It is now Friday and despite having worked last night, Ella is in high spirits, bouncing around her apartment with the energy of a jackrabbit. Aislin sits on Ella’s bed, painting her toenails a pale teal color that Ella hates.
“It’s the color of gangrene, Ais. I’m sure of it. Use the red or pink. Hell, even sparkles are better than that ugly sea foam mess.”
Aislin rolls her eyes at her friend as she continues to streak the color onto her pinky toe. It is the weekend before the fourth of July, which falls on Monday. Ella dons a new denim skirt, brown cowgirl boots and a red halter top. She begins spiraling curls into her long brown hair, spraying each one with enough hairspray to choke a mule, Aislin decides, as she stands coughing and fanning the air in front of her. Ella just grins at her friend through the haze of hairspray particles still hanging in the air between them. She is standing in front of the vanity that faces the foot of her bed. Ella rolls her eyes at Aislin’s toenails, draped in pond scum. A color similar to Jaxon’s eyes.
“Where are we going?” Aislin asks.
Ella jumps and turns around, “Oh, girl! There’s a new country bar on Fourth We have to go. Kim said it is so awesome! They even have a mechanical bull!” she squeals and turns back to her reflection.
Great. Alcohol and mechanical moving animals. Good Times. Aislin puts on her white sundress and tan cowgirl boots and fluffs her hair. The two grab their purses and head out the door.
A few hours later, the country music is flooding out of the speakers and everyone yells along something about Joe Diffie. On the walk to the new establishment, Ella had declared the night “Men are Bastards” night and vowed to stick with Aislin like glue. She had shouted her hatred of men louder with each shot she had consumed. Aislin was still nursing her first beer, knowing that Ella was going to be hard to handle later. Her hatred of men had only lasted until the first handsome guy in a Stetson looked her way and asked for a dance. She’d batted her dark lashes and left Aislin sitting in the wooden booth, peanut shells crunching under the soles of her boots every time she shifted position.
While she peels the label on her Bud Light, someone slides into the booth across from her. Looking up, she finds Ty staring back at her. He brushes his hand through his blonde hair, which Aislin notices has grown longer and a bit shaggy in the past month. His grey eyes pierce hers and he moves his hands from his lap to the table and then back again nervously. Smiling, he says, “Aislin.”
“Ty.”
“I heard you moved. Are you back?” His brows rise hopefully.
She shakes her head. “Just visiting Ella for the night. I’m heading back tomorrow.” He nods and smiles hesitantly, clasps his hands together then lays them flat on the table. She smiles slightly at his nervousness.
He ticks his head toward the dance floor. “Looks like she’s busy tonight.”
Aislin laughs. “Yep.” She glances back over her shoulder where Ella is dancing with yet another young man in a cowboy hat. His hat is white and he is tall and skinny. He spins Ella around clumsily, or drunkenly, or both.
“How are you, Ais? I miss you.” He looks down at the table.
“Fine. I bought a house and am living out in the country. Never imagined that I would be there, but I really love it. I’m looking for a job and just settling in right now.”
He grins and opens his mouth as if to say something and then clamps it shut, still grinning. “What?” she asks.
He shakes his head and smiles. “I just can’t imagine you living in the country. You’re terrified of bugs.”
“I know. I killed a huge spider the other day with my broom. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! It was like the size of a tarantula. I swear!”
He laughs. “Hey, you wanna dance?”
She looks at him, and the smile falls from her face. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Ty.”
“Ais, it’s just a dance. I know where I stand with you. Trust me.”
She sighs and puts her hand in his and lets him lead her to the dance floor. Ella sees the pair and her mouth flies open. Aislin worries she might catch flies and the thought of Ella with flies in her gaping-wide-open mouth makes her giggle. She shakes her head at Ella and grins. Ella smirks and pulls out her cell phone snapping a picture of Aislin wrapped in Ty’s arms as they gently sway to Luke Bryan’s “Buzzkill.”
†
The incessant dinging of her cell phone wakes her the next morning. There are missed six calls and four text messages. All of the calls are from Gabe. One text is from Ty making sure she got home safely. The other three are from Gabriel. Aislin swipes her thumb down the touchscreen, scrolling down.
