Chapter Eighteen

We woke on the floor hours later. My phone had been ringing, but neither of us allowed it to disturb us. It wasn't until someone was banging on the front door that we were willing to open our eyes. 

"Are you expecting anyone?" His voice was raspy in the sexiest way I could ever hear.

"Why would anyone think to check here for me?"

I was completely comfortable in his arms and had no desire to move until, I remembered. "Izzy."

I jumped from the floor and looked out his bedroom window only to confirm my suspicion. My car was parked next to Jase's truck with Joe's truck behind it. Leaving Jase on the floor, I made my way down to the front door and opened it, finding my best friend standing there smiling.

"Rough night?"

"Not the way you're picturing." Her face fell. "Stop it. I'm fine. The better question is how your night was."

Joe pulled out of the driveway as Izzy waked in before answering me. I closed the door and found her already sitting on the couch.

"My time was un-worth telling." She held up her pinky to give me an idea of his size. 

"That’s too bad. I had high hopes for you."

She stretched herself out.

“Make yourself comfortable why don't you."

"What else am I supposed to do? Oh, I know!"

Without as much as a hint of what she had planned, she jumped up and took off running through the house until I heard her stomping up the stairs. I didn’t have speed on my side, so instead of trying to chase after her, I just sat down on the couch and waited. Her scream came first and then the stairs were being beaten as she stomped down them.  Her face when she turned the corner into the room was my favorite part, though—she was absolutely mortified. 

"He's naked."

I fell over on the couch and laughed harder than I had in years. 

"It's not funny. Why didn't you warn me or something?"

"Because I had no idea myself, but that's what you get for barging in on someone."

I was holding my stomach, trying to control the pain from the spasms.

"Stop laughing at me."

"Your face. I can't stop seeing your face as you came around the corner. It was priceless."

"Well, clearly you haven't seen that donkey dick or you would be freaking out too. Girl, you're in for a heap of trouble."

My laughter stopped as I grabbed her arm.

"Shut up! Seriously?"

She sat down next to me and rested her hand on my leg.

"Run while you still can. No vajayjay should endure that kind of pain. Ever."

"Did you enjoy the show?"

We burst into laughter as Jase rounded the corner freshly-showered and took in two girls about to pee their pants.

"What's so funny?"

Being able to breathe was a chore, more or less to answer him.

"Oh, hell no. You better not be laughing at me."

Our laughter became more like hyperventilation.

"You two suck."

He walked back out of the room, but it didn't matter. I couldn't move nor go after him until I got myself under control. 

"I need to go see if he's okay."

"Honey, that man is more than okay. It's you I'm worried about."

I pushed her off of me, went into the kitchen, and found him making coffee. He didn't turn when I came in or even say hi, so I knew some ass kissing was necessary. Making my way over to him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and snuggled in.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be." 

I knew he was teasing me, but I still felt bad.

"I am, I promise. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Honesty? Like a Mack truck ran over me. How much did I drink last night?"

"I really have no clue. Do you remember finding me?"

"I found you? What do you mean?"

"I was dancing and you came out on the dance floor. You really don't remember?"

He turned in my arms to face me.

"I may not remember how I approached you but I know I waited way too long to do it. I've wanted to say sorry since I let you walk out the door that night."

"You're forgiven."

"About last night, what I told you. That's not who I am now. You know that, right?"

"I'm really starting to like exactly who you are, scars and all."

I went up on my toes to kiss him when he jerked his head back. 

"I may like you too but damn, Red, go brush your teeth or use mouthwash. Something."

I instantly covered my mouth and took two steps back when Izzy walked into the room. 

"I was going to say something about that earlier. You are foul, sister."

"Both of you can suck it."

I may have talked big but my feet were carrying me upstairs to wash my mouth out. 

By the time I was done and on my way back down, I could hear them laughing and knew exactly how Jase had felt minutes before. 

"I'm back so you can stop now."

Jase met me in the middle of the kitchen, grabbed me by the waist, and dipped me before bringing his lips to meet mine. Izzy was whistling making me blush, but the moment was too precious to care. When he brought me back up to my feet and I saw the redness of his cheeks, I knew she had gotten to him too.

"You taste much better than you would have a minute ago."

"Says the man who threw up all over himself twelve hours ago."

"She got you there. Dude, you were straight nasty last night."

He turned an even darker shade of red and mumbled, "Don't remind me."

He let me go, went to the counter, and began to pour himself a cup of coffee. Then he grabbed two more mugs and asked, "You guys want a cup?"

Izzy practically foamed at mouth before she said, "Hell yes if you have French vanilla creamer."

His eyebrows went crooked.

"Do I look like the kind of guy that would have that in my house?"

