“Your mom will have a fit that we’re late for dinner,” Tori remarked as Scott pulled into the parking space. Their little escapade at Chad’s shop had cost them some time, and now they were adding a trip to the store.
“She can deal. You need allergy medicine and I guarantee you there’s no hard liquor in that house.” He glanced at Blaze through the rearview mirror. “I have a feeling we’ll need more than wine to get through this evening,” Scot groaned.
Blaze and his mother were about the two most opposite people that you could put in a room. He wasn’t quite sure how this evening was going to play out.
“Is that for you or for him?” Presley chuckled and nodded toward Blaze as Scott killed the engine.
“Both.” Scott rolled his eyes as he opened his door and went to the passenger side to grab Tori while the others filed out of the car behind him.
“You two head to the liquor store next door and meet us back at the car,” Scott ordered. “I’ll take sneezy here and get her medicine.”
“Copy that.” Presley nodded and dragged Blaze across the parking lot.
Inside the store, Scott grabbed a small basket and weaved them in and out of the aisles, heading for the pharmacy section. He found the right aisle and guided Tori to the allergy section.
“Ok, we have about a thousand kinds here. What do you need?” Scott asked.
“No Benadryl, unless you want me crashing right after dinner.” She warned. “Just something that won’t make me sleepy.”
He scanned the array of choices in front of him on the shelves until his eye caught one that said non-drowsy. “Zyrtec?” he asked.
She nodded. “That works.”
He dropped the box into the basket. “Anything else you need while we’re here?”
“Some headache medicine.”
“Mom’s got plenty of Advil.”
“I need the migraine stuff.” Tori shrugged.
Scott furrowed his brow and looked at her. This wasn’t the first time she’d mentioned headaches. With her prior TBI, he was concerned. Saying nothing, he led her over to the painkiller aisle and scanned them.
“How often are you getting headaches?”
“Occasionally.” She shrugged again.
Liar.
This was the third headache she’d mentioned this week. And he knew damn well there was probably a slew of them that she wasn’t mentioning.
“Have you talked to a doctor about your headaches?”
“Headaches seem pretty standard after a blow to the head that renders you blind,” she hissed at him in a low whisper.
Scott grunted. “I think you need to see a neurologist.”
“Are we going to do this now?” Tori curled her nose at him.
“Fine, I’ll drop it for now. But you’re going to look pretty silly slung over my shoulder, kicking and screaming as I drag you into the neurologist.”
She crossed her arms and turned toward him. “What would I ever do without my caveman dragging me into submission?”
“Are you actually trying to roll your eyes under those glasses?” Scott laughed.
He grabbed a bottle. “Excedrin Migraine. Will that work?”
“Yup.” Tori nodded.
He dropped the pills in the basket.
They headed toward the front of the store.
“Oh shit. I told your mom I’d make dessert. I need cookie dough, yogurt, cream cheese and lots of fruit, bananas…”
A bemused grin passed across his face and he snorted. God only knew what she was making. He guided them to the produce section.
“What?” Tori barked. She stopped walking and planted her feet, pulling his arm backward.
“Nothing.” He chuckled.
“You have something to say, funnyman?”
“I didn’t know that you could cook.” He shrugged and shook his head, a bit surprised.
“Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean—”
“Tori, that’s not what I meant. You don’t cook.” The only thing he could ever recall her making him was a grilled cheese sandwich and he couldn’t classify that as actual cooking.
“I helped your mom with the pie!”
“Exactly; you helped. How many times have I made us breakfast versus you making breakfast?”
“Everyone knows that breakfast is the man’s job.” She lifted her chin and waved her hand.
Scott belly laughed at that, causing a few heads to turn in their direction. “That’s a bit sexist and stereotypical from someone who doesn’t like to define gender roles, Miss I-Was-Just-Welding.”
“Oh, just shut up and get the damn fruit,” she groaned, elbowing him in the side.
