Chapter 18
Kelsi
“A good laugh and a good sleep are the two best cures there are.”
~ Rowan O’Sullivan
“Okay ladies, first round’s on me!” Jade announced as we all piled into a back booth.
“Vodka cran for me.” Delilah put her order in.
“That sounds good,” I blurted out. I didn’t even like Vodka, but I was so relieved that I wasn’t the one going up to the bar that I’d gone along with it.
I grabbed one of the coasters on the table and fanned myself. I was suffering from the heat of Bryson’s crystal-blue stare that caught me on the way to the booth. If I got any closer to him, I might burst into flames. I felt hotter than the time I had strep throat, and my fever had shot to a hundred and four. It was like my body was a furnace and his gaze was a bellow that turned my embers into a raging inferno.
The more I learned about Bryson, the less he fit the profile of the bad boy that I’d thought he’d been. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. To my heart. To my mind. To my body. Last night he’d taken me to places I never knew existed and he was currently giving me hot flashes like I was suffering from menopause.
“Are you okay?” Bella covered my hand in concern.
I blew out a puff of air. “I’m still getting used to the Texas heat.”
“Yeah, it takes some getting used to.” Bella grinned then turned to Jade. “I’ll take a coke.”
“Jack and Coke?” Jade added.
“Nope. Just coke.”
“Wait.” Jade paused, her eyes narrowed and lowered to Bella’s midsection as she asked the question I’d been dying to, “Are you pregnant?”
A smile bigger than the state we were in spread across Bella’s face and she nodded. “We just found out last week. I’m not that far along, so we haven’t told that many people.”
“Congratulations!” We all yelled and took turns hugging her.
“Okay, little mama, no booze for you!” Jade clapped her hands. “I’ll be right back.”
“I bet Colton is over the moon!” Delilah said dreamily.
“Yeah, he’s going a little overboard, but I love him for it. He already found and interviewed a pediatrician and OBGYN in Parrish Creek that I guess have amazing Yelp reviews. He had a questionnaire and everything. He bought me special shoes that are supposed to help with circulation when you’re on your feet all day. He bought three pairs in case I misplace one. And he even researched what products were safe to use in the salon that wouldn’t hurt the baby.” Bella shifted towards me. “Speaking of safe products, I am in love with the Coconut Dreams shampoo and conditioner. My hair has never been this manageable.”
Bella was blessed with long, wavy hair, but like a lot of blessings, sometimes they turned into a curse. She’d complained to me my first day at the shop that she’d never found a product that resisted the frizz that the Texas humidity caused.
“I’m so glad! I made some more batches today so whenever you need more, just let me know.”
This morning I’d woken up with more energy that I’d known what to do with. I’d fallen asleep in Bryson’s arms and slept better than I could ever remember sleeping. My body was a little sore from…overuse…but other than that I’d felt rejuvenated, refreshed, and reenergized. One night with Bryson and I felt like a completely new woman.
One night.
That’s what I’d told him. That it was going to be one night. So why was I already wondering what time he got off tonight and if he might want to stop by?
“I’d love more. I want Sadie to try it.”
“Great!”
“I can’t believe him,” Jade fumed as she came back to the table with the drinks, setting them down so hard they splashed over the top.
“Who, Bryson?” I asked.
“No. Hayden Reed,” she said his name like he was the devil incarnate.
“Hayden’s back?” Delilah chirped happily, apparently not sharing Jade’s dislike for the man.
“I haven’t seen Hayden since before I left.” Bella craned her neck peering around Jade.
“Is he related to Hudson, the sheriff?” I asked as I looked, too. All I could see was a guy’s back.
“Yes.” Bella leaned back. “There’s three Reed brothers. Hudson is the oldest and the sheriff. Hayden is the middle brother, he’s an Army Ranger, and Holden is the youngest, and he is a professional bull rider.”
“That’s an impressive lineup,” I commented.
Jade let out a huff. “It’s not that impressive.”
“Did you two…um…” I looked at Delilah and Bella for help, but they looked as interested in Jade’s response as I was. “You know…do you have history?”
“No,” she said before downing her drink. It was just one word, but I had a feeling it held a well of information. She set the glass down and wiped her mouth. “I’m going to get another one, are you guys good?”
All three of us looked at the drinks we hadn’t even touched and back at her. “Yep. We’re good.”
With her head held high and a look of determination, she slid out of the booth and stalked across the bar.
“Am I missing something?” I glanced between Bella and Delilah.
“Not that I know of,” Bella shrugged. “But I was gone for a long time.”
Delilah shook her head. “I’ve been here and never heard anything about the two of them. But he’s been gone for almost as long as you, Bella.”
“That’s right. I do remember hearing something about that…that he was going to enlist right after high school…” She sucked in a breath and her eyes widened, leaning forward she whispered, “I just remembered, the night before I left I went over to Jade’s house because I’d gotten in a fight with Colton. She was crying, and I just assumed it was because I was moving. But then she told me that Hayden was joining the Army.
