by Hart, Emma
Holley froze.
My eyes widened. Damn it, Saylor! We weren’t supposed to tell Holley.
“Sebastian?” Holley’s eyes clouded in anger, and she fiddled with her glasses again. “Great. Maybe all his little groupies will follow him, and they can come buy a story about what a jerk he is.”
And that was why we weren’t going to tell Holley.
Saylor blinked. “That was eight years ago, Hol. Aren’t you over that yet?”
Holley glared at her.
Back away, Saylor, back away.
“I’m just gonna…” She cocked a thumb. “Go somewhere you aren’t.”
Smart.
“Did you know about this?” Holley turned to me.
There was no use lying about it. “I did,” I admitted. “Remember that guy I had dinner with in Bronco’s? Elliott?”
She nodded.
“He’s the physical therapist there. Sebastian injured his shoulder in the first game of the season and is out for the rest of it. He’s already had surgery, but since he’s with the Bears, the team were happy for him to come home and commute to do his rehab.”
“Ugh. I don’t want to see him.”
“I don’t know that you’ll have a choice. What if you run into each other?”
“Then I’ll be an adult who pretends she doesn’t know him,” she ground out through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, that’s the adult thing to do.”
The bell above the door rang, and we both looked back at it. Josh walked through with two bags of what smelled like hot soup and fresh bread, and he stilled when he saw us both eying him.
“What did I do?” he asked.
“Nothing. Probably just stopped a world war,” I muttered, motioning to Holley.
“Why? What’s wrong?” He kicked the door shut behind him. “I can’t stay long. I’m only here because when I went to get lunch, Johanna asked me if I was here to pick up your order. Apparently, you called it in this morning. She was about to remind you to come get it.”
Oh, crap.
We’d been so busy we’d forgotten lunch.
That explained the all-around grouchiness. We were hangry.
“I smell food!” Saylor came running out from wherever she’d been hiding. “Josh, if you keep showing up here with food, I’m going to murder Kinsley and date you myself.”
He blinked at her, confusion marring his forehead. “You changed your hair.”
“Good God, you people are observant today.”
“Looks good. Suits you.”
She brightened. “Thanks.”
“Are we just forgetting my issues?” Holley held out her hands. “Does nobody care about me?”
“About a stick you’ve had up your ass since you were eighteen?” Saylor raised her eyebrows and took the Styrofoam bowl of soup from Josh. “No.” She grabbed another container that held the bread and disappeared again.
“She’s sociable today,” Josh muttered, emptying out the rest of the containers. “What’s going on?”
“Sebastian’s coming back to town,” I said. “For his rehab.”
“Oh, yeah, you told me that.”
If this were a cartoon, Holley would have steam coming out of her ears by now. “Did everyone know except me?”
“Apparently Saylor didn’t,” I replied, opening my tomato soup. God, it smelled good. “And she’s right. What happened between you was eight years ago. Haven’t we all moved on?”
She grunted and opened her soup. The scent of French Onion soup filled the air. “Yes, we have, but that was also the last time I saw him. He tried to speak to me after and I refused.”
“I like Seb,” Josh said. “Been a while, but he’s a good guy.”
“Not the time,” I muttered to him.
Holley snorted. “Good guys don’t break girls’ hearts.”
“He didn’t know he was breaking your heart. It’s not like you ever told him you had feelings for him, and you literally waited until the last possible minute at prom to tell him,” I pointed out.
Rather undiplomatically.
Maybe politics was a career choice if selling books went down the creek.
“Thank you, Jerry Springer,” she snapped. “I know that, but it doesn’t mean I’m excited to see him again. It doesn’t mean I want to.”
“Isn’t his sister getting married soon?” Josh frowned. “Yeah, Kate’s getting married the weekend before Thanksgiving.”
“That’s right. You guys went to school together.” I’d forgotten Seb had a sister. “Are you going?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I haven’t spoken to her in a couple of years. I think Colt was going to, but that was only because Amber got an invite.”
“Mm, Colton,” Holley mused. “Have you spoken to him yet?”
Josh shook his head. “We’ve acknowledged each other at work, but we’re on opposite sides of the site.”
I looked down, lamely dipping a bit of my crusty bread into my soup.
“Hey.” Josh pushed my hair away from my face and tilted my chin so I looked at him. “I’m not worried. It’s only been three days. He’ll come around when he’s ready.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because he didn’t give me the finger when he saw me this morning.” He dropped his hand and grinned, and even Holley snorted at that. “That’s progress right there.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Plus, on Monday, our boss asked me why I looked like I’d moonlighted in the UFC over the weekend, and Colt yelled, “Because he fucked my sister so I punched him!” He’s now moved to fucking, so I assume he’s slowly beginning to accept this relationship.”
Something told me that this reconciliation was going to take a while.
Holley laughed and choked on a piece of bread. She had to stop to thump her chest to free the bit that was stuck.
“At least Cora isn’t fussing over me anymore. If I take one more Tylenol, I’m going to need my stomach pumped.”
“Who’s Cora?” I frowned.
Josh grinned. “Are you jealous?”