They mulled about the produce section as she took time picking out the strawberries, blueberries, bananas and kiwi she wanted.
“Kiwi?” He palmed some of the fuzzy fruit and curled his nose. “How do you even pick these things out?”
“Yes, haven’t you ever eaten kiwi?” She seemed a bit shocked. He could understand why. He wasn’t a picky eater by any means, but kiwi had always weirded him out.
“No, it’s weird. Fruit shouldn’t have fur. It’s unnatural.”
Now it was her turn to laugh obnoxiously. “It’s not any fuzzier than peaches; you eat those, right?”
“Nope. I don’t eat furry fruit. Weirds me out.”
“How did I never know this?” She shook her head, leaning her cane against her chest, and reached out in front of her for the fruit.
“I guess it’s like how I never knew you were allergic to cats.” He shrugged. As much as they knew about each other Presley was right—there was still a lot they didn’t. “What else don’t I know about you, my dear?”
Tori outright ignored his question. “Well, you’re going to try kiwi tonight.” She squeezed the fruit and lifted it to her nose, taking a whiff. “Too firm, not ripe yet and won’t have flavor.” She placed it back and went for another. “Too soft, mushy and slimy.”
“Slimy, furry fruit. You aren’t doing a good job of selling me on these things.” He snarled as she piddled with the fruit. He glanced around the produce section. His eye caught a blonde flipping her hair over her shoulder a few rows over, revealing her creamy skin as he recognized her profile. Scott’s mouth went dry and the color drained from his face.
Oh, god no.
Brandi Turner.
To say they had a bit of a history was an understatement. Other than Tori, she was the only woman he’d ever been serious about. While it ended on somewhat amicable, albeit enigmatic terms, he wasn’t interested in running into her again, especially with Tori on his arm.
Brandi had ended it with him, but not because she wasn’t all in. She knew Scott’s heart wasn’t in the relationship. He’d hurt her, and he still felt terrible for that. He still recalled Brandi’s words to this day. It’s like you want me to be someone else Scott, and I can’t be her. I truly hope one day that you get her.
He tilted his head downward and scratched his nose. “You about done?” Scott cleared his throat. He was hoping to get out of there unnoticed.
“Yeah; now we need to get the yogurt, cream cheese and cookie dough.” Tori handed him the produce and he dropped it into the half-filled basket. Then, Scott quickly got them away from the produce section, and Brandi. It only took a little longer to grab the rest of their items and head to the checkout counter. He’d dodged the Brandi bullet, he thought, as they headed out of the store.
Until they passed by her while she was checking out.
Brandi glanced up and caught his eye, with a warm smile.
Shit.
Now, if he kept walking, he was a total asshole. Scott plastered on a grin and waved.
“Scott Harris?” Brandi’s smile grew wider as she grabbed her shopping bag and made a beeline over to them.
Tori’s head snapped toward her voice and her grip grew tighter on his bicep. Thankfully, with Tori hooked to his right arm and the bag on his left Brandi didn’t go in for the big hug.
“Hey, Brandi.” Scott nodded at her.
Brandi’s eyes darted to Tori, she started to say something, hesitated, bit her lip, then set her gaze back on Scott. “Scott! I heard that you were in town from my mom. How are you?”
This didn’t surprise him one bit. His mom and Brandi’s mom were close friends, both beside themselves when they split for the second time. The way his mother flapped her jaw there was no way she’d kept him coming to town a secret—much less his relationship with Tori.
Scott plastered on a fake grin. He’d never been caught in the ex-girlfriend meets current girlfriend situation before.
Brandi eyed him up and down, smiling wide with her perfectly straight, white teeth.
“Doing good, in town on business,” he said.
Tori dug her fingernails into Scott’s bicep and coughed. Yes; he was getting to that.
Cool your jets, Tori.
“Brandi, this is Victoria, my girlfriend.” Scott put his arm around Tori and gave her a squeeze. “Brandi and I go way back.”
