I let a smile take its place as I glance at the text again. Talking is good. We’ll talk. I’ll apologize for kissing her. I won’t mean it but I’ll apologize.
A knock at the door pulls me from my self-imposed pep talk. Before I can make it to the front door, Jameson is walking through the living room.
“Why knock if you’re going to just walk in?” I ask him as I grab my wallet and put it in my back pocket.
“I knock because your mama would have my ass if I didn’t. I walk in because I’ve been walking in that front door almost as long as you. Wait, probably longer since you’ve been gone for close to a decade. Where is your mom anyway? I need some Patty hugs.”
I ignore his comment as I walk past him and out the door. “Shut up. Let’s go, I’m starving and itching to get my hands on some of Rosa’s tacos.”
Other than my family and friends, food is what I’ve missed most from Lexington. Sure there are incredible restaurants in the city, but the good, stick-to-your-ribs food that you get in a small town can never be outdone by a five-star restaurant with portions the size of half dollars. The minute I read Piper’s text mentioning Rosa’s I knew I had to have it and sent Jameson a text to pick me up.
“Explain to me why I had to drive across town, past Rosa’s by the way, to pick you up when you have a perfectly good car sitting right there?” Jameson asks me as he motions to my sedan parked in front of the house.
“What if I just wanted to spend time with you?” I joke as I climb up into his monster of a truck. “J, what are you overcompensating for? This truck is fucking ridiculous.”
“If by ridiculous you mean awesome, then yes it is. You’re one to talk, Mr. Yuppy Sedan. What are you trying to hide? Do you have something to tell me? You lose yourself in the city?”
I know he’s teasing, but the reality of his words hits me hard. I did lose myself, and I never realized how much until we left the bar last night. Those few hours with my friends I felt more like Bentley Sullivan than I have in a long time. Add to that the stolen moments with Piper and that kiss, well it all came at me like a meteor. I felt more alive by the time I got home than I can ever remember. Something about that girl made of a little whiskey and honey had me seeing things clearly.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when I hear Jameson clear his throat. I glance over at him, noticing he hasn’t even started the truck yet. “Well? Did you? I have to say, last night you seemed more like you than you have in a long time.” I let out a sigh as he starts the truck and pulls away from the curb.
“Truthfully, it was the most like me I’ve felt in a long time. Speaking of, I wanted you to pick me up because after we hit Rosa’s, I want to stop by Sully’s and check out a truck I saw on my way into town.”
“Shit, what’s next? Ya wanna go fishing?”
“Not today, but yeah.”
Jameson shakes his head and snorts. I’m not sure if it’s a snort in disgust or agreement.
“Come on, J, you know I’ve been drowning the last few years. Quit giving me shit, will ya? Just drive,” I say as I reach to turn up the music. I let my arm hang out the window. A deep inhale and I know that my move was the right one. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and won’t even lie that I hold a little hope that it is Piper telling me to come over earlier. Only, it’s not.
Laurel: I’m not trying to be weird but I kind of miss you.
It’s not weird. I miss her too, but it’s not romantic. That is the weird part.
Me: It’s not weird. I miss you too. How’s my TV?
Laurel: Jerk. Its fine and enjoying all that the Hallmark channel has to offer.
Me: Please tell me that is a lie! But really, you doing okay?
Laurel: Ok, I’ll tell you it’s a lie. Yeah I’m good. It’s just different.
Me: I get it. I’m about to grab lunch. Talk later?
Laurel: Sure. TTYL
“Okay, pussy, we’re here,” Jameson declares as he jumps down from his truck. I’ll never understand the need to have raise your truck so much you need a damn ladder to climb in and out. Seriously, this thing is ridiculous.
“Whatever. You good with stopping by Sully’s after we’re done here? Don’t you have a business to run?”
“Nah, I’m good. I worked it out with Owen. I am at your disposal all day. Which I’ll remind you of this weekend when you are the DD and I’m kissing girls at the bar,” he smugly replies as he opens the door to Rosa’s.
The minute the door opens, my senses are in overload. I’m not even going pretend to know what exotic spices and ingredients Rosa has brewing in the kitchen, nor do I care as long as they end up on my plate. Before I can even get three steps in the door my stomach is rumbling in agreement. Just like last night at Country Road, I see a few familiar faces and nod in acknowledgment as I make my way to the counter.
“Ben Sullivan!” Rosa shouts as she makes her way around the short counter with her arms extended for a hug. Another thing I missed from home, the hugs.
“Rosa,” I sigh as I scoop her up into a hug. Rosa and my mom have been friends all of my life, and even though her son is a self-centered dill weed, I love her. “How are you? It smells amazing in here. I’ve missed you.”
She laughs at me and swats me on the arm, “Oh hush up. You didn’t miss me, you missed my food. I know your mother must be thrilled to have you home.”
“What about me, Rosa? Am I chopped liver?” Jameson exclaims as he opens his arms for a hug.
“Jameson Strauss, you are in here at least five times a week, chopped liver my left toe. Give me a hug, you big lug.”
Once hugs are complete and orders placed, Jameson and I grab a spot at a corner booth. An awkward silence takes over our table.
