Waking up I feel an awful kink in my neck. My eyes flutter with that feeling of disorientation. I push myself up to a seated position realizing I’m on my couch. I look over and see Sienna, curled up in a ball on the other end sound asleep, noticing the sun is barely up.

My heart starts to race in panic, as the memory of the events of yesterday take over me. The phone call. Paul. Injured. Colton. A second wave of anxiety hits as I look around and don’t see him anywhere. I push myself up and pad towards my bedroom which is empty, same as the bathroom.

I make my way back to the living room, grab my phone off the table and head to the kitchen where the coffee is calling my name.

I glance down at my phone to see no missed calls. Just a text from Colton, from last night.

I smile at the thoughtfulness. Noticing it’s just before seven in the morning, I make myself a cup of coffee while I debate on texting him back so early.

I move as quietly as possible, trying not to wake up Sienna, as I slide open the glass door that leads out to my back deck. The air is thick with humidity, which is unusual this early in the morning at the beginning of June.

I sit on the wicker rocking couch, legs tucked under me and let my thoughts wander. It’s like my brain is in total overdrive and I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m stuck on the seesaw of helplessness and hopefulness. There is nothing I can do at this moment to help my brother, but I’m hopeful that he’s going to be ok. I have no control over the outcome of my date tomorrow. I’m hoping that, at the very least, we’ll come out of this better friends than we were before.

Things can be so awkward between us, but they really shouldn’t be. It’s not like we’re strangers. We’ve known each other for a long time but, then again, we really don’t know each other. Sure, there have been points in time where it seems the attraction has been mutual; however, attraction doesn’t equal substance. I’m hit with the realization that lack of substance has been holding me back when it comes to relationships. Sure, I’ve gone out on dates with some nice guys, even attractive guys. Shit, I’ve even spent a night or two with a few them, but something was always lacking. With Colton though, I feel more with him. I just know that I can’t make him feel that towards me.

“Morning.” Sienna’s sleepy voice fills the air as she steps out on the deck, a cup of coffee in her hand and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

“Morning. You don’t need that. It’s already so humid.” I nod towards the blanket. She places her coffee down on the white wicker table, folds the blanket, laying in on the couch behind her.

“How are you holding up?”

“Eh. I’m alright I just wish I would hear something. The only message when I looked at my phone was a text from your brother just checking in.”

Her face brightens and I brush her off. As much as I could get caught up in over- analyzing all things Colton McDaniels, I have more important things to worry about now. Like my brother and getting to the store early enough to make the bank deposit.

“I’m going to jump into the shower and head over to the store. Kaitlyn closed last night, and I need to get the deposit ready before I open.” I get up, helping Sienna up as well.

“Are you okay if I head home? I’m going to freshen up and meet you there.”

“Sen, you don’t have to do that,” I protest.

“I want to. Someone needs to be around to keep you out of your own head, and also to help you plan your outfit for your big date with my brother.” She waggles her eye brows causing me to laugh and it feels good.

“Thank you!” I give her a big hug.

“I’m always here for you, you know that,” her voice is sincere.

“Ditto, my friend”.

Sienna meets me at the shop as planned. Word has gotten out about Paul’s injury so there hasn’t been any down time. Between customers coming in to buy things for our troops to show support, to friends checking in, to the bridge club bringing me trays of food, it’s been bittersweet. My heart is full of the love, support, and prayers being offered to both me and my brother. But at the same time, there’s an emptiness there that the feeling of not knowing causes. Even though I’ve been busy, that hasn’t stopped me from checking my phone every five minutes, willing it to ring with any kind of information on my brother. The officer said he was stable. A part of me wishes I hadn’t listened and took the next flight to Germany, but what would I do there? Sit and worry with no one around me. No support. My head knows I’m better off staying put but try telling my heart that.

Just as Sienna and I start to close shop, the bell on the front door dings, alerting us to a customer.

“We’re closed!” I holler from the back, making my way towards the front.

“Good, I bet you two are hungry,” Colton replies as he shoots a sweet smile in my direction.

“We’re going to eat at our place,” Sienna chimes. A puzzled look crosses Colton’s face and I produce the trays of food from behind the counter.

“Mrs. Dawson’s baked ziti and Mrs. Sherwood’s apple pie,” I say in a sing-song voice.

“Did Mrs. Sherwood make her famous sweet cream to go with the pie?”

“There’s a container of it in the mini fridge in my office.” I point towards the back of the store.

He shouts “YES!”, disappearing behind my office door.

I shoot Sienna a confused glance, her nonchalant shrug gives nothing away.

I’m not really sure what’s gotten into Colton. Sure, he was sweet as Mrs. Sherwood’s pie yesterday, but him showing up here is not normal. I can count how many times he’s been in my store on one hand. I push the dozens of unanswered questions and the possible upspoken reason behind his visit to aside.

“You ready?” he asks, handing Sienna the container of sweet cream and taking the trays off the counter.

“Yep. You guys go ahead, I need to set the alarm.”

I lock up the store and head into the cool night. I opt to ride with Colton, causing both him and Sienna to give me a confused look. I shrug it off because there’s a reason for my request.