GABE: WTF! Are you stupid?
GABE: WHERE ARE YOU? I’M COMING TO GET YOU NOW.
GABE: PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE, MAC!
The last message had arrived at 2:04am. What ruffled his feathers? Aislin wonders. Ella mumbles something and then sits up next to Aislin.
“It’s too early. Go back to bed.” She flops backward and pulls the covers over her head.
“I need to call Gabe. He’s pissed about something. I’ve barely heard from him over the past few weeks and last night he called six times and sent me three texts.” Sleep still invades her voice.
Ella giggles maniacally. Aislin closes her eyes. She recognizes that laugh. It means trouble.
“What did you do, Els?”
“Nothing bad. I just sent Gabe a little text last night.” She says innocently, grabbing her own phone and bringing up the pic of Aislin dancing with Ty. Aislin cringes and begins to dial Gabe to explain the situation, until Ella’s hand swiftly lands on top of hers.
“Don’t, Ais. Let him think about what he’s missing.” Ella smiles and Aislin groans and places her phone back on the nightstand. She crashes back onto the bed and pulls her pillow over her face, letting out a loud, exhausted groan.
†
Aislin is back home Saturday night and is on her back deck waiting for Jeremiah. He is bringing steaks and vegetables to grill. Aislin sips from her glass of cabernet, savoring its woodsy aroma. She hears her back door open as she kneels in front of her new Weber gas grill, trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to come on.
“I don’t know how to turn the grill on. It’s new and I’ve never used propane. And, honestly, it kind of freaks me out. I feel like I might cause an explosion or burn my house down. So, can you make sure I have the tank hooked up properly and fire it up? I’ll marinate the steaks and chop the veggies.” She stands and turns around, seeing someone she is not expecting. Gabriel stands before her, glaring angrily at her.
“Oh, um. Gabe, I wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing here?” she asks, shifting her feet uncomfortably and taking a gulp of her wine.
“Are you stupid?” he grinds out, stepping toward her quickly. She backs up, bumping into the wooden deck rail behind her.
Not one to back down easily, she firmly pushes him out of her personal space. “Go home, Gabe.” Aislin tries to go around him into her kitchen but he blocks her way. She tries to move around him to the right, but is blocked again. Two hundred pounds of muscle is hard to move if it’s very determined to stand still.
“No, Mac. I’m not going home. You need to explain why you were all over Ty last night. Ella sent me the picture.”
Aislin rolls her eyes and finally manages to nudge past him and enter her kitchen. She pours herself a second glass of wine. She offers one to Gabe, who instead grabs a Bud Light from her refrigerator. “I wasn’t all over Ty. We danced for a few songs. Nothing happened. He knows that he and I will never happen again. I don’t know why you wouldn’t know that, too. You know me better than anyone.” She takes another drink and mutters, “At least you should.”
He scoffs. “It sure didn’t look like nothing, Mac. His hands were all over you and you sure seemed to enjoy it. Anyway, I’m not sure I know you at all anymore.”
“Look, did you come here to start a fight? Because, I’m not in the mood. I’m e
xpecting company and I don’t need this. Not tonight and not from you. Not after what happened between us.”
She barely says the last word before he is yelling. “It was a mistake. Damn it, Mac. I’m sorry. I was an ass. You looked hot in that fucking dress. I’m a guy. I took advantage of the situation. It’ll never happen again. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I don’t see you as anything but a sister to me. I fucked up. I’m sorry.” He roughly scrubs the back of his neck, his skin turning red.
“Fine. It was a mistake. Can you leave now?” She stalks over to the door and holds it open. He steps past her onto the front porch and almost runs right into Jeremiah, who looks very surprised. Jeremiah smiles and sets his white, plastic grocery bags down.
Offering his hand to Gabriel, Jeremiah says, “Hey, it’s Gabe, right?”
“Yeah.” Gabe offers in a clipped tone, shaking his hand quickly. He spears Aislin with a denim glare and stalks off toward his truck, revving his engine and sending gravel flying from his tires as he peels away.