“So things…”
“What are…”
We both say simultaneously and laugh. Jameson gestures for me to go first.
“So things with Owen are going well? Him working for you and all that?”
Jameson owns his own construction company, and when the market tanked it looked like his business would, too. Now that things are turning around, he’s been able to grow his crew, including bringing on our down-on-his-luck buddy, Owen. I don’t know how the two of them work together and maintain a friendship. Jameson can be a class A jerk and I’m sure one of us would be walking around with a black eye most days. More power to them, I’ll take thirty ten-year-olds any day.
“Yeah, it’s cool. We had a few issues in the beginning but worked through those. It helps that I put him with a different crew than I work with. He’s actually on a trial run as foreman on a project. If all goes well, it’ll allow me to take on more jobs with two of us leading a crew.”
“That’s good,” I say as our order is called out from the counter. I get up to grab the tray and return to the table. Neither of us talks for a good three minutes as we begin to devour our food. You’d think by looking at us that we hadn’t eaten in days. After the first three tacos I sit back a little and take a drink of my iced tea.
“So, as I was about to say before I was rudely interrupted,” he says. I offer a huff of minor annoyance in response. “What are you going to do about the Piper situation?”
The million-dollar question. “What do you mean? What situation?”
“Um, I mean the big game of tonsil hockey you played last night? What else do you think I mean? Ashton must be crazy pissed off.”
“First, tonsil hockey? What is this, 1978? Second, I haven’t seen Ash but I imagine she’s going to want to rip me a new asshole considering how she flipped out last night. You know, you could have told me it was Piper.”
“Could’ve, should’ve. Whatever. I wanted you to have some fun for a change. Shit, man, I know you loved Laurel but that girl is a total buzzkill. I figured if a girl across a bar caught your attention like that, why not let you have a little fun. And you did, didn’t you? Have fun?”
I did. I can’t deny it. And I was very much caught by that girl. Damnit, I’m getting hard just thinking about our kiss. Her lips - so plump, like little cherries ready to be sucked. Fuck, think of old ladies and cats puking. Anything to get this rapidly growing hard-on under control.
“Dude, you’re thinking about her right now, aren’t you? One kiss and you’re fucking whipped! I figured you’d at least wait a few months before you married up again.” Jameson’s hostility is not something I expected. I sit there for a few seconds as he gets up and tosses his tray in the trash, heading for the door.
I follow suit, but instead of being a childish ass I wave goodbye to Rosa and thank her for the delicious food. As I make it outside I find Jameson just standing off to the side, head thrown back facing the sun.
“What’s your problem, man? You’re acting like a jealous girlfriend.” He is, too.
“Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that I figured you’d come back to town and we’d have the crew back together. I guess I expected us all to hangout and enjoy the rest of summer. The lake, grilling out, the usual. Oh and maybe, call me crazy, maybe meet some girls…” He stops himself from finishing the statement and begins making his way through the parking lot. I fall in step with him.
“And?” I ask. There’s more and we might as well get it all out now.
“Fine. In there?” He motions toward Rosa’s. “You looked like a teenage girl thinking about her first crush. How long until you’re finding a way to start seeing Piper? I’m sure you’ll sweet talk your sister and it’ll be just like high school with me playing third wheel.”
“Okay first, your vagina is showing. Second, what the fuck are you talking about? I’ve been home like eighteen hours and you’re already marrying me off? And, to my little sister’s best friend? You and I both know that will never happen unless I want to lose my balls. Ash is going to lose her damn mind about this entire thing and won’t accept that I didn’t know it was Piper. Besides, I just got out of a relationship and have no business getting into another. So just relax will you and stop being a jealous girlfriend.”
We both start laughing, and he takes his ball cap off and rubs his hand through his hair before placing it back on his head and looking at me. “My vagina? You really are a pussy. Let’s go to Sully’s.”
And just like that, we’re back to normal. This is why I can’t be the guy who hooks up at a bar. There are far too many dynamics to consider and apparently feelings for everyone in a fifty-foot radius.
Three hours after Jameson picked me up from my parent’s house in his monstrosity of a truck, I have managed to secure a trade-in for my sedan with Sully. With an agreement to bring the sedan back tomorrow and promise to bring him a piece of my mom’s pecan pie, Sully granted me permission to drive my new-to-me truck home. Living in a city, having a truck never made sense, but here it is the only thing that does. The truck I found is actually the same one I had in high school; well, except about twenty years newer. It seems that every hour I’m home I’m one step closer to being me again, and being me never felt so good.
I pull up to the house and see that my sister’s car is in the driveway. I am so not ready for this conversation. I love my sister and she really is one of my best friends, she’s just a little spirited. Well, I say she’s high strung, feisty, and overly dramatic. My mother calls her spirited. I suppose there is no time like the present to face the wrath of Ashton Marie Sullivan.
