“Just go talk to him,” Hazel says.

I shake my head. “He hasn't been interested in sixteen years. I don’t think he’s interested now.” I look over at Charlie. He’s standing with Clive, but a whole group of barely-legal women is hanging all over him. Nothing new, Charlie is the man cake in this town and every warm-blooded woman wants a bite.

Myself included.

“I’m not saying go throw yourself at him. Just maybe, you know, tell him you want to have his babies and make sweet love to him for the rest of your life.”

I go bright red; I feel it. The heat rising to my cheeks. “Hazel! You are so bad, you know that right?”

“I know,” she says twisting her lips in a smile. Leaning in, she says, “But you’ve saved yourself, all these years for him. Maybe he ought to know that.”

I snort. “Yeah right. That would scare Charlie off for life.” We’re standing at the bar, getting another shot for me and water for her. “Why did I tell you I still had my V card, anyway?”

Hazel laughs, then pinches my cheeks like we’ve been best friends forever. I certainly lucked out in the sister-in-law department. Hazel married into our family seamlessly. It was like we’d been waiting for her to arrive all our lives and just never knew it.

And she is so great with Greta’s kids, I know Hazel will make a great mom too.

Me though? Motherhood is way off on the horizon. First, I’d like to get laid, then get a husband, a house, picket fence--the whole nine yards. Then, eventually children.

Of course, Charlie doesn’t know that he’s part of my life plan yet.

We look across the dance floor and see Greta awkwardly shaking her thang on the dance floor with a man twice her age.

I’d be judging her right now except, damn, she looks smoking hot. And she’s having fun. When is the last time she’s had any fun that didn’t involve My Little Ponies or the Trolls movie?

It makes me want to be braver, too. If my sister, who is a widow, can start to believe in finding love again, why can’t I? Watching her out there, dancing with abandon, causes me to break out in a smile. She looks so happy.

And I want some of that for myself.

Hazel starts up again. “I could just casually mention something to Clive about how you and Charlie would make a good coup –”

I cut Hazel off.

“He knows I have a crush on Charlie. This whole town does. The only person who doesn’t seem to get it is Charlie himself. And if by some miracle Charlie changes his tune, Clive won’t like it. I remember how long it took him to get over Luke and Greta getting together.”

Hazel pushes down the lime in her glass, her lips pursed together, considering what I just said.

“Yeah, the alternative is dying an old maid.”

I elbow her playfully. “Gosh, Hazel. I’m twenty-three. Lay off!” I laugh it off, even if her teasing does sting a bit. Hazel swooped into this town and fell madly in love in like, a week flat. All it took was a near-death experience and they got the HEA.

Me? I’ve known Charlie since I was eight years old and the closest physical contact we’ve made was when he used to give me noogies in junior high. I hated how much I looked forward to those.

“Sorry, babe,” she says. “I was just playing. The truth is you deserve a man who realizes how amazing you are.” She turns back to the bar to order something and I let my body sway with the crowd around me. I

t is so busy here in Linesworth this time of year, and it’s fun to change the pace a bit. And I bet all these tourists will have horrible hangovers tomorrow, which will bode well for our shop, the Two Sister’s Bakery. Greta and I will be selling coffee and donuts at the crack of dawn.

Which will be here soon enough. We might as well enjoy the night while it’s here.

“Hazel,” I call out. “Let’s just go dance.” I want to have a good time with my sister and our pregnant sister-in-law. And I want to stop thinking about Charlie and the life with him I’ll never have.

“Perfect.” Hazel returns, giving me a big grin. Then she surprises me by offering me a double shot of something with whipped cream.

I take it gingerly. “And that is?”

“A buttery nipple,” Hazel says, biting back a laugh.

“This is the most action I’ll get all night, is that what you’re saying?” I ask, cracking up. “God, this is depressing.” I take the shot quickly, then begin to zip back to the bar. That was delicious. And I need more delicious in my life.

“Slow down, girl,” Hazel says. “You’ve had plenty of alcohol in a short amount of time.”

She’s right, the alcohol burns my belly and I should get on the dance floor to sweat some of it off.