I stared at him.
“Cora is the fifty-eight-year-old office manager and wife of my boss who mothers everyone within a twenty-mile radius,” he said after a moment. “She’s a good-looking fifty-eight, but she’s not my type. I prefer feisty, awkward bookworms who get me punched.”
I punched him in the arm. “Shut up.”
Holley looked between us. “Shakespeare couldn’t have written a better love story.”
“Did he write love stor—” Josh paused. “Oh, right. Romeo and Juliet.”
We both blinked at him and said at the same time, “Romeo and Juliet is not a romance!”
I even heard that echoed from Saylor from wherever she was.
Josh looked around. “Right. Okay. Why not? They fell in love.”
“And then they died,” Holley said slowly, looking at him as if he’d just told her all books should be burned. “He poisoned himself because he thought she was dead, then she woke up and stabbed herself because he was dead. In what world is that even remotely romantic?”
“Uh…” He hesitated. “It’s kind of romantic that they couldn’t live without each other?”
“No,” I said. “That’s romantic when you’re talking about ninety-year-old couples who’ve been together for seventy years. Not two obstinate teenagers who were, by all accounts, complete little shits.”
He blinked at me. “You wouldn’t do that for me?”
“Would I hell,” I replied. “I don’t like you that much.”
He tried to look hurt, but all that happened was he ended up laughing. “And I took a punch for you.”
“Your fault.” I dipped some bread in my soup. “Really, all you had to do was not tell me you had feelings for me and none of this ever would have happened.”
“So it’s all my fault.”
“Absolutely,” Holley agreed. “As a rule, it’s always the man’s fault.”
I inclined my head in her direction in agreement. “She’s right.”
“This is why I’ve been single for so long,” Josh said dryly. “You’re too much hard work.”
“Yes. You’re a regular walk in the park yourself.” I gently touched the bruise on his jaw. “Jurassic Park, maybe.”
He looked over at me, meeting my eyes, and his lips twisted in amusement.
Holley looked between us. “You two need a room.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE – JOSH
rule twenty-five: dating is never, ever easy. but it’s worth it.
I pulled up in the parking lot outside Bronco’s and killed the engine. It’d been a long, tense week at work, and all I wanted to do tonight was go home, shower, and go to sleep.
Kinsley had other ideas.
Despite my suggestion that she could come over, she’d insisted on us having dinner at Bronco’s.
I said no.
Which was why I was outside Bronco’s.
Obviously, I lost that fight.
I was getting used to that.
At least I’d been able to talk her into letting me take a shower before I came.
I got out of my truck and headed inside, only pausing to lock the doors. I pushed the front door of the bar open and stepped into the foray of madness.
Why she wanted to do this on a Friday night was beyond me.
I scanned the room for her, and it took a good moment before I noticed her sitting in a booth and waving at me. I pushed my way through the throng of people who were absolutely everywhere, narrowly missing being soaked by a kid’s juice, and finally made it to the table.
“Seriously? Here for dinner on a Friday night? What’s wrong with—” I stopped when I saw Colton sitting in the booth. He’d had his back to me, and thanks to the high backs of the chairs, I hadn’t known he was here.
And now it all made sense.
Colton clenched his jaw. “Kinsley…”
She held up her hands. “Don’t yell at me,” she said, looking between us. “Just listen? For a moment?”
Sighing, I slipped into the booth next to her and nodded. Colton nodded, too, and we both waited for her to talk.
“You have got to talk to each other,” Kinsley said, pushing her hair from her face. “It’s been a week, and I can’t take this anymore. I can’t talk to you about the other without both of you tensing up and saying it’ll be okay, but it’s not. It’s not being okay. Nothing about all of this is okay.” She looked at her brother. “If you’ve forgiven me, you can forgive him, too. So stop pretending like you’re waiting for him to talk to you first when you know he’s giving you space.” Then she looked at me. “And stop pretending he’s going to talk to you first. He’s not, and you know it. You’re putting it off because it’s the easy thing to do.”
We both looked at each other, then at her.
“You’re almost thirty years old, for the love of God. Stop acting like you’re both sixteen and jerking off over the same girl in math class. Now move.” She shoved at me, and I got up so she could step out of the booth, then sat back down when she gave me another push. “You two are going to talk. Right now. Or you,” she said to Colton. “I’m going to tell Grandpa what a huge baby you’re being about this.”
Colton’s eyes widened.
“And you.” She pointed at me. “No sex until this is finished.”
It was my turn to widen my eyes.
“Can we not?” Colt looked put out. “I don’t wanna think about that.”
“Then fix this.” She grabbed her glass of wine and headed off into the bar, disappearing before it’d registered that she’d left us without a drink.
“She brings us to a bar to make us talk and doesn’t even buy us a drink?” I said, staring at the empty table then up at Colton. “What kind of shit is that?”
“My sister,” he drawled. “I got this.” He pulled out his phone and texted. A moment later, it buzzed, and he smirked. “Done. I told her we aren’t talking until she sends us two beers and some chili cheese fries.”
The curve of my lips mirrored his. “Nice.”
