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“I guess not.” Not surprisingly, Je
Carissa sighed, Heather bit her lip, and Maddie rolled her eyes. No further explanation needed. Reed was...well, Reed.
“A little birdie told me you’re looking to bring another stylist on at the shop,” Carissa asked, edging the pillow she sat on a little closer to the fireplace, crackling and glowing behind her.
“Thinking about it. It’s been tough since Mom came home a few weeks ago. She needs me more and more and hiring help at the salon is the only way to make the money I need but not man the place every day myself.” There wasn’t a ton of money to be made doing hair, waxing muffs, and painting nails in a small town and she could use all the tips she could get. But being available for Helen was more important than the bills that never seemed to go away.
“I’ve got a friend from Hastings—Elena—who’s been wanting to move over this way. I could give her your number,” Heather offered and Je
She’d always envied Josh’s beautiful home with its open-concept layout, but right now, she could’ve used some walls.
“Sorry I’m late,” he a
“Surprise!” She gri
Walls? Who needed walls? So much better to see the decor.
“I was just about to come out here when this troublemaker showed up,” Nicole continued after Tony finished assaulting her mouth. “Good thing, too, because the snow’s really coming down. I doubt I would’ve made it in my car.”
The guys paused their game to greet Brody and Je
Laying eyes on him again? There were no words. Just the strangest urge to push ahead of everyone else to see if he smelled and felt as good as she remembered.
And maybe to gauge whether or not he had a similar reaction to seeing her again, which was ridiculous, because one, she’d given up men and, two, it didn’t matter if he swept her off her feet and claimed to miss her senseless—she didn’t need his validation anymore than she needed Reed’s. For God’s sake, they’d only shared a blanket.
She told herself that exactly seventeen times before Brody’s gaze drifted toward the living room and landed smack on her. A slow smile curved his full lips and every last molecule of oxygen in her lungs vanished.
So maybe he’d left a bigger mark than just an imprint in her pillow.
“Do we know him?” Maddie leaned in, whispering. “Because I think I’d remember that I-eat-pussy-for-di
Carissa covered a laugh with her hand. “He’s a Marine buddy of Josh and Tony’s from Omaha. You’ve met him. He has family in Hastings, remember?”
“North Platte,” Je
“I think you’re right.” Carissa nodded and got to her feet to give her new guests a proper welcome. Nosey, Maddie raced after her and Heather waited until both were out of earshot before she elbowed Je
“Do I want to know why you’re squirming, or am I going to hate your answer?”
“No hate needed. It’s not what you think.”
“Thank God, because if Nick isn’t going to take what I’m offering, I might have no choice but to move on, if you know what I mean.” Heather waggled her eyebrows and the sweet drink turned sour in Je
“Yeah,” she huffed out, trying not to sound bitter.“Totally. He’s a really nice guy.” A nice guy she wanted for herself, but the timing was all wrong, dammit.
Heather pursed her lips and leaned back, drink in hand, biding her time. Je
“Earth to Je
“Probably. You did ditch her pretty quickly.” And a month later, he’d weaseled his way back into Je
“Yeah, well...” He lifted a shoulder and flashed his professionally whited smile. He tried to pull off cocky—a typical Reed move—but the color in his cheeks was new. Was it possible he’d actually grown a conscience? No way!
“If you think you need to come over here and do the whole cordial thing with me—again—you don’t. In fact, it actually makes things kinda weird.” Straw to lips, she sucked in another sip, all the while keeping her ear to the scene in the kitchen.
Scratching the back of his neck, Reed’s face turned even pinker. “I just...I don’t know how to do this in a way that’s respectful to you.”
Do what? What the heck was there to do? “Wait—is your new girl outside? Did you make her wait, because I’m—”
“No! No, that’s not what I’m saying.” He lowered his voice. “We just haven’t talked much since Christmas and I guess I need reassurance that you’re really okay with us being just friends.”
“Reed, it’s been two months.” Holding her chin high, she flashed the shut-up-and-die smile she’d crafted just for him and had used lots of times in the past. “You need to get the fuck over yourself already.”
He laughed. “And this is why we get along so well...” Grabbing her hand, he tugged her to her feet and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pressing a hard kiss to her temple. Like he hadn’t just reestablished their friend status. Even more contradictory, he slung his arm around her waist and led her to the kitchen where the rest of the group had gathered.
And where Brody watched Reed proprietarily handle her. The way she let him handle her. S-s-sucker.
Clearing her throat, she quickly extracted herself from Reed’s side. “Hey, Car, didn’t you say something about Jell-O shots in the garage fridge?”
The hostess jumped off her fiancé’s lap. “Oh, boo, I totally forgot!”
“That’s okay, I’ll grab them. I need to get my phone from the car anyhow.” And pull her head from her ass, too.
***
Either Je
Both options boiled Brody’s blood. She deserved better than to be some guy’s sidepiece.
Jaw clenched, he watched her pull away from the dickwad and edge reluctantly toward the door, where he stood, beer in hand.
“Excuse me,” she said politely, blinking up at him with those pretty brown eyes he’d called to memory more times in the past six weeks than he should’ve needed to. But something about the woman made him go soft and, in therapy, soft kept Dr. Sherman from reporting him as non-compliant.