Aislin releases a breath and apologizes to Jeremiah repeatedly as the two prepare dinner. Aislin had invited him to dinner and then to The Barn for their Fourth of July party later in the evening.
†
A few hours later, Jeremiah pulls his Black BMW into a parking space in The Barn’s parking lot. He exits his vehicle and walks around the car, opening the passenger door and holding his hand out to help Aislin exit the vehicle. She smiles at this polite gesture and thinks of how lucky she is to have him as a friend and how glad she is that he is a drama-free part of her life. She slides her sweaty palms down the front of her red sundress. Donning her cowgirl boots again, she steps out of the beautiful sleek car and grabs Jeremiah’s hand for dear life. She knows she will have to face Gabe tonight and isn’t looking forward to it in the first time in her life. Gabe is right. She realizes that now. It had been a mistake to share part of her body with him. Because in doing so, she had shared a part of her heart with him. A part he didn’t want and she didn’t know how to get back. She had known him since they were teenagers and knew he was nowhere near prepared to get serious with anyone.
She chastises herself as they step through the doorway. Jeremiah squeezes her hand giving her a bit of strength and support. His lips lift in a half-smile and then he kisses her knuckles and whispers in her ear. “Let’s just have some fun. Forget about everything. Just for tonight.” He winks and earns a smile from Aislin.
The two spend the evening laughing and dancing. Jeremiah goes out of his way to act goofy and make her smile. She is so thankful for him and his willingness to make her comfortable. She wonders why it can’t work between them. He is so nice. So giving. He has been attracted to her since they first met, that much has been obvious. But, despite this fact, he has honored her request to keep things friendly and has never pushed that boundary to satisfy his own needs. Unlike Gabe. Although, Aislin admits to herself that she’d blurred the boundary of their friendship as much as he had. The only difference being that Aislin had wanted more. She found herself becoming more and more attracted to Gabriel since he’d returned from Afghanistan. At first, she thought it was just because of Ty and the fact that she missed him and needed someone to take her mind off of her broken engagement.
But, now, she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that her attraction to Gabe had nothing to do with Ty. Nothing to do with their breakup. It had taken root in her heart even before then. She just hadn’t realized it yet. However, she knows now that these feelings aren’t reciprocated by him and that she must let them go. She’s seen Gabe across the room at the bar a couple of times. Mostly he’s been sitting with Parker and Amy and their friends, a buxom blonde on his lap—his type and nothing like Aislin. Jeremiah holds her close, and the pair sways back and forth. He’s rolled up his white button down and, paired with his dark wash jeans and brown hiking boots, he looks handsome. Aislin notices a small scar that dissects his right eyebrow.
“How’d you get that scar?” She traces it with her finger as they sway.
“A fight. I fought a lot when I was in high school.” He replied, clenching his jaw and holding her gaze with his steely gray eyes. Aislin wondered how such a mild-mannered man had once been so hot-headed. In her experience, men with a temper rarely lost it.
†
Watching Aislin circle slowly with Jeremiah Stone was making Gabriel sick. Sick and angry. Pissed and fighting mad, actually. He doesn’t know why, can’t put his finger on it exactly, but Stone feels off. Wrong. Definitely wrong for Mac. He’s a pretty boy. A play boy. Rich beyond even Parker and Amy’s imaginations, and Gabe was sure they were the wealthiest people he had ever known. He sulks in the darkened corner of The Barn on a bale of hay he’s claimed as his own, nursing yet another beer. Angela, another big-breasted peroxide-blonde snuggles up to him.
Gabe can’t stand the sight of Jeremiah’s hands on Aislin. His Mac. He knows that what happened between them had been the sexiest damn thing to ever happen to him. Sure, he’d gone a lot further with other girls in the past, but none meant anything to him. None were like Mac. He loved her. Like a sister, of course. Bullshit. He can’t even lie to himself. He loves her, wants her more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life, but he can’t betray his best friend. Declan would not want the two of them together. He would have beaten Gabe’s ass if he had so much as glanced in Mac’s direction when they were teenagers.
