“Fuck!” I cried out as I watched Tripp leading Corina out of the bar.
Cord pulled me by the arm. “Get back to my office, now!”
I followed him back to his office and took a seat in one of the chairs. I buried my face in my hands.
“Totally just fucked that all up,” I groaned.
“Mitch, what happened?” Amelia asked. “What in the world did you do to Corina?”
“Nothing! I mean, things got a little hot and heavy, and I stopped because I didn’t want to fuck her against a goddamn office door. I wanted to get her out of here and take her back to my place to talk…she thought I was trying to back out. She wouldn’t even let me explain.”
Cord sat on his desk and lifted his hands with a confused expression. “Why would she think you were leaving?”
I dragged my hands down my face. “I don’t know. I don’t think she was really listening to me once I stopped kissing her. I told her I couldn’t do this and that she didn’t deserve to be fucked up against the door. I wanted to get out of here but when I went to open the door, she freaked the fuck out.”
Cord and Amelia looked at each other. Glancing back at me, Cord said, “Dude, she thought you were blowing her off.”
I jumped up. “I fucking know that now, Cord! I got that much when she started hitting me and saying she hated me. She wouldn’t even let me get a fucking word in. She took off and ran straight into Tripp’s arms.” My voice cracked and I dropped my head. “She left with him.”
“Oh, stop it.”
Lifting my eyes to meet Amelia’s, I frowned.
“You know damn well Tripp is not going to do anything. He’s her friend and that’s all. The one guy who doesn’t push her away and pretend he doesn’t have feelings for her.”
“Don't fucking start with me, Amelia.”
Cord put his hand on my chest. “Dude, you don’t talk to our sister like that.”
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. Focusing on Amelia, I said, “I’m sorry, Meli. Do you have any idea how many times I wanted to just walk up to Corina and tell her I had feelings for her?”
“But you never did, Mitch. You danced and flirted for months with other women. How many times have you had sex since that night with Corina? How many women have you been with?”
I swallowed hard. My stomach felt sick.
“Once.”
Amelia pulled her brows together and jerked her head back. “Once what?”
Combing my fingers in my hair, I answered. “I’ve had sex once, and it was with Cassidy.”
“I knew it!” Amelia cried out. “I knew that skank got to you.”
“I was drunk. I don’t even remember the night.”
“Nice,” Amelia spat out as Cord jumped in.
“Alright, Amelia, you got your jab in. Let’s cool it, okay?”
“Cool it? Cord, this girl has been pining over him for months. And he thinks just one night he can walk up and kiss her senseless, and bam, she’s gonna take him back? Fuck that!”
Amelia walked over and sat down next to me on the loveseat. “Mitchell, I love you, but you don’t know shit about women. And no offense, but none of my brothers do.”
“Hey!” Cord said.
Looking up at him, Amelia rolled her eyes. “You know how to make a girl cry out your name and beg you for more. That’s about all you know, Cord. Sorry.”
I let out a chuckle.
“Don’t laugh, Mitch. You’re the same way. You guys have been able to get any girl by smiling at them and saying hi. But you know what? The one girl who really matters, the one you’re going to want to spend the rest of your life with, that girl is going to take work. She’s going to need to know she’s more than a quick fuck in the back of your truck. Mitchell, you’re doing this all wrong.”
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I turned to my sister. “Then tell me what I need to do, Amelia. I can’t stop thinking about her. Every time I see her all I want to do is pull her into my arms and kiss her.”
An evil smile grew across my baby sister’s face. “You’re going to swoon her.”
“Swoon her?” Cord and I said at once.
Amelia looked between us. “Have neither one of you read one of my books?”
Cord and I shrugged. Cord replied, “I’ve bought them.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said. “But I’m sorry, sis, I’m not really into romance, and I’m for sure not into reading sex written by my baby sister.”
“A-fucking-men,” Cord added.
Her body slumped. “Okay. I’ll give y’all that. I’ve got some good books I’m going to send you both. They’re on audio so you can listen to them. I’m going to teach you two what it means to swoon a woman and make her fall, not because you’re going to screw her brains out, but because you’re showering her with romance and respect.”
Cord laughed. “Please. Amelia, I think I know how to romance a woman if I want.”
I stood. “That goes for me too. I don’t need some damn book to tell me how to win a woman’s heart.”
Amelia slowly stood. “Is that right?”
“Yes!” Cord and I said together.
Taking her phone out, Amelia pulled up Amazon. “Let’s see, Jennifer Probst, Sydney Landon, Marie Force, oh, yes. Erika Kelly.”
She tapped a few things on her phone and then looked up at us. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen. I’ve got some dancing left to do.”
Turning to leave, she let out an evil laugh and disappeared out the door.
“Why do I have a feeling we are about to be schooled on romance by our baby sister?” Cord asked.
“You think she ordered each of us the audiobooks?”
Cord gave me a what-the-fuck look before rubbing the back of his neck and heading toward his office door. “She better have.”
I followed Cord back into the bar. Pulling my phone out, I sent Tripp a text message.
Me: She misunderstood me. I wanted to take her back to my place and talk.
Tripp: Yeah, she is pretty pissed. I think she is making an effigy of you right now.
My head pulled back as I stared at the phone.
“What?”
Me: What in the fuck?
Tripp: Dude, when I say she’s pissed…I mean she is PISSED. I don’t think I’ve ever head Corina curse and she’s called you an asshole six times.
I let out a groan.
“Shit.”
Tripp: My advice, don’t come over here or call her tonight.
Me: Why?
