LATER THAT EVENING, ANNA AND I sat in the living room of my little apartment watching a rerun on TV and eating dinner. Together, we cooked Thai sweet chili meatballs and Lo mein. Since we would probably be drinking, we needed to make sure we had a decent meal in our stomachs to soak up the alcohol.
“Did you hear from Ashton?” She leaned forward, setting her empty bowl on the coffee table in front of us.
“Yeah. He said to come over whenever,” I told her, spinning the last few noodles around the tines of my fork.
“What time do you think everyone else is gonna show up? I don’t wanna be the first ones.”
“Well, Cooper and Storm are probably already there getting the bonfire started and Ryan should already be there with the beer. So, if you wanted, we could go over now,” I told her. Leaning forward, I picked up Anna’s bowl and carried it along with mine to the kitchen sink.
Anna stood and looked down at her clothes. “Do you think this will be okay?” She was dressed in simple blue jeans and a black V-neck short sleeve t-shirt.
“Of course. You look fine,” I answered as I turned on the hot water to rinse the dishes off. “Since when are you insecure? You never worry about what a guy thinks.”
“I don’t want to look fine, Kinsley. I want to make him stop in his tracks. I don’t know, I just feel like this is different.”
“Then don’t try so hard. Ashton isn’t the kind of guy who needs all the makeup and fancy clothes. He doesn’t do fake. Just be you and you’ll have him eating out of the palm of your hand,” I happily advised. “I, on the other hand, need to figure out how to get Cooper to make a move.”
“Well, you said he kissed you back,” she offered as she headed to the bedroom.
I followed. “He only kissed me because I caught him off-guard. He’s taken every other opportunity to run in the other direction.” I flopped down on the bed and propped myself up on my elbows as I watched Anna through the closet door. I wished I felt as hopeful and confident as she did. “What if he feels the same way about me as I feel about Ashton?”
“From what you’ve said, I don’t think so. And you’ll never know unless you talk to him,” she hollered out. Hangers scraped along the metal rod as she looked through the clothes she brought with her from Charlotte.
“I mean; it would be karma.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think that’s how karma works. I think you have to do something bad for something bad to come back to you. And you not being into Ashton doesn’t qualify. For the record, I don’t exactly see him as a lovesick guy pining for you. Okay, enough moping. What do you think if I go totally comfy and throw on my cut off shorts and keep the same shirt on?”
“Perfect. And throw on your black flip-flops.” I rolled over, stretched out and stared up at the ceiling fan. “I’m just gonna wear what I always wear.”
“Boring,” Anna advised. “You need to dress up a little, get him to notice you and then ignore him. Make sure he sees you talking to some other guy.” A malevolent smile spread slowly across her face.
“Okay, little Miss Expert. What would you have me wear? Keep in mind we’ll be over at the farm.” I rolled to the edge of the bed, placed my feet on the floor, and stood up. I had yet to take Anna over to the farm. Ashton agreed to handle the lessons today when I promised to teach both lessons on Saturday.
“Hmm, let’s see.” She tapped her index finger to her bottom lip. “What do you normally wear to the parties over there?”
“Jeans, a cute top, and either my cowboy boots or those booties of mine that you love,” I answered, padding through the doorway into my closet.
“Okay . . .” She moved along the racks of clothes, pushing the hanging fabrics as she went searching. “So, no skirt or jeans; shorts are too casual. I’m thinking a little sundress and your cowboy boots. Show off those tan legs. Let him visualize them wrapped around his waist, hugging his ass.”
I took a second to visualize it myself. Mmm.
“Dresses. Uhh, I think I only have a few casual dresses.” I walked toward the left side of the closet where her clothes were housed. The rack next to hers had several dresses.
“I’m thinking Sandra Bullock in Hope Floats. You with me?”
“I am.” I smiled. We had watched that movie a few times over the last few years. “And I think I have the perfect dress.” Shuffling through the hangers, I found the dress I had in mind and held it up for her to approve. In my hands was a pale, dusty pink sundress with a subdued floral pattern. It had spaghetti straps and small buttons down the entire front. Anna grinned and I had my answer. “I’ll change my bra.”
Twenty minutes later, we were walking across the hardscaped veranda in the backyard of my parents’ house.
“Lizzy, honey, before you leave can you please come inside?” my dad called to me from the back deck.
