by Olivia Burke
Luckily, she’d finished the haircut. Jill tugged the towel off his shoulders, running her fingers through his hair once or twice more. She leaned down to blow any remaining hairs off, and he had to physically restrain himself from leaping out of his chair.
“All done,” she said.
Colt checked out his reflection in the mirror, already loving the weight off his head. Jill had done a great job, and the style was nearly identical to what he’d shown her.
He stood up and turned to face her, running a hand through it. He grinned at the quick motion thanks to the shorter length. “What do you think?”
Jill laughed. “It doesn’t matter what I think, what do you think?”
“I love it.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, mockingly wiping her brow. “Good. I think your fans will love it, for what it’s worth.”
“Do you?” He took a step towards her without thinking, drawn to her like a magnet. “Like it, I mean?”
Her lips curved upward. “Yeah, I do. It looks really great, if I do say so myself.”
“Thank you,” he said, now so close he’d only have to lean down to meet her lips.
Before he could think further, Jill’s phone went off, the ringtone blasting in her back pocket. She grimaced. “That’ll be Rosie.”
“Go,” he said softly, silently thanking the interruption before he did something stupid. “Tell her you cut off all my hair while I was sleeping.”
Jill’s burst of laughter made him grin, and she stepped out to take the call. Colt turned to his reflection again, admiring the haircut, and purposely ignoring the tiny voice in his head that asked if he’d regret not kissing Jill again.
“That is so amazing!” Rosie shouted into the phone screen.
Rosie had video-dialed and Jill hastily answered, wanting to share the good news about the possible job offer. Rosie, of course, was totally, completely on board.
“Oh my gosh, and then you’d be in Crystal Springs and we could see you all the time,” she babbled.
Jill laughed, finally trying to get a word in between her excited chattering. “Assuming I take the job, you mean!”
“Why wouldn’t you?” Rosie didn’t wait for a reply. “I can’t wait to tell Jack.”
“Speaking of, where is my dear old brother?”
“Out getting dinner,” Rosie said absentmindedly, a dreamy smile crossing her face. “We had the best afternoon in this adorable little private cabana–”
“We’ve talked about this, Rosie,” Jill warned, making them both giggle a little.
“Sorry, sorry.” Rosie sat up on the bed, pink curls wild and contrasting against her skin tinged with the slightest shade of red. “What else is new? Meet anyone special yet?”
Jill guffawed. “Who on earth would I have met in the last few days in Crystal Springs?”
Rosie shrugged. “Hey, you never know. You deserve a little fun on vacation.”
“I’m having plenty of fun, trust me.”
“Oh yeah, doing what?”
“Uh, well, I cut Colt’s hair today.”
Rosie’s eyes grew wide. “What?”
Jill laughed and explained why Colt would be sporting a new look. Rosie demanded pictures, but had no problem picking up on whatever expression Jill must’ve worn while talking about him. Rosie, of course, came right out and asked, grinning.
“What’s that face about?”
A nervous laugh escaped Jill, as hard as she tried not to. “What face?”
Her sister-in-law went very still. “Jill, do you like Colt?”
“What?” Jill faked surprise at the question, even though they both knew she’d heard perfectly fine. “Of course not.”
“Do you like Colt?” Rosie repeated, her voice an octave higher.
“No–I mean, I do, but I don’t like him, like him,” Jill stammered.
“Oh, you so do!” Rosie crowed. The screen went wild as she waved her hands in excitement before bringing it back to her face. “I can’t believe I didn’t pay more attention at the wedding.”
“You were a little busy.” Jill rolled her eyes, laughing at her.
“But this is huge–”
“It’s not! Look, it’s a schoolgirl crush, all right? I had his poster up on my wall and everything, so it’s not anything real.” Jill spit the words out, the lame arguments she’d told herself when remembering why nothing would ever happen with Colt.
“But listen, you can’t tell anyone, it’s so silly, no one knows, I don’t even know why we’re discussing it–”
“No, no, this is what I’m here for, remember!” Rosie said, grinning like a maniac. “We’re sisters now, you can tell me anything!”
“You especially cannot tell my brother,” she said, but Rosie waved her off on the screen.
“Of course not,” Rosie assured her. “Sisters’ secrets are to the grave. Now tell me everything.”
“There have been a few … I don’t know, moments,” Jill said, unable to properly describe it. She didn’t want to give away their kiss at the reception; for some reason, Jill forever wanted to keep that moment just between her and Colt.
“Moments,” Rosie repeated. “Such as?”
“Moments were we’ve almost kissed, or at least it felt like we might.” Jill tugged at a strand of blond hair, hating how juvenile she sounded. “It’s honestly been one of the best weeks of my life, Rosie. We always have so much fun together, and he’s kind and sweet…”
Rosie gave her a knowing look. “Sounds like you feel pretty seriously about him.”
“It’s all lust,” Jill said, more or less telling herself that, too. “It’s not like I feel anything for him, not really, this is just like some wild fan girl dream.”
“What if he has feelings for you, too?”
