Lucky in Love

by Kelly Elliott

  My mouth opened slightly, and for the briefest moment I wanted to tell Ryan exactly how I felt. But I didn’t know exactly how I felt. “I’ll see you later.”

  Ryan nodded, then leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Give Liliana a kiss for me.”

  This time my smile was genuine. “I will.” I turned to get into my car before I faced him again. “Did you drive here? Do you need a ride home?”

  “I drove Truitt here in my truck. I’ll wait around until he’s ready to head out, then take him home.”

  “Sounds good, Ryan. See ya.”

  “See ya.”

  As I watched my brother walk back into the ER, I pushed away any and all thoughts of Truitt Carter.

  Truitt

  I LOOKED OUT over the pasture and stared at the sun slowly sinking into the western sky. The sound of something or someone walking up behind me made me go still. It wasn’t a deer, so it had to be one of the other guys.

  The slap on my back made me sputter out a cough.

  “What the fuck?” I said as I jumped up and saw Roger standing there—a damn smile on his face. “I could have shot you! Stupid asshole.”

  He held up his hands, his rifle strung over his shoulder. “Damn, little brother, you’re on edge. What’s wrong, haven’t gotten laid in awhile?”

  A sinking feeling hit me in the chest. “Something like that.”

  “Call Shay.”

  I rolled my eyes. The night I went back to Shay’s place we hadn’t had sex. I made her come, simply because I wasn’t an asshole and it was me who had asked her out, but we didn’t have sex. I couldn’t bring myself to want to. “I’m not interested in that.”

  Roger looked at me, then turned his gaze out over the open pasture. “See anything this afternoon?”

  Relief washed over me that he’d dropped the subject of Shay.

  “No. They probably smelled your damn men’s perfume coming from a mile away,” I mumbled.

  He laughed, then bumped me on the arm. “Come on, let’s go back to the cabin, grab some food.”

  I shook my head. “Nah, I’m going to hike on over to my tree stand, see if anything comes in.”

  “Truitt, the sun is fixin’ to go down soon. Even if you do see something, it’ll be too dark to shoot and then track it if you get lucky enough to hit it at all. Let’s go, man.”

  Rubbing the back of my neck, I sighed. “Maybe I’ll just head on home. I need to work on the Nights’ playhouse.”

  Roger narrowed his eyes at me. “Truitt, what’s going on with you? You haven’t been yourself since we got up here.”

  My brother, Ryan, Pete, Jack, Paul, and I visited the deer lease my father had in Llano every year. First weekend of rifle season, the six of us came up here to go deer hunting. It was like clockwork. Hell, Paul had scheduled his damn wedding around this weekend.

  “I’ve just got a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

  Without taking his gaze off of me, Roger asked, “Business is doing good?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got a waiting list. Even some clients out in California are interested in a playhouse. One’s an actor.”

  He smiled, the pride evident in his eyes. “That’s great, so why the long face?”

  I stared back out over the open land. “I don’t really know, to be honest. I’m feeling…something. A void, a loss. A fucking sadness, I have no idea why. I don’t know what in the fuck it is. Maybe I do need to get laid.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. I think we need to head into Llano tonight. Go out for a few beers?”

  “Yeah. Maybe.” Even though getting laid wasn’t really what I wanted. At least not with some stranger.

  The truth was, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking of Saryn ever since that damn shopping trip. When she stayed in the ER with me the other day, she truly looked concerned, which I knew was insane. She had even stated that she’d only stayed to see something new. It was clear she wasn’t interested in anything other than friendship, and I needed to keep that in mind. She was fresh out of a divorce and told me she wasn’t looking for anything more.

  “Come on, dude, let’s head back to the cabin.”

  After getting back, showering, and grabbing a bite to eat, everyone decided a night out would do us all some good. Paul, on the other hand, decided he was staying at the cabin and FaceTiming his wife. Roger teased him about having video phone sex, and a part of me wasn’t sure my brother was that far off. Paul was in that lovesick stage still, fresh off his honeymoon and pining for his wife. He had almost called off coming on this trip, but Ryan had practically dragged him out of the house.