He helps me into his truck and the memories of yesterday come flooding back. The phone call, how he took charge, how he held me; a wave of warmth courses through my body at the memory.

“You ok?” Colton looks over at me with concern.

“I’m ok. I just wanted to say thank you for yesterday. I really don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there. I didn’t handle that call well at all,” I apologize.

Almost instinctively he reaches over and squeezes my thigh, causing a different kind of warmth to envelope me.

“You don’t need to thank me, Ev. It’s what friends do,” his matter of fact tone cools me off quick.

“Well, I appreciate it. I only have Paul, and I can’t even imagine what it would do to me if he didn’t make it back home.”

“He’s going to be ok, Everleigh and what you said isn’t true,” his voice softens. I turn my head to really look at him. His dark hair a disheveled mess, the scruff outlining his strong jaw, the angle of his nose, the way his blue eyes shine behind his dark glasses from the reflection of the street and head lights is enough to bring even the strongest woman to her knees.

“What do you mean?”

“You have Sienna.”

“True,” I agree.

“You have me too. You know that, right?” His voice is quiet yet resolute.

The only thing I can do is nod. I have no words. I know I have him as a friend. He proved that above and beyond yesterday but I can’t help hoping that his admission has a double meaning.

“I appreciate that,” I finally say.

“We’re still up for tomorrow night?” Something close to worry crosses his face for a split second before his confidence returns.

“Yeah. It will be good to keep my mind off of things.”

“Good,” he smiles his ‘light up the room’ smile.

I feel the blush redden my cheeks, and looking away from him, I stare out the window allowing my thoughts to wander. Neither one of us says a single thing for the rest of the ride to his house. To most people, that would be awkward, in this case, it’s a comfortable silence. I’ve never been able to be alone with someone without breaking silence before. I’ve always had to find useless things to talk about like the damn weather. But with Colton, it’s different. As much as I’ve avoided him due to the fact I’m usually a clumsy fool around him, it’s never been uncomfortable.

When we get to his house, Sienna is waiting in the driveway. She gives me a look to make sure I’m ok. I give her a wide grin and we head inside. The three of us work as a team, getting plates, putting the trays in the oven. The small talk and banter between us is something that I have never allowed myself to experience. Sure, Sienna has been my best friend for as long as I can remember, however, there has always been a part of me that felt like an outsider when it came to her and Colton and that’s true to an extent but tonight, everything feels different.

While the food is warming, I take a seat at the kitchen table and Sienna comes over with two beers.

We clank our bottles together and I take a deep pull, feeling the cool, bubbly liquid slide down my throat.

“So, how’s Brant?” I tease her, chuckling at how red her cheeks get instantly.

“Who the fuck is Brant?” Colton’s loud voice echoes from the other side of the kitchen.

Sienna rolls her eyes and mouths thanks a lot to me, as I take another swig of my beer, my lips smiling around the bottle.

“A guy I’m kind of seeing, I guess…” she cowers a little. It been too soon to put a label on her relationship with Brant.

“Kind of? You guess? Who the fuck is this asshole?” Colton walks over to the table, standing over Sienna in his protective big brother way.

“It’s new, I know him from the dance school. He’s a single dad, his daughter is one of my students. He was at the auction and…well…we,” she stammers and Colton looks revolted.

“Ugh. I don’t need to know details. He had better be good to you, Sienna,” he warns, she nods.

Sienna’s last boyfriend was a controlling, pretentious asshole. I’m not sure if he ever laid a hand on her but the verbal and emotional abuse was apparent. He was such a douche and she was a completely different person when they were together. There was a time that I didn’t think our friendship would survive her relationship. When she finally opened her eyes, seeing him for who he really was, she left; not without issue but she got out of that situation. She’s a stronger person because of what she went through. She had so much courage to leave, file a restraining order and get back up on her own two feet. She hasn’t dated much since then, so for her to be into someone is huge.

I shoot Colton a warning glance, silently telling him to keep his mouth shut. When he raises his eyebrow in challenge, I roll my eyes at him.

“So, are you going to see him again?”

“We’re supposed to go out to dinner tomorrow night,” Sienna smiles.

“Looks like everyone has dates tomorrow,” I attempt to lighten the mood to no avail. Colton stiffens, the buzzer on the oven goes off breaking the tension. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

The three of us eat in silence, which is fine by me. I need the company yet I don’t have much to say. Thoughts of Paul fill my mind as they have often over the past twenty-four hours. I let myself be alone in those thoughts, needed the comfort of the memories.

When it’s time for pie, I let out an audible moan as the sugary creaminess of the delicious dessert hits my tongue, Colton chokes causing him to cough.

“You ok there, big brother?” Sienna smirks.

He grumbles and goes back to his pie.

I look at Sienna, both of us smiling wide. I affect him. He may not want to admit it, or accept it even, but I do. What he also doesn’t realize is that the game has changed. From the way he has been acting since yesterday afternoon, I can no longer ignore whatever this may be.

When I’m finally home and in bed, I decide that tomorrow will be the day Colton will stop ignoring the chemistry between us.