Colt looked around the bar. “She picked here deliberately, didn’t she?”
“I don’t think she wants you to give me a matching bruise on the other side.”
His lips twitched a little. “I don’t know if I should apologize for that or not.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I deserved it.” I shrugged. “I should have told you.”
“I get why you didn’t.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” Colt ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not something you drop over a beer, is it? There’s no easy way to say that.”
He paused as one of the servers put two beers in front of us and told us our chili cheese fries would be over shortly.
“I wish you had, and I’m pissed that you didn’t, but I’m fine with it.”
I sipped my beer. “You are?”
“Yeah. If she has to date someone, I guess I’m glad it’s you.” He shrugged and toyed with the damp label on the bottle. “I already like you and know you’re not a jerk for one. Mostly not a jerk.”
I fought a smile.
“I know you’ll look after her, and I have to admit that’s she’s been extra happy since you started dating.” He looked at me and said begrudgingly, “And you have, too. I noticed something was different, but I was too busy with the house and everything to think about asking you. If I had…”
“I would have told you,” I admitted, leaning back in the booth. “If you asked.”
“I figured. I really should have figured it out.” He leaned forward, still toying with the bottle. “Shit—fucking hell. That night I stopped by yours and she said she’d had a bad date and you let her shower.”
I grimaced.
“Not true?”
“Not true,” I confirmed.
“I don’t want to know, do I?”
“I’m gonna go with no.”
Colton nodded slowly as our food was brought over. We waited for a moment until we were alone again and then he said, “I’m okay with it.”
“Me and Kinsley?”
He looked up. “I know how she feels about you, Josh. But she was willing to give you up if it meant I would be all right.”
Of course she was. That was Kinsley to her core. “That doesn’t surprise me. She’s done nothing but worry about you ever since we decided to start seeing each other.”
“Then she ran out and burst into tears,” he said dryly. “And then I knew she was serious. That this isn’t just… a casual thing. At least not for her.”
I looked him in the eye. “It’s not for me either, Colt. I’ve had feelings for her for a long time.”
He stilled, and a bit of melted cheese fell onto the table. “A long time?”
“Yeah. Just never did anything about it.” I paused. “Never felt like I could.”
“You know that pact is dumb, right? Stupid shit we made when we were kids.” He glanced away. “I only did it because I asked Piper out and she turned me down.”
I fought back a laugh. “Seriously? I’ve been feeling guilty this whole fuckin’ time because of it, and you already tried it with my sister?”
Colt rubbed his jaw, hiding a smile with his hand. “Yeah. I was feeling salty that day, but I never thought you’d stick to it after all these years.”
“For fuck’s sake. Kinsley’s gonna kill you.”
“We aren’t telling her,” he said quickly. “I don’t need a bruise to match yours.”
“She can’t punch.”
“Yeah, but she can throw a book, and that shit hurts.” He snorted. “Look, man, I don’t care that you’re together. Just that neither of you told me. But it’s done now, and we can all move on. But if you hurt her, I’ll make sure I break your jaw, not just bruise it.”
I grinned. “I’ll deserve that one, too.”
“Are you friends yet? We’re hungry and you’re eating all our fries.” Tori sat
on the opposite side next to Colt and bumped him along the seat with her hip. “You ate them all! What the hell?”
“God’s sake,” Kinsley whined, sitting down. “I’m hungry.”
“We’re fine, thanks for asking,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “Would you like some food?”
“You’re paying for it,” she replied, leaning into my side. “Are you really fine?”
Colton nodded. “It’s all good. Just don’t be all lovey and mushy in front of me. You’re still my sister, and I don’t wanna see it.”
Tori wrinkled her face up. “Nobody wants to see it, Colton, but it doesn’t mean they should keep six feet away from each other at all times.”
He side-eyed her. “Your attitude sucks.”
“Your attitude sucks,” she shot back. “Now come and order food with me.”
“I don’t want—”
“I wasn’t asking you.” Tori grabbed hold of his shirt and tugged, yanking him after her as she got up.
Colt muttered something under his breath, but he slid out of the booth and followed her in the direction of the bar.
“Do you think—” I stopped, frowning.
“What?” Kinsley looked at me. “Do I think what?”
“Do you think there’s something going on with those two?”
“What? Tori and my brother?” She leaned back, one eyebrow raised. “No. No way.”
“Think about it. They’re always bickering with each other, and it’s not that crazy. She’s pretty and funny and—”
“Carry on and I might start thinking you’ve got a thing for her.”
“Shut it.” I tapped the tip of her nose, and she wrinkled it up. “You don’t think so?”
She spun on the seat and peered around the side of the booth. “I don’t know. Maybe. But Colton? And Tori? No.”
“Why? Because he’s your brother and she’s one of your best friends?” I wiggled my eyebrows teasingly.
She knocked her fist into my arm as she straightened. “No. I don’t care about that. I just… wouldn’t put those two together.”
“Nobody would have put us together, but here we are.” I pulled her into me and kissed her. “Right?”
She tilted her head back and looked up at me, and her smile danced in her eyes as well as on her lips. “Yeah. Here we are.”