Maybe I’ll go grind up against a stranger. I don’t care. I’m so sick of this same conversation about Charlie. If he doesn’t see how amazing I am, then forget him. Even Hazel could see straight away that I was awesome.

Apparently, my desire for Charlie was pretty obvious to the new girl in town because she called me out on my crush day one. And if it’s that obvious, how can Charlie be so oblivious about it?

As we wind our way through the crowded bar, I can’t help but think about what she’s suggested. That I pull on my big girl panties and tell Charlie how I actually feel. On the dance floor, I focus on my terrible dance moves--we’re talking the helicopter and the moonwalk.

And for a second, I am lost in the moment. The music and the lights and the people all around, but then I catch sight of Charlie over by the bar. Charlie with his massive biceps and dreamy eyes. The jeans that hug his ass just so, his cocky smile that tells everyone he meets that he knows just how hot he is, and the beard he knows gets women all over this town hot and bothered.

And it isn’t just the way he looks that turns me on. I remember being eight years old and my kitten was stuck in a tree and Charlie climbing it without being asked and saving Petals. He saved my cat. How could I not have fallen in love with him? He was always there, a constant in my entire life, always at the house hanging out with Luke and Clive.

And if I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job keeping my unrequited love on the down low.

But at some point, some other woman is going to realize how amazing Charlie is. They’ll see what I’ve always known. That underneath his man cake façade, he’s actually a guy who saves kittens from trees. Some other girl is gonna sweep into town and realize what a catch he is.

And then what will I be left with?

Maybe I should do it. Just like Hazel said. Man up and say what I want.

Him.

I look over at the bar and see a group of 21-year-olds in booty shorts and crop tops hanging on his every word.

Why should one of those girls go home with him tonight? I‘m the one who has known him forever.

If Greta can grind against a stranger on the dance floor, then I can make a move on the man I’ve known for practically my entire life.

I start power walking over toward him, but then my head starts to spin and it’s not the alcohol. I can handle my liquor. This dizzy spell is the fact that I am actually gonna go ask for what I want.

Charlie.

I spin back to the bar to order a glass of water but then know I am getting too rational. “Actually,” I say. “Another round of beers.”

I need to lose my inhibitions if I want to get where I want to go.

With a few shots in hand, not-exactly tipsy AF, but definitely power walking to the man I’ve always been head over heels for.

I pass the dance floor where Greta is wiggling her ass. “Where have you been?” she hollers as I pass her.

I just smile and raise my stein. “Prost!”

The bar hollers along with me, everyone seeming to be looking for a reason to let loose too. The full moon isn’t out, but it feels like we are howling to something. Needing something.

I know I am.

“Hey,” I say to Charlie and Clive. I push my way past those booty-short girls. This is my stomping grounds and my Oktoberfest more than it is the out-of-towners’. They scowl and walk away, air-kissing Charlie as they leave. Good riddance.

I hand Charlie a beer. He takes it with a devilish grin. Damn, his smile gets me all hot and bothered, and that is not just the booze talking. “To taking a chance,” I say.

We clink glasses and chug them like we’re college kids.

Clive butts into my moment. Not that Charlie seems to notice this was when the stars are supposed to align. “Where’s my shot of something good?” my brother asks.

“Out on the dance floor,” I tell him, wanting to get him away.

He grins. “Gonna go find my woman,” he says.

With him gone, I look back at Charlie. Pulling up any seduction skills I may have garnered over the years, I go for the kill.

“It’s hot, wanna get some fresh air?”

He cocks his head, and for a split second, I think he is going to say no, that he is going to grab a co-ed and take her outside. But he surprises me.

“Do you have the keys to your bakery on you?”

I raise a brow. “Yeah, why?”

“After all this booze, I’m dying for a cupcake.”

I bite my bottom lip, nodding. This is going better than planned. “I have some frosting you’ve never tasted before. Want to come to try it?”

He jumps off a barstool; his hand is on the small of my back as he leads me outside. He doesn’t know the plan I’ve baked up--but I’m hoping it gets a rise out of him before he realizes what I’m up to.