“Yes, of course, Tori, right?” Brandi’s mouth twitched, but her smile didn’t falter completely. In fact, her brown eyes warmed and glistened as she eyed Tori. Why was she looking at his girl as if she’d seen a long-lost friend? It had to be eating Brandi up inside seeing the two of them together, but there wasn’t a hint of resentment in that smile. Brandi never was one to hold a grudge. There wasn’t a spiteful bone in the woman’s body.
Tori nodded and wrung her hands on her cane. “Yes; uh, most people call me Tori.”
Only Tori’s friends used her nickname, and his mom only referred to her as Victoria. Scott could see why Tori was a bit befuddled.
“It’s nice to meet you, Brandi.”
“Scott always spoke so fondly of you.” She touched her hand to her chest and was a bit shocked as he noticed the ring finger still empty. He assumed she’d have found someone by now.
During their second time around the block, Brandi had been smart enough to know he was still hung up on Tori. It’s what ultimately ended their relationship, at least that’s what he’d assumed.
“I was glad to hear the two of you finally got together.”
Brandi sounded like she honestly meant that.
Tori cocked her head to the side. “Were you now?”
Brandi gave a noncommittal shrug. “Oh, you know, word travels fast around here.”
“That’s Brandi’s polite way of saying my mother is a blabbermouth,” Scott teased. From the way Brandi didn’t blink twice about the cane, or the fact Tori was blind, he knew his mom had spilled the beans on that as well.
“Yeah, I kinda caught that.” Tori laughed and flashed her goofy, sideways grin, which made Brandi chuckle.
“As if my mamma is any better.” Brandi rolled her eyes.
There was an awkward silence for a moment, neither one of them knowing what to say.
Scott glanced over as Presley and Blaze moved toward them and he silently thanked God. Just the right moment to save him. He waved them over.
“We’ve been standing outside for twenty minutes waiting for you two, I had to convince Blaze not to bust open the whiskey in the parking lot.” Presley crossed her tattooed arms, then eyed Brandi up and down.
“Sorry,” Tori apologized. “I volunteered to make dessert, and we had to grab a few extra items…”
Blaze snickered beside her. “You’re going to cook, Blondie?”
“Oh, don’t you start in either. I can cook, dammit!” Tori waved a finger in his general direction and cleared her throat. “As I was saying, as we were checking out we ran into one of Scott’s old friends.” Tori waved her free hand flippantly, but the emphasis she put on the word told Scott that Tori knew exactly how they were acquainted.
Brandi smiled shyly and ran her fingers through her hair, her long, loose curls falling over her dainty shoulders.
Blaze’s eyes raked Brandi over, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.
Yeah, Brandi had that effect on men. She was the perfect combination of innocent girl-next-door sprinkled with a dash of sexiness. Brandi was the kind of girl that other girls wished they were, and wanted to hate, but couldn’t.
A sly grin crept across Blaze’s face as he took her in, all five feet seven inches of her with tanned, toned legs.
He looked like a wolf about to devour his prey and Scott waited for him to go in for the kill.
“Brandi, you say? I’m Ian. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He extended his hand and shook hers, almost like a gentleman.
Ian? Nice to make your acquaintance?
Who the hell was this, and what happened to Blaze? Never in Scott’s life had he heard him speak respectfully to a member of the opposite sex that he found attractive. It was always honey, darling, babe or some other nickname that he deemed the girl worthy of, and he never offered his real name. He glanced over at Presley and Tori both of whom shared the same shocked expression.
“Nice to meet you, Ian.”
“How do you know my boy here?” Blaze patted Scott on the shoulder and grinned, knowing full well how Scott must have known her.
Brandi’s cheeks flushed and she suddenly became very interested in her sneakers. “Oh, Scott and I go way back to high school.”
Thank you, Brandi, for having more tact than my idiot best friend.
“Brandi, this is Presley. She works with me. And you’ve met Ian. He and I served together in Afghanistan.”