“He doesn’t. Whatever’s between us, assuming there even was something, it doesn’t matter,” Jill said, half-convincing herself. “I mean, he’s my brother’s best friend … who is a movie star … and lives in Hollywood. You know what, the more I hear it, the more ridiculous it gets.”
“But Jack really shouldn’t be a factor in your love life, and he’d probably love–” she tried to argue, but Jill waved her off again.
“Even if I did feel anything for Colt, he’d have to reciprocate, and that’s never going to happen.”
Rosie’s mouth pursed in thought. “Is that so?”
“Unless you know something I don’t.”
“But Jilly, what if he did want something real with you?” Rosie’s head ticked on-screen. “Would you want to try?”
Yes. She didn’t say it out loud, but Jill hesitated just long enough for Rosie to see it all over her face.
“You would!”
Jill tried to squelch any feelings of hope. Colt doesn’t feel that way about me. She cleared her throat, forcing an annoyed laugh. “In any case, he keeps referring to me as his ‘pseudo-sister,’ so that’s doing a great job of killing anything related to a mood.”
Rosie rolled her eyes, blowing a strand of pink hair out of her face in annoyance. “Typical.”
Before they could continue the conversation, however, she tilted her head at something off-screen, finally grimacing at Jill. “Jack’s back, I better go.”
“Not a word,” Jill uttered.
Rosie put two fingers up in a Scout’s promise. “Not one. Later, sister.”
Jill put her phone aside and buried her face in her hands. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to figure out what to do next with the mess she’d put herself in. Colt saw her as Jack’s little sister, like practically his own sister, and no way would he change his mind. To him, she probably came across as dorky and immature. Surely he only encouraged her with his own silliness because he acted that way with his own sibling.
Why do I care so much? The question jarred Jill from her rabbit hole of thoughts, resetting her feelings on the matter. I shouldn’t. Even if some kind of magic spell came over Colt and he ever saw her in a different light, it didn’t
matter. They had incredibly different lives; they’d never work out.
The tiniest part of her wanted so desperately to be wrong. Look at Jack and Rosie, it tried to say. They made it work.
“No,” she said firmly to herself. “Colt doesn’t feel that way about me, and it would never work, anyway. You need to let this go.”
Even if it killed her.
Colt and Jill were hanging out in the upstairs living room on Saturday, her on the couch with a few magazines, and him snoozing through a college football game on the television. His phone rang, jerking him awake, and he reached for it, the screen revealing a Los Angeles number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Colt, it’s Martin Giles.”
Colt nearly dropped the phone. Why was the director of the “General Justice” movies calling him personally? Uh, this can’t be good. Colt shot to his feet, already pacing halfway across the room.
“Is it Jack? Are he and Rosie okay?” Jill asked at the sudden panic.
“No, no, they’re okay,” Colt told her. “It’s work. Sorry, hang on one second.”
“Sure.” Jill turned down the TV and reached for a magazine on the coffee table. She sank back into the couch cushion, flipping through the pages.
Colt took the call. “Martin, hey, good to hear from you.”
“Yeah, look, I’ve got some big news that I finally get to tell you.” Martin was always a concise, to-the-point man. “I wanted to tell you in person, but your agent says you’re hiding out in Crystal Springs?”
“It’s a long story.”
“No matter,” Martin said, clearly uninterested. “I wanted to let you know that you’re getting the General’s shield at the end of the next movie.”
Colt let out a bark of laughter. “Sorry, I thought I just heard you say–”
“You heard me right.”
He waved at Jill to get her attention, pointing at the phone by his ear. “Is this one of your pranks?”
She gave him a bewildered look. “Huh?”
“You there, Colt?” Martin’s voice came through the phone, startling Colt back into the conversation.
“Is this for real?”
“Very.”
“I-I mean, I knew when I signed a multi-movie deal, there would be more than three movies, but … I didn’t know this was happening.” He paused. “How did I not know this was happening?”
“Look, you know how tight-lipped the studio is,” Martin said. “I barely knew about it until a couple months ago. But this is huge news, it’s going to spread like wildfire when we announce it - you’re about to be the next big superhero!”
Colt couldn’t help the whoosh of breath that left him in sheer relief. “Man, I thought you were about to terminate my contract or something.”
“What, over your hair?” Martin chuckled. “Of course not – you know we make talking animals look real these days, right? Wigs are nothing. Look, we’ll work out the rest of the details when you get back from vacation. We’ll sit down as a group to fill in the blanks.”
“Yes, definitely – thank you!”
Colt hung up the phone and stared wide-eyed at Jill. Her hands waved in the air, urging him to share the news.
“What is it?”
He shook his head in disbelief, hardly feeling the strands of freshly snipped hair that swished across his forehead. He sank onto the couch next to her, rubbing his face and wondering if he was about to wake up from some crazy dream.
“Colt,” Jill said, snapping him back to attention.
He couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face if he wanted to, the full-blown smile threatening to crack his cheeks. Her blue eyes were bright with curiosity, the corners of her soft lips quirking at his own reaction.
“Pinch me,” he told her.
“What?”
“Pinch me,” he repeated, offering out his arm to her. “So I know I’m awake.”
Jill reached out and gently squeezed his forearm, and they both laughed. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re definitely awake. Now what’s going on?”