  As we walked into the bar in Llano, it became clear that picking up women tonight wouldn’t be an issue. All eyes turned to us as we walked in. I knew we were a good-looking bunch, and the way we were being eye-fucked, the ladies in the bar obviously agreed.

  “Oh, hell yes. Look at the cowgirls in this place!” Ryan said. He was newly out of a long-term relationship and ready to pounce on the first person who showed interest. I hadn’t informed him or Roger that they’d both slept with Lucy, not that I thought either of them would care, to be honest. I doubted it was the first time the two of them had slept with the same girl.

  After ordering our beers, we took a seat at a table in the back corner. Ryan slid in next to me and pointed to a blonde dancing with two other women. A redhead and a brunette.

  “You can have the blonde, I’ll take the redhead, and Roger and Jack can fight for the brunette.”

  Roger laughed. “What makes you think I don’t want the redhead?”

  “What makes you think I want the blonde?” I asked with a smile.

  “You like blondes.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Shay’s blonde,” Ryan stated.

  “She was a fuck buddy, that’s all,” I said.

  “Was?” both Roger and Ryan asked at the same time.

  “You got your eye on someone?” Ryan asked.

  My gaze caught Roger’s before I looked out over the dance floor.

  “Anyone hear from Nolan lately?” Roger asked, purposely changing the subject. It seemed like my brother was actually on my side in some instances.

  Nolan was one of our best friends from high school. He’d joined the Air Force straight after graduation and was now a test pilot stationed in Louisiana. He hardly ever came back home. Both of his parents had died and he had some pretty bad memories of Texas. Memories he was constantly attempting to drown out with the crazy-ass adrenaline rush shit he did all the time.

  “Last I heard from him, he was in New Zealand and was going zorbing,” I said.

  Ryan furrowed his brows. “What the hell is zorbing?”

  Jack pulled out his phone, typed something into it and then handed it to Ryan, who lost it laughing.

  “He’s a giant fucking gerbil in a plastic ball?” Ryan said, looking up from the phone and at each of us with a horrified expression. “What the fuck is the military doing to our friend?”

  “At least he didn’t ask us to go. The last trip we went on with him, I nearly shit my own pants bungee jumping off that damn bridge in Colorado,” Roger said, his body visibly shaking at the memory of that day.

  We all laughed.

  After I took a drink from my beer, my smile faded. “I wish he’d come back.”

  Ryan handed Jack back his phone. “He will, someday. It will probably take you getting married in order for him to do it. He sure as shit didn’t like Paul that much if he didn’t come back for his wedding.”

  “In Paul’s defense, Nolan was in England on some B-52 bomber training exercise,” Jack said.

  I nodded. We all knew the reason he wouldn’t return to Boerne, and only Nolan could work those demons out for himself.

  The three women on the dance floor made their way over to us, stopping and flashing smiles all around.

  “Evening, gentleman. Feel like some company?” the blonde said, eyeing me, then Ryan. The way she was looking at us told me
this woman probably wouldn’t mind having us both. At the same time. That was a hard pass for me. No chance in hell I’d risk crossing swords with any other guy, not even if the woman was a fucking goddess.

  “I think we’re good, but thanks,” Ryan quickly stated.

  My gaze jerked over to Ryan. He was brushing off the very women he’d been talking about only minutes ago.

  The blonde narrowed her eyes and looked around at each of us. “Y’all gay or something?”

  “Yeah, sweetheart, that’s it,” Roger said smugly.

  “We’re just not interested, that’s all.”

  That jab came from Ryan, which surprised me. He usually wasn’t so blunt. Or rude.

  “Fuck you, dick,” the redhead said before turning and walking off. The other two quickly followed, but not before the blonde tilted her head and looked at me intently.

  “You have no idea what you’re missing out on.”

  I smiled. “I’ll take my chances.”