Brandi cocked her head to the side. “Are you Ian Hodges?” Brandi’s hand let go of his and she touched her chest.
Blaze flashed her a wolfish grin. “In the flesh. Have the medals to prove it.”
Scott couldn’t believe that he had admitted that to her. Blaze didn’t like telling people who he was, and he never boasted about his military accomplishments. It wasn’t his style at all.
“We’ve heard so much about you around here.”
“Well I hope it’s all good.” Blaze grinned.
“Mostly.” Brandi gave him a mischievous smirk.
“The bad are all lies, I promise.” Blaze gave her a wink and nudged her shoulder.
“Will your friend be joining us for dinner tonight?” Blaze asked and stifled a giggle.
Scott could have kicked him in the teeth for that one. Scott gave him the fuck-you glare but Blaze didn’t seem to give a shit.
“Oh, thank you for the offer, but I have papers to grade, first week of school and all.” Brandi tactfully declined.
“You’re a teacher?” Tori asked, cocking her head to the side. “What do you teach?”
Tori was obviously trying to play nice.
“Special education.” Brandi cleared her throat and ruffled her hair. “So, maybe I’ll see y’all at church on Sunday?”
“Well, of course. I never miss a Sunday,” Blaze said in his most angelic tone possible.
What the ever-loving fuck?
Scott was practically waist deep in the shit that Blaze was spewing out. Ok, it was time to shut this down. Brandi was far too sweet for the likes of Blaze. He may have been his best friend, but he was a damn son of a bitch.
Scott barely refrained from rolling his eyes while Tori held back her laughter, but he could see the smile tugging at her lips threatening to break loose. Meanwhile, Presley couldn’t help herself and she let out a huge snort, causing Brandi to stare curiously before retreating.
“Scott, it was nice seeing you again, and nice meeting you all.” Brandi nodded goodbye and went on her way.
They quietly returned to the car.
Presley turned to Blaze. “What in God’s name was that?” Her eyes bulged.
“What?” Blaze asked.
“The whole charade you just put on for Texas Barbie,” Tori chimed.
Texas Barbie.
Scott chuckled. That was a perfect way to describe Brandi with her sweet, southern twang and curves in all the right spots. Tori may not have seen her, but she knew the type he would go for.
Blaze shrugged. “Hey, you know me, I always hit on hot girls. This is nothing new.”
“I mean—church? Are you friggin’ serious?” Presley laughed. “Do you honestly plan to go to church to try and get laid?”
“God does work in mysterious ways, you know.”
“Isn’t there some sort of rule-book in the bro code that you can’t fuck your best friend’s ex-girlfriend?” Tori turned toward Scott and raised her brow.
Yeah, she was testing him all right to see if he’d own up to it. Of course he’d own up to it. Not like Tori hadn’t fucked her fair share of men in their time apart. She’d been fooling around with some French fucker named Bastien while Scott was dating Brandi.
“Brandi is off limits,” Scott said adamantly. “I’m serious.”
Brandi is off limits?
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
Tori wasn’t delusional. Scott had fucked his fair share, but this girl seemed to mean something more to him. She could feel it in the nervous energy radiating off him. Not to mention the possessive way he had told Blaze that she was forbidden.
Church on Sunday? She wouldn’t miss it for the world now, knowing that Texas Barbie would be there to sink her hot-pink claws into her man. Well, she assumed her nails were hot pink. She probably had pink lipstick too, and a pink top. Tori imagined this girl wore a lot of pink from that meek, little, southern voice of hers and the smell of the sweet, strawberry shampoo that made her want to gag.
Brandi’s cute laugh and smooth accent lingered in her head on the quiet ride back to Scott’s parents’ house. Something tugged at the back of her mind. It was like recognizing an actor doing a commercial voice over. You know that you’ve heard the actor—but you can’t remember from where. Brandi’s voice was perfection, unlike Tori’s deep, throaty tone and obnoxious laugh. Tori’s mom used to always tell her to keep her voice down and scold her for how unladylike her laugh was.