She is his best friend. His closest friend. And now he’d royally fucked that up. Kissing her had felt so perfect, but he knows it was wrong. With that fit of passion, he had singlehandedly ruined their friendship. He should never have kissed her, never should have touched or tasted her, never should have felt the warmth of her body underneath him. He groans as the thought arouses him again. He takes a long draw from his bottle of Bud Light.
One thing is certain, he may not be able to have her, but he would make damn sure that she didn’t end up with a douche like Ty again. He had broken her heart. Gabriel would watch out from her, from afar and make sure whomever she dated was worthy of her. His Mac.
He takes another long draw off his beer and back on Angela. He definitely could use a distraction. Watching Mac with Stone is about to kill him, or land him in jail.
†
Jaxon is smooth, she’d give him that much. Too smooth. He had interrupted her dance with Jeremiah and asked for a turn to push her around the floor. His jade eyes bore into her and she looks away uncomfortably. She is aware of the two pairs of eyes that follow them both-- Jeremiah’s and Gabe’s. Although he is incredibly handsome, Aislin can see right through his façade. He’s a player and she is not interested. He leans down and whispers in her ear, “Haven’t seen you since that morning at breakfast, but I’ve thought about you a lot since then.”
“Okay.” She drawls out. He draws her closer and inhales her scent. She’d seen him do the same to three other women tonight and knew it was just part of his game—one that she is most certainly not interested in playing. Not now. Not ever. As he guides her body’s motions, she sighs, wondering what is wrong with her. She silently pines over Gabe, who doesn’t want her. Who believes touching her had been a mistake. Who will barely even look at her, let alone speak with her anymore. She attracts Jaxon, who is obviously just interested in getting into her panties, which, she decides, is so not happening. And then there’s Jeremiah. Jeremiah, who has been so sweet and supportive. Jeremiah who, despite his attraction to her, respects her enough to honor her request to only have a friendly relationship.
“You look beautiful. Wanna get out of here and do something more...interesting?” he asks suggestively, his hot breath caressing her ear. Uh, hell to the no! Never again.
In that moment, Aislin makes two decisions. Number one: She needs to get the hell away from Jaxon, and Number two: She needs to see if she can be happy with Jeremiah. Maybe she isn’t meant to have the fairytale. Maybe she can settle for safety and happiness or even love that can develop over time. S
he politely thanks Jaxon for the dance and quickly makes her way to the ladies room where she splashes water on her face and looks in the mirror as she grasps the sides of the porcelain pedestal sink for dear life. Aislin decides to avoid Jaxon like the plague. No more dances. No more sexy whispers from that man. He’s hot. She’ll give him that. But he’s a dog. A player. He uses his sex appeal like a shiny lure, and Aislin is no damned fish.
She wishes Gabriel wanted her, wishes she could be enough for him somehow. That he’d see her as more than his best friend’s sister, as more than just something or someone to protect. She wished he say to hell with whatever sense of duty he thought he had to her, and love her. But that would never happen. If there’s one thing she knows about Gabriel Church it’s that he is loyal to a fault, stubborn as a mule and that he wouldn’t budge on this at all. His mind was made up. And, there was nothing more she could do. She’d offered him everything, and he’d refused her gift. She wouldn’t make the mistake of offering a second time. More rejection isn’t something she could handle right now. Stone is different. He’s not a player, and is fun enough. Aislin decides to give him a chance. It couldn’t hurt, anyway. She exhales deeply and then stands up and squares her shoulders before opening the heavy wooden door.
Chapter 7
Aislin finds Jeremiah seated at the bar talking with Parker. She perches on the high-back leather chair next to him and smiles at Parker as he leaves with his drink. She smiles sweetly at Jeremiah as he turns in her direction. She’s never been very forward in approaching members of the opposite sex, unlike Ella. She wishes for a moment for an ounce of her friend’s bravery, or confidence, or both. Taking a sip of the cabernet he had ordered for her, she inhales again and then reaches over, lacing her fingers through his.
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