  When she walked away, Jack sighed. “You three are killjoys. I’m going after them.”

  While Jack did just that, I looked at Ryan and Roger. “What happened? I thought you both wanted the redhead.”

  Roger shrugged. “Turns out I’m not in the mood for that tonight. For once I’d like a woman to not be so willing to just meet me in the bathroom for a quick fuck.”

  Ryan leaned back in his chair and took a long drink from his beer.

  That I could understand. I’d been feeling that way for a while now. I jerked my head toward Ryan and asked, “And your excuse?”

  “I don’t really know. I just want to sit here and drink a beer. I wouldn’t mind a dance or two with a pretty little thing, but I’m not interested in fucking some girl in the back of her car.”

  Leaning forward, I looked at them both. “You two are whores, do you know that? Bathrooms? Back seats?”

  Ryan pointed at me. “This coming from the guy who fucked a girl up against a wall in the back of the dance club. In plain sight of anyone who wanted to watch.”

  “In my defense, it was dark. I was eighteen and…and…”

  Roger lifted a brow.

  “And an asshole. I wish I knew who she was so I could tell her I’m sorry. I used her because I was trying to…”

  I almost said I was trying to forget Saryn’s rejection.

  “Pretty sure she was the one who asked you to have sex with her in public,” Ryan said, laughing.

  I smiled as I took a drink of my beer. “That’s right, it was a dare from her friends. First and last time I had public sex.”

  As the night went on, the less I thought any of us wanted to be there. Jack had taken off with all three women. The rest of us placed bets on how that was going to turn out.

  “Do we wait for his ass to show back up or leave?” Ryan asked as we made our way through the bar.

  “We don’t have to look for him, he’s walking toward us,” Roger said as he pointed to Jack.

  “Holy hell, look at that smile. Someone got lucky!” I said with a chuckle.

  Jack walked up to us. “Were y’all going to just leave me?”

  “Yes,” the three of us said at the same time.

  When we got into my truck, Jack spilled the beans on his adventurous night. Turns out he had himself a little fun with both the blonde and the redhead.

  By the time we got back to the cabin, I was in an even worse mood than before we had left. What in the hell was wrong with me?

  “I’m gonna sit out on the porch for a bit,” I said, taking a seat in one of the rocking chairs. I didn’t even care that the temperature had dropped to around fifty-five. I needed the fresh air. Everyone walked into the cabin, except for Ryan. He sat next to me.

  “You want to talk about it?” he asked.

  I turned to look at him. “Talk about what?”

  He smiled. “Truitt, we’ve been friends since what, sixth grade?”

  “Fourth,” I corrected.

  His head dropped back as he laughed. “Right. Fourth grade, when we both liked that same girl. What was her name?”

  “Linda.”

  “Linda. That’s right. Good thing she moved away, we might not have become friends.”

  I grinned.

  “Anyway, dude. I know when something is bothering you.”

  Ryan was the last person I needed to talk to about what was on my mind.

  “I’m fine.”

  He nodded. We sat in silence for a good three minutes before he spoke again.

  “Is it because she’s my sister? Are you worried what I’ll think?”

  My head jerked around to look at him. “What in the hell are you talking about, Ryan?”

  “I’m talking about Saryn. I know you liked her in high school but never did anything about it. One, because she was my sister, and two, because that dickhead got to her first. What’s your excuse now?”

  “Now? You think I like Saryn?”

  “No.”

  “Good,” I stated.

  “I don’t think, dude, I know it.”

  I stared at him, not sure if I should admit that I did indeed like his sister once upon a time and that maybe I still did.

  No maybe. I for sure liked her, but she wasn’t interested in me that way.

  “Truitt, like I said a minute ago, I know you. I see the way you look at my sister, and I’ve never seen you smile at anyone like you smile at her.”

  I shook my head. “You’ve got it wrong, Ryan.”

  “Do I? Really? Because she’s been moping around just like you are ever since the two of you went on that little shopping trip. You don’t think I notice you come around when you know she’s not there? Or that she nearly punched me in the gut when she found out I’d accidentally hurt you?