“It has to stay between us, okay?”
Jill pretended to zip her mouth and crossed her heart, eyes alight with excitement as he shifted his weight to lean forward.
“The director wanted to be the one to share the good news,” he said. “About the next ‘General Justice’ movie.”
“And?” Jill tilted her head, blond hair spilling over her shoulders.
“I’m going to be the next General Justice,” Colt said, the words strange to his ears.
Jill’s mouth fell open. “What?”
Colt explained everything to her, about how Jack’s character would step down in the next movie and hand off the title to Colt’s character.
“I can’t believe it,” he said softly. He laced his hands behind his hand, staring up in the ceiling with wonder.
“Does Jack know?” she asked.
He paused. “I’d have to think so, right?”
She giggled. “I can’t believe Jack managed to keep it a secret from you even for an hour.”
Another rush of excitement hit Colt so hard he had to stand up and pace the room for a few seconds. He couldn’t help himself - the shout bubbled up and had to be released. “I’m going to be the next General Justice!”
“This is so amazing!” His enthusiasm was obviously contagious, as Jill also got to her feet and jumped up and down, clapping her hands together. “I’m so excited for you!”
Without thinking, Colt swept her up in his arms, swinging her around until they were both laughing. As he brought her feet back down to the floor, his arms stayed around her, their faces close enough for him to feel her breath on his lips.
Kiss her, a voice in his head whispered.
Don’t you dare, another shouted. He felt torn, half-expected to see an angel and a devil on either shoulder.
A shrill ring cut through the moment, jerking them apart. Jill blushed, smoothing down her shirt without meeting his eyes. He glanced at his screen and nearly panicked at the request for screen time.
Jack.
Colt jerked away from Jill as if she were on fire, willing himself to take a deep breath before answering. Chill out, it’s not like he knows you almost just kissed his sister … again.
He answered the phone, keeping Jill out of the frame and desperately trying to act casual. “Jack, hey.”
“Did Martin call you?” Jack demanded without greeting.
“I, uh, just hung up with him, actually–”
“Ah, man,” Jack said, uttering a curse on the other end, “I really wanted to be the one to tell you the good news!”
“Oh,” Colt said, unable to hide his relief. Jack was calling about the “General Justice” movie, not about his sister. Whew.
“I only found out the twist a couple days ago,” Jack continued, his face lighting up on the screen. “But I’ve known about my departure from the series for a while.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, man,” Colt said, laughing a little in disbelief. “I knew you wouldn’t play the role forever, but I thought you had at least another movie left.”
“Priorities shift after you meet the love of your life!” Jack shrugged, a little smile on his face.
Colt very purposely did not look in Jill’s direction. They spent a few more minutes talking, Jack explaining his desire to move on to other roles and make more time for Rosie and the family they wanted to start soon. None of it came as any surprise to Colt, of course, who’d heard similar versions of his future. He wasn’t surprised Jack wanted out of the franchise; only that suddenly he would be the next torchbearer.
His smile widened again at the thought of the role, of creating something new for his character. It was everything he hadn’t realized he wanted. By the time he hung up with Jack, he turned back around, opening his mouth to apologize to Jill, but stopped at the sight of the empty room. Jill, it appeared, had left the room, leaving him alone once again.
&
nbsp; Colt’s smile faded, and though he still felt a flicker of excitement in his belly, he couldn’t recreate that particular euphoria again no matter how hard he tried. All he could see in his mind’s eye were bright blue eyes and a heart-stopping smile.
He only let a few more seconds slide by before he chose to throw caution to the wind and find Jill to celebrate.
As soon as Colt answered her brother’s call, Jill had hightailed it into the kitchen, staring blankly into the pantry while cursing her stupid heart. She’d raced out of there when she’d seen the chance, not even because of Jack, but because of another too-close moment.
I can’t believe I keep falling for it. Jill was starting to get mad at herself, actually, at how often she just happily put herself in Colt’s arms, only to be rejected over and over. I must be a masochist.
But then she thought of that almost-kiss … she fanned herself, willing the blush in her cheeks to fade. She’d never been so attracted to a man; anytime he was that close she felt like a fire lit up within her and it took every bit of willpower not to physically touch him. But now she knew the man behind the beautiful face, and he was kind-hearted and silly and genuine. It was no wonder she kept putting herself in this position of falling for him.
The worst part was, Jill knew he felt it, too, could see it all over his face. It both flattered and frustrated her, knowing there was something there and being unable to act on it. It was enough to make any girl want to eat the entire pint of ice cream she knew was in the freezer.
Jill tossed her hair up into a ponytail, tugging on it a bit tighter than necessary. “What were you thinking,” she muttered over and over, berating herself. “Are you crazy, he’s your brother’s best friend, never mind the hottest movie star ever.”
“Hey,” Colt’s deep voice said behind her.
Jill jumped a foot in the air and whirled around, hair whipping in her face. Did he hear that? If he had, he didn’t give any indication, but Jill didn’t doubt he had a good poker face.
“What’s up?” she squeaked out, internally wondering if she could somehow disappear into the wall of canned goods behind her.
