.
He pushed back his chair and stood, looking down at Harmony as if she was Eve in the garden and she’d just offered him the forbidden apple. “I know the rule, Harmony, and so do you. I think I’ll go check out what your mom made for dinner tonight.”
He might be tempted, but there was too much at stake. He was going to step away from the sweet fruit laid out in front of him before he decided to do something really stupid and take a taste.
Because going down that road would spell nothing but doom.
Two