“Sure, Dad,” I agreed, then turned to Anna. “You can finally meet my dad.” Dad was a workaholic and was gone before we left this morning for our run and came home after we went out last night.
Climbing the half flight of stairs to the deck, I opened the sliding door to the family room and waited for Anna to enter before closing it.
“Dad, this is my friend, Anna. Anna, this is my dad, Phillip.”
“Please, call me Phil,” he requested. “Sweetheart, your mom and I are going to take off for a few days. Go out to Uncle Reed’s cabin on the lake for some R and R.”
“That sounds fabulous, Dad. When do you think you’ll be back?” I asked, leaning on the back of the couch while he stood in the kitchen. I was thankful Anna would be here with me and I wouldn’t be alone. My parents never just took off, but they deserved it. Since I had been home, I had walked in on them a few times kissing a little too passionately on the couch. While it grossed me out, I wasn’t stupid. My parents were happily married people. And that was enough about that.
“Not sure. You planning on having a wild party?” He poured himself a glass of scotch.
I smiled and shook my head. “Nope. I leave that to the boys.”
“Good.” He took a swallow of the throat-burning liquor. “So, Anna, Kinsley tells me that you have one more year of college left. Do you know what you want to do after school?”
“One more and I’m so ready for it to be over but I’m not quite sure what I’m gonna do. My father would prefer I start learning the family business,” she explained, her brow creased. “It’s what’s expected.”
“And what would you prefer?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I like the thought of real estate and financing but I’m not sure about working with my father.” She frowned again.
“Family working together can be difficult. I could see why you’d be wary,” my dad empathized. He set the rocks glass down on the countertop. “You should talk to your father if something’s bothering you.”
I could see Anna getting uncomfortable talking about her dad. Her eyes bounced from Dad to me, looking for a life preserver. “Where’s Mom? I wanna tell her goodbye before y’all leave.”
“She’s upstairs packing but she should be down in a minute. What are you two going to do tonight?” Before I could answer, Dad pulled his cell from his pocket. “Sorry, darling, I have to answer this. Excuse me.”
“Phillip,” my mom’s voice admonished as she came down the stairs with a leather duffel on her shoulder. “You said no more calls.”
He mouthed his apologies and disappeared to his office in the back-right side of the house.
“Kinsley, honey, could you give me a hand? Dad was supposed to take the bags out to the car and not take any more phone calls.” Her voice got louder as she went, but she looked over at me as I crossed the living room with a happy grin.
My parents had a great relationship. They were best friends as well as husband and wife. They still teased each other, chased each other around the kitchen, and snuck inappropriate kisses when they thought they weren’t being watched. It was inspiring to know that kind of love existed. Did they fight? Absolutely, but Mom said they never went to bed angry.
After I grabbed the two other bags from my parents’ room upstairs and brought them down, I hugged and kissed my mom goodbye.
“Your parents are so freakin’ adorable,” Anna gushed. “I wish my parents were half as in love as yours.”
“I hope I can find someone that’ll love me the way my dad loves my mom. If she asked for the moon, he’d charter a shuttle.” We walked out the large front door. “You wanna walk?”
“Sure. It’s not like it’s far. Plus, we won’t have to worry about driving later.”
“True story.” I laughed as we passed by our cars in front of the garages and continued down my parents driveway toward the road.
After crossing, we walked along the edge of the road careful of our step in the dark. A short walk later, we found Ryan, Storm, and Ashton lounging by the pool.
“Princess, you came,” Storm greeted me like he was surprised I was there. Eyeing Anna up and down before focusing back on me, he asked. “Who’s your friend?”
“Anna, this is Storm, Ashton’s oldest brother.”
“Why does he call you princess?” she whispered as we sat down at the first picnic table.
“Ugh, don’t ask.” I shook my head then looked over my shoulder, surveying the driveway. No Jeep. “Who all’s coming?”
“Ethan, Irwin and Ashley, Katie and Luis, Heather, Pete, Jace, Steve,” Ryan rattled off the usual suspects. “And anyone they bring. You know how it goes.”
Looking from Ryan to Storm and Ash, I asked. “How’s Scott today?” I felt bad not getting over the last two days to check on him.
“He’s in a good mood today. Told me and Ashton he was gonna come out for a beer tonight,” Storm said as he climbed off his lounger and strutted toward us. “Princess, you gotta minute?”
“Sure.” I nodded, looking to Anna. “I’ll be back. Ashton, entertain Anna would ya.”