  I lifted a brow.

  “Dude, you tried to grab the gun from my hand!”

  “You had your finger on the trigger!”

  Ryan rolled his eyes, then shook his head. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on in my sister’s head. She claims she isn’t interested in dating anyone, and believe me when I say I was less than pleased when she hooked up with that cop after she came back to town. Maybe that’s what she thought she wanted, or maybe she needed it to move on from Tim. I don’t know. But I see the way she lights up when someone mentions your name. All I’m saying is, if you’re worried about me, dude, I’m not going to be a problem. I wouldn’t stand in your way. You know my folks wouldn’t either. Hell, this has been my mother’s plan all along, you know that, right?”

  I looked out into the dark night and chuckled. “Honestly, Ryan, I’m not really sure about much of anything right now, least of all my feelings.”

  He didn’t say anything for a few minutes before he spoke again. “I don’t know if my sister ever really loved Tim. As a matter of fact, she told me she was going to leave him before they even got married. She wasn’t happy with him. Then he asked her to marry him. She gave it a try, and when things weren’t working, she told him she wanted a divorce. Then she found out she was pregnant, so she stayed. I think she hoped Liliana would bring them closer, when all it really did was push them further apart. He hurt her, I do know that, and she seems so happy to be out of the marriage. She claims she doesn’t want to date, but the way she reacted at the hospital when you got hurt? I know my sister, and she has feelings for you. Maybe she’s a bit confused like you are? I don’t know. I don’t want to see her hurt, and I sure as hell don’t want to see her push someone away simply because she thinks all guys suck.”

  My gaze met his. I nodded, not really sure what to say. He clapped me on the back and laughed. “Women, they totally fuck with our heads, don’t they?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a slight laugh. “They sure do.”

  Ryan stood and went to walk back into the cabin before he turned and spoke again.

  “If there’s anything I learned from my relationship with Miranda, it’s that communication has to be there. Maybe Saryn isn’t ready for a relationship. I
f not, you need to decide if being her friend is going to be enough for you, Truitt. If it’s not, you need to tell her how you feel. Don’t let her slip away like she did in high school. Especially since my niece has already fallen head over heels for you.”

  I pulled in a deep breath. “I would never want to hurt either one of them.”

  He nodded. “I know, dude. I know.”

  Truitt

  ANOTHER MONTH PASSED by, and I had hardly seen Saryn at all. Since most of the work on the playhouse was done at my workshop, I didn’t really need to be onsite that much. We’d worked double time to get the playhouse finished before the cold weather really kicked in. It was the beginning of December, and even for Texas it was colder than normal. Evie had begged me to get it finished by Christmas, and a part of me truly did want Liliana to have it by then. The only problem was that Christmas was three weeks away. There wouldn’t be any rest for any of us. We had a huge playhouse project for a client in Austin that had just come in a few days ago, one we were trying to finish up, as well as Liliana’s.

  “What do you think?” Jack asked, a look of pure happiness etched on his face.

  “I think we performed a fucking miracle, but it’s not finished yet.”

  He nodded and I swore. He puffed out his chest some.

  “We’re right on schedule, so maybe now you can stop riding everyone’s ass. I had to talk two people into not quitting because of the iron hand you’ve been giving lately,” he said.

  “It was a big project, one of our biggest to date. I want it to be good and delivered on time. This project landed us the Austin one, don’t forget.”

  “I know it did, and it’ll be finished on time, dude. Now will you take a damn breath, Truitt. Are you going to Pete’s dinner party tonight?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Jesus Christ, do I have to?”

  Jack nodded. “Yes. The man has saved your life on how many occasions?”

  Staring at Jack, I laughed. “Saved my life? He’s pulled a nail out of my foot, told me my ankle wasn’t broken…wrote a prescription or two for pain…

  “Got glass out of your eye when that bottle exploded.”

  I shivered at the memory of that accident. Not one of my finer moments.