Tripp: Image
Opening up the picture, I stumbled back. “What in the living fuck!”
“What’s wrong?” Trevor asked as he handed me a beer.
I stared at the image before looking at Trevor.
“Corina. She…she made a doll of me, and I’m pretty sure that is a piece of my windbreaker I left the night we were together. I was wondering where that jacket went.”
It only took him about five seconds before Trevor burst out laughing.
“Awe, hell. I always did like that girl.”
When the lights of Tripp’s truck came around the corner, I let out a sigh. I was almost positive his uptight neighbors were fixin’ to call the sheriff.
The garage door opened and Tripp pulled in. Shutting off his truck, he looked at me and smiled.
“She made a fucking doll?” I asked.
“Dude, it was so true to life, too. She’s going to make a great kindergarten teacher. She’s totally crafty.” He pulled in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled. “Maybe I shouldn’t have let her go. She’d a been a good wife for the mayor.”
“Oh, fuck you, motherfucking dickhead son-of-a-bitch traitor bastard asshole cocksucker of a brother!”
Tripp stopped walking. “Wow. That was something there, baby brother.”
“Fuck off! I’m not your baby brother!”
“Um, yeah, you are!” he said as he reached up and shut his garage door. “I’m older, you’re younger. Need I explain it further?”
“I hope you lose your bid for mayor.”
Clutching his chest, Tripp tossed his keys onto his kitchen island. He lived in a huge house—over four thousand square feet. How in the hell he got paid so much for being a small town lawyer was beyond me. Of course, he did work for a firm in San Antonio, as well.
“That really hurts, bro,” he said. “Hurts deep.”
Guilt flooded my veins. “Shit, I didn’t mean that.”
Reaching into the refrigerator, he grabbed two beers. “I know you didn’t. Just like I didn’t mean it when I said I hope you misfired and shot yourself in the foot.”
The beer froze at my lips. “When did you say that?”
He smiled. “When I found out you slept with Corina.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. By the way, your wish could have caused bodily harm, mine wouldn’t have.”
He looked up in thought and then glanced at me and smiled.
“Asshole,” I said.
“Takes one to know one, Mitchell.”
I sat at one of the stools at his large kitchen island. “Is she okay?”
He leaned against the counter and took a long drink. “You want me to be honest?”
“Of course.”
“No. She’s nowhere near okay. Angry, hurt, feeling rejected…again.”
“I wasn’t rejecting her! I didn’t want to fuck her in Cord’s office. I wanted to take her back to my place.”
“To fuck.”
“No! Well, maybe after we talked, but I wanted to talk to her first. To tell her I’ve been so damn stupid. Ever since I saw Mrs. Johnson showing Corina how to cook, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I needed to talk to her.”
Tripp stared at me like I had grown two heads. “It was a pie crust that got you to realize you’ve been an ass?”
“Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know.” I gripped my hair with both hands as I let out a groan. “I didn’t want to leave her today. I wanted to watch her stupid cooking lesson, then take her to Lilly’s to get something to eat and tell her I wanted another shot.”
He lifted a brow. “Another shot at what?”
“Us. This thing I feel in my chest about her. I can’t eat or sleep because of it. My focus is all kinds of screwed up, and I’m afraid I’m going to accidently shoot myself in the foot.”
Tripp held up his hands when I gave him a fuck-off-and-die look. “Okay, listen. I’m the last person to give you advice, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
I leaned closer. “Okay.”
He set his beer down and rested his hands on the island. “This is what you need to do.”
“I’m listening.”
“Go ask Dad.”
I sat there, staring at my older brother. “That’s all you got?”
He shrugged. “That’s all I got.”
“What happened to the ‘I’m older and wiser’ bullshit you always used to say?”
“Yeah, that was all bullshit. Hell, Mitchell, you’ve always been the wise one. The one with your head on right. The thinker. But this time, I guess I was.”
“You were not, you asshole! You told me to go talk to Dad. How is that being a thinker?”
“I thought you should go talk to Dad. Thought is what happens after someone thinks.”
Closing my eyes, I exhaled a frustrated breath before scrubbing my hands over my face. Then I gave him one last look. “You suck, Parker. I hope your skills at being a lawyer are better than your advice.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I hope your cop skills are better than your…your…”
Waiting for his reply, I tilted my head and smirked.
“Yeah, I’ve got nothing.”
Heading toward his front door, I said, “I didn’t think so. Night, Tripp.”
“Honestly though, Mitchell. I know you care about Corina, and I know that no matter how ticked off she is right now, she cares about you. I think you need to take things slow. Prove to her you know you fucked up and you deserve another chance.”
I nodded. “Good advice, bro.”
Starting down the steps, I hit the button to unlock my truck.
“Hey, Mitch!” Tripp yelled after me. “You remember what Corina said about Lane Lewis?”
I stopped walking and looked back over my shoulder. “Yeah.”
“Maybe don’t move too slow with Corina.”
A knot formed in my stomach. “Why?”
Tripp ran his hand behind his neck and frowned. “He sent Corina flowers and said he was looking forward to working with her.”
Anger raced through me.
“Talk to Dad in the morning. Just go home and get some sleep. You look like shit.”
My jaw hurt from clenching as I headed to my truck. I made a mental note to get to my folks’ place first thing in the morning. There was no way I was going to give up now. I’d pushed Corina away, and I wasn’t doing it anymore. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her run into the arms of the little prick who hated me in high school.
“Fuck that,” I mumbled as I started up my truck and headed to the one place I knew I shouldn’t be going.
Corina’s.