With every step toward the house, I feel more and more like a man walking the plank. Something about the way Jameson reacted to my kissing Piper isn’t sitting right. I recognize that my kissing her, any woman for that matter, in a bar is completely out of character for me. I can’t even begin to understand my reaction to her. It was something I’ve never experienced and, quite frankly, if someone else had told me they had this response to a woman I’d probably demand he turn in his man card. I feel like one of those ridiculous Hallmark movies. Only, I don’t see how this story will have that cheesy happy ending each of those movies does. No, I imagine I’m going to walk through this door and my sister is going to rip me a new asshole and I’ll feel shitty and apologize and make promises that will suck. Promises I’ll probably hate making but I’ll keep because I’m the good guy.
I’m within four steps of the door when I hear Ashton’s sweet voice. My sister has a magnificent singing voice and can make a grown man cry with her rendition of Amazing Grace. When we were growing up my parents saw Ashton’s talent early on, and while I was running bases and practicing my swing, she was in voice lessons. Jameson and I used to joke when we were in high school that we were going to kidnap her one night, drive to the open auditions for one of those singing competition shows on television, and make her buy us extravagant gifts to thank us.
We joked and never followed through. Not because Ashton doesn’t have the talent or doesn’t deserve the recognition. To the contrary, Ashton would make it far in any competition. Not only is she talented beyond comprehension, cute - in a stubborn and annoying little sister kind of way - she is also one of the kindest and most outgoing people I know. Unfortunately, Ash also suffers from panic attacks. The idea of being in front of a crowd of more than the Thursday night karaoke regulars at Country Road sends her into a full panic attack. Not a “she’s a little stressed” attack, no Ashton has these frightening attacks that paralyze her and find us rushing her to the hospital.
That’s why there was only teasing of the kidnapping and plans for extravagant gifts and no golden ticket to Hollywood.
I put my hand on the handle to the screen door and take in a deep breath. Ass, hold on because I have a feeling you’re about to get chewed out.
“Quit being a pansy ass. Get in here so we can do this,” Ash commands before I can even take a step in the door.
“Pansy ass?”
Ash turns from the sink where she’s washing vegetables from Mom’s garden. As she grabs a towel to dry her hands, I am taken aback a little. My baby sister isn’t a baby anymore. We may only be four years apart in age but growing up that seemed like a million. I spent half my time threatening my friends and the other guys in school with their life if they so much as looked at my baby sister. Most of the jerks listened. I’m sure a few snuck around behind my back, but for the most part I managed to keep Ash protected from the douchebags around town. After I left that job fell to Jameson and he has assured me that while she’s dated, Ashton has been more focused on trying to figure out where she’s going in life than who she’s going with.
Ashton is full of spunk as usual but there’s something else in her eyes. I know it’s been a tough year for her and she’s less than thrilled to be living back home with Mom and Dad but I wonder if it’s something more. Thankfully, her sass outweighs the sadness.
I ignore the look she’s shooting my way and open the fridge to grab a beer. I pop the cap off and take a seat at the island before another word is uttered by either of us.
“Well?” I ask.
“Well? That’s what you have to say? Well?”
“How about ladies first? That better, Ash?”
“Ugh! You are so infuriating, Bentley. What was that last night?”
“What do you want me to say? Sorry? Okay, sorry.”
Ashton stops her foot in frustration and tosses her hands up in the air. I smile and take another drink of my beer.
“You should have one of these,” I say, motioning toward my bottle.
“I couldn’t agree more, but I have to work in an hour,” she replies, taking the seat next to me.
I nudge her a little with my knee and she lays her head on my shoulder.
“Please don’t hook up with Piper, Ben. She’s been screwed over so much and I don’t want to see her hurt.”
“Gee thanks, sister of mine. So much confidence in me I see.”
“I’m sorry. It’s not you. You’re the best guy in the world and if you weren’t my brother you are the exact guy Pipe should be with. It’s just…”
She pauses and turns toward me. I follow suit and look at her. Are those tears?
“Ash, what’s wrong? Are you crying?”
“What? No. Okay, maybe. I don’t know. It’s just that Piper is my best friend and you’re my brother. If you hooked up and it didn’t work out, I’d be in the middle. I don’t want to lose my friend and I don’t want to have to hate you and say awful things about you in the name of sisterhood. So just do me a solid and don’t hook up. Please?”
“First, don’t cry. It’s not that serious, okay?”
She nods.
“Second, I don’t plan on hooking up with anyone. You know Laurel and I just broke up. Besides that, I just moved back to town and am living with Mom and Dad. I’m in no position to start something up with anyone, Piper or not.”
Ashton smiles at me and it looks as if a thousand-pound weight has been lifted from her shoulders. As her brother I am happy to be the one to relieve some of that stress. As the man who experienced the best kiss of his life less than twenty-four hours ago, I feel defeated.
“You promise? You won’t start something up with Piper? Last night was just a mistake?” she asks me hopefully.
“I promise. I will not start anything with Piper. But can I ask you something?”
A little reassurance from me seems to be all she needed because the usual pep is back in Ashton’s step as she hops off the stool and back toward the sink to her vegetables.
“Sure, shoot.”
“When did Piper get so hot?”
I can’t help it. I’m the big brother, it’s my job to piss her off.
Ashton turns to me with a mischievous smile on her face. “Piper has always been hot. Boys are just dumb and it isn’t until they’re men that they appreciate what’s always been there.”
Touché.