Finally, the car came to a halt. All Tori wanted was a warm meal courtesy of Judith and a glass of whatever alcohol she could get her paws on.
“You’re thirty minutes late! Dinner is getting cold!” Scott’s mother scolded them as the screen door slammed.
“I texted you. Told you to eat without us,” Scott replied as they walked up the porch and into the house.
“And you, Victoria? Do you have any idea how worried I was when I got back to the house and couldn’t find you?”
“I’m sorry, Judith, I—” Tori started, but Scott put his hand on her arm to stop her.
“Lay off her, Mom.” Tori’s heart teetered between pride and fear that he was standing up to his mother on her behalf. She could tell he was growing weary of her overbearing nature. Well, it ran in the family—he’d inherited it from her. “She went to see Chad’s shop. She’s not a child; she can come and go as she pleases.”
“I’ll have Scott give me your number so next time I’ll text you, Judith. Just so you won’t worry; deal?” Tori said, trying to soften the tension in the house. She’d had enough drama today to last a lifetime.
Judith let out a sigh and threw her arm over her shoulder, giving her a squeeze. “That would make me feel better. I like you too much to let anything happen to you.”
More than Brandi?
She immediately hated herself for thinking that. She was being ridiculous. Tori was not the jealous type.
They all filed inside, and Scott introduced Blaze and Presley to his father as they settled around the table.
“Mamma Harris cooked us up a storm.” Blaze sounded excited at whatever the spread was in front of them. “I think I can get used to staying here if I have this to look forward to every evening.”
“Judith, it smells wonderful. What are we eating?” Tori asked as Scott slung his arm over the back of her chair, squeezing her shoulder.
“Chicken-fried steak with gravy, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, green beans, and freshly baked bread,” Judith replied with pride.
How that woman wasn’t two hundred pounds the way she cooked, was beyond Tori’s comprehension. No wonder Scott was as big as an ox.
A smack of the hand echoed from across the table. “Boy, we say grace in this house before you go digging in,” Judith scolded.
“Sorry, Mamma Harris,” Blaze gulped.
“Wayne, if you would please,” Judith said with an edge. Wayne quickly said the blessing over the meal and they plated their food.
Scott dished Tori’s for her, whispering the placement of the items, like always.
He wouldn’t have to do that for Brandi—a thought that settled like a heavy brick in her stomach.
Stop. Stop it now.
She needed a drink.
“We should’ve had Blaze say the blessing, ya know, since he doesn’t ever miss a Sunday,” Scott teased.
Tori, Presley and Scott busted out laughing.
Just like that her spirit was lifted; Scott’s big belly laugh always had that effect on her.
“Very funny, Harris,” Blaze said around a mouthful.
“Say what?” Wayne muttered.
“We ran into Brandi at H.E.B.,” Scott explained to the group. “Blaze got all googly-eyed and promised her he’d be at church on Sunday.”
“Ian!” Judith sounded disgusted. “You will not use the Lord’s house to try to weasel that lovely girl into your bed. I won’t have it.”
“That’s what I told him. Brandi is off limits to this clown,” Scott said.
“Brandi is far too smart of a girl to be taken by the likes of him,” Wayne chimed in. He’d apparently sized Blaze up in a matter of minutes. “Judith filled me in on your little escapade with Dolly last night.” Wayne let out a bemused chuckle.
Judith sighed next to her. “Brandi is such a good girl, and so pretty. It’s a shame she hasn’t found someone yet.”
Heat rose to Tori’s cheeks the way they all talked about Brandi, especially Scott’s mother. She could agree, Brandi was sweet and she seemed genuinely happy for her and Scott.
She treated Tori like some long-lost familiar friend.
Judith had hinted there was someone else after Scott’s injury. Was it Brandi? How serious had they been? Tori slid her hand across the table and palmed her glass of water, wishing it was something stronger.