“I was dealing with my own stuff. I’d lost my dad, my grandpa, my mom was…whatever she was doing, and I was being forced to move in with a great aunt I didn’t know. I remember thinking, so what if he’s leaving, I’m your best friend and I’m leaving. I was so confused, but now…” We all looked over to the bar, where Jade was giving the man I assumed was Hayden a shoulder so cold he probably needed a parka.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Bryson’s deep voice sounded beside me.
I jumped, startled by Bryson’s appearance at the side of our table. I’d been so engrossed in the drama playing out between Jade and Hayden that I hadn’t seen him coming.
“Oh, um…” Butterflies took flight in my stomach, zooming around doing high-speed maneuvers and flybys like the Iceman and Maverick in Top Gun.
Danger zone. Danger zone. Danger zone.
I hadn’t been this nervous to talk to a boy since Brad Longmire in middle school. Back then it had been because I didn’t know if Brad liked me or not and I didn’t trust myself not to do something stupid. Now it was because I did know that Bryson liked me and I didn’t trust myself not to do something stupid.
I once again looked to Bella and Delilah for help, and once again there was none. They just smiled at us like the Kelsi-Bryson show was as entertaining as the Jade-Hayden show.
Knowing that if I turned down his invitation, it would make more of a big deal out of the situation than it was, I plastered on a confident smile, looked up at him and said, “Sure.”
His blue eyes seared mine. “In private.”
The way he looked at me like he saw straight to my heart and soul, like he saw all of me, made me want to show him all of me. The work that I’d done fanning myself to cool off was out the window. My body was spontaneously combusting.
As soon as I stood from the booth, Bryson’s hand rested on my lower back, like it belonged there. He guided me through the crowded room, weaving through tables and people and I let myself give into the fantasy that this was real. That I was his girlfriend. That we were together. That we were an us.
The hallway we went to was the same one that we’d spoken in the first time I’d been there. It had seemed small then, but now it felt Smurf-size. Bryson took up the entirety of the darkened area. Any inch that wasn’t being physically inhabited by him was suffused with his presence, his aura, his sexiness. Needing space, I backed up until the wall stopped me. He didn’t step closer, but he leaned forward and rested his hands beside my face, caging me in.
I waited. Waited for him to kiss me. To touch me. To do something. I waited.
“Hi,” he said simply as he grinned down on me.
I smiled at the unexpected greeting. “Hi.”
The tension that I’d been feeling was gone instantly. He diffused my ticking time bomb nerves like he was MacGyver. Except he didn’t use a safety pin, a wad of gum, and a pencil. He used good old-fashioned charm. It was more disarming than a million MacGyvers could ever be.
“You seem a little on edge,” he asked with mock sincerity. “Are you okay?”
“I’m great.” I rolled my shoulders back, feeling much more myself. Much more in control. “It’s just, well, there is this guy that won’t leave me alone. He keeps texting me, and he showed up at my house last night. Then this morning he left a note next to my bed, and now he interrupted a girl’s night to talk to me in a creepy dark hallway.”
“Ughhh.” He sucked in a breath through his teeth and made a cringing face. “He sounds…amazing!”
I laughed.
“You should probably marry him and have his babies.”
“I don’t think so,” I replied as I laughed harder because it was funny, but also to drown out my inner voice that was screaming, Yes! Yes! Yes!
“Okay, fine. Well, at least go to the Movies in the Park with him tomorrow.”
My smile dropped, and I stopped laughing. “Bryson. I was serious. I can’t do this. Last night was—”
“The best night of your life. Amazing. Life-changing. Earth-shattering. Better than anythi—”
I pressed my hand to his chest to stop his rambling as I said, “A one-time thing.”
His heartbeat pulsed beneath my hand, the same way it had at the pond and last night when I fell asleep draped over him. I loved that feeling. I wished I could fall asleep every night to that feeling.
“Last night was a one-time thing, but are you saying you can’t go see a movie with a friend? A buddy?”
I knew it was a bad idea. I knew I needed to stay focused on my new job. My new responsibilities. My new life. But Milo wasn’t coming back until Sunday. I could see Bryson tomorrow night and get him out of my system. What were the chances it would be as good as the first time?
I looked up in his eyes, and I knew my answer. It would probably be better. My knees buckled slightly. Might as well put my terms on the table.
“Fine.” I sighed. “One more night. You can come back to my house after the movie.”
I saw the flash of relief and excitement in his eyes before he pushed off the wall and lifted his hands. “Whoa, I was just asking you to go to a movie. What kind of a boy do you think I am?”
“A dirty one,” I smiled as I walked back to the table while I still could on my arousal-induced noodle legs.
One. More. Night.