“It’d be my pleasure.” He grinned with a bounce of his eyebrows. He immediately stood up and trailed behind Storm. “Wanna grab a beer?”
Anna beamed. “Yeah, that’d be good.” Anna being Anna, waited for Ashton to get closer then slipped her arm between his arm and side.
Storm, dressed in cargo khaki shorts and a buttery-yellow t-shirt, headed for the barn as I followed him. He stopped in front of Peaches’ unoccupied stall. Never one to dance around a subject or pull any punches, Storm got to the point. “What’s up with you and my brother?”
He was his brothers’ protector, mine too for that matter. Since we were little he always ran interference. I couldn’t help but wonder who protected him. Ever since my senior year when Chelsea left him on Christmas, he hadn’t been the same.
“Uh, nothing. Ashton was upset with me about something, but we worked it out.” I shrugged then leaned on the wooden wall of the stall. “We always do.”
“Well, that’s good to know . . . but I wasn’t talking about Ashton.”
I felt the heat creep up my neck into my cheeks. “I’m not following you.”
“Kinsley, just because I’m not here every day, doesn’t mean that I don’t know what’s happening. I have eyes. Plus, Coop texted me earlier asking whether you were gonna be here tonight,” he added.
Say what? He asked about me. My insides screamed and danced like they were on fire.
“Can I be completely honest with you?” I stood straight and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
“Of course, you can, Princess. You’re like my baby sister. You can tell me anything,” he said so sincerely that I didn’t even groan at the nickname.
“Are you sure? Because once it’s out there, you can’t un-hear it.” I wanted to be sure he wanted to get in the middle of whatever it was between Cooper and me.
“Yeah.” His hand waved, motioning for me to go on.
My tongue slipped between my lips, wetting them before I released a deep breath then spilled my guts. “Four years ago, while drunk out of my mind, I stupidly told Cooper that I was in love with him and always had been and that Maggie was a raging bitch and that he should leave her.”
Storm smiled. “I’m glad you finally said it out loud.”
My eyebrows jumped as my eyes went wide, shocked by his declaration. “Yeah, well, I was stupid for saying it, because he doesn’t feel the same way. Then a few weeks ago I made yet another dumbass decision and kissed him in front of everyone at the bar. But I only kissed him because Maggie was there with Freddy and I wanted to piss her off. But then Ash saw us and I felt awful. Then Coop sorta blew it off.” Storm stood quietly, arms crossed over his chest, as I rambled. My heart beat rapidly as the words wouldn’t stop spilling from my lips.
“But he kissed you back, right?” Storm asked inquisitively.
“Yeah, but the minute I tried to tell him how I felt, he shut down,” I clarified, starting to pace the barn aisle. The stalls were all empty as the night was warm and would be cooler for the horses in the pasture.
“Can I offer my perspective as his brother?”
I stopped and looked at him. “Sure.”
Even though I was slightly embarrassed to have admitted all I did, I listened with optimism. I thirsted for insight into Cooper’s mind because one minute I felt like there might be more and as soon as I blinked it was gone.
“Here’s what I think. Cooper knows how Ashton feels about you. It’s no secret,” he said as I frowned. “Ashton knows that you don’t feel the same way he does, so don’t feel bad, Kins. You can’t help who you fall in love with. Cooper doesn’t want to upset Ashton. And if he acted on whatever there is between y’all, it would hurt him; no matter what Ashton might say. Then there’s the fact that the one person he thought he loved fucked him over royally.”
Hearing the explanation, it sounded plausible. Maybe Storm was right. As realization settled in it felt like I had been sucker punched in the stomach; because if it was true, Cooper would never be mine. Until Cooper saw that Ash had truly moved on, he would never
“Don’t look so sad, Kinsley. There’s still hope.” Storm smiled back at me as I sighed. He had always tried to make me feel better, even when the outlook was bleak.
“How do you figure? Cooper would never do anything to hurt Ashton, even if he actually had feelings for me.”
“Maybe he’ll grow a set and talk to Ashton.”
“I’m not holding my breath.” And that was the truth. Walking out of the barn, I cocked my head to the side, looking up at him as he threw his arm over my shoulders. “Ya know, you’re getting to be pretty wise in your old age.”
He tightened his arm around my head and laughed. “Old, huh?”
Our conversation had made the situation very clear. I didn’t have a shot in hell of claiming Cooper O’Loughlin.