Her shoulders slumped but she accepted the coffee anyways, took a drink, and made the funniest face. Jase burst out laughing. 

"Izzy, he's teasing you. Look at the counter."

She took in the bottle sitting next to the coffee maker and got up from the table ready to kill him. His hands came up to guard himself from her attack. 

"Woo, I didn't say I didn't have any I just asked if I looked like that kind of guy."

She slapped his hands and said, "You're an asshole" with a smile hiding behind her scowl.

The three of us drank our coffee and laughed a little more, but the time came for Jase to get to work. Izzy and I needed showers desperately and it went without saying that she needed to get her bags out of my trunk. Jase walked us out to my car and made sure his kiss goodbye would leave me thinking about it for days.

Once we were on the road, Izzy began her interrogation.

"What happened? You look like the Cheshire cat over there but you clearly didn't get any."

I looked at her wondering how well she would take the truth. With both hands on the steering wheel, I gave in. She was my best friend, and I hated her not knowing everything. 

"I know you already don't like him, and last night I'm sure didn't help, but—"

"It's not that I don't like him, I just don't trust him yet."

"He was in the Army and a lot of stuff happened over there.  He’s having to cope with that, and it's not pretty. But as far as trusting him, I would with my life."

"That's all you've got? Really? What the hell happened last night that you're not telling me?"

"He just had a really bad dream."

"There you go being vague again. Spit it out, woman."

I looked at her and knew she was right. I didn't know why I was holding back. Maybe because it was his story to tell. And then Canyon saying those same words hit me. I owed him an apology.

"He was in charge of his unit and a bomb killed one of his men. He knows it wasn't his entire fault but the guilt won't go away. He was apparently doing better until we went out to dinner and a guy said something to him about not saving one of his own. It triggered a setback. He pushed me away, and last night was him working up the courage to apologize."

"Damn."

I skated over that as best I could and she still went quiet. If only she knew the true impact it was having on him.

"Are you sure you want to take that on? He's going to be messed up for a long time. It's called PTSD, Shelby, haven't you seen the movie American Sniper?"

"Yeah, I have, and I have a feeling he went through pretty much that exact deal. I don't know what I'm willing to take on, but right now I know he's making me happy and we'll just take it day by day. He knows I'm leaving so it's not as if this is going to get serious." She turned her head to look out the window and laugh. I knew she didn't believe me but it was true. Minutes later, we were pulling into the driveway, and I saw that my mom's car was there. I was excited for her to see Izzy again. The two of them had always gotten along great. My mom said it was like gaining a third daughter later in life.

"Your mom?"

I put the car in park and then leaned forward in my seat to answer.

"Yep. Are you ready to get mauled?"

Her seatbelt flew back and she flung the door open.

"You bet I am. I love that woman."

I got out after popping the trunk and went around to grab her bags. Izzy, on the other hand, raced inside screaming, "Camille! I'm home!"

I laughed and then followed her inside. Once I crossed the doorway, I found the two of them hugging in the middle of the family room and then dropped the bags on the floor.

"Thanks for helping me carry your bags."

She turned in my mother's arms.

"Sorry about that. I was just excited to see the most beautiful lady in the world. I mean, really. Do you ever age?"

My mother blushed, making me want to gag at Izzy's sticky-sweet ass kissing. 

"How are you girls? Rough night?"

"Oh, we've definitely had worse."

My mom laughed and then walked into the kitchen only to come out with a platter full of chocolate chip muffins.

"Oh, my God, are those what I think they are? Camille, you shouldn't have."

"Well, when I heard you were coming, I couldn't help myself."

She gave me the devilish look, and I couldn't help but let her run with it. While Izzy began to inhale her favorite treat, I plopped down on the couch. I was exhausted after the night I had endured but wasting the precious hours I had with my best friend wasn't going to happen. 

The three of us sat around for a few hours and laughed plenty but my mom had to go to work and I wanted to show Izzy my niece and nephew. They had grown so much since the last time she had been to Montana and Izzy loved children. 

We showered and got ready for the day and then drove over to Ari and Canyon's. I would have preferred the walk but my foot was bothering me. Clearly, I hadn't been taking it as easy as I should have been. 

When we pulled into the drive and got out, there was nobody to be seen. Walking around the back of the house we found Amelia playing with a puppy. 

"Hey there, squirt!"

Her head shot up and her little legs went into motion. Before I could blink, she was leaping into my arms.

"Aunt Elby!"

"Hello, sweetheart. How are you?"

She pulled back to look at me.

"I'm good. Momma's inside cooking lunch, and Daddy's working with Gabe."

"Well, I'm glad to hear about them." I set her back on her own two feet. "But what are you doing?"

She began to kick the grass under her feet, avoiding eye contact. 

"Uh oh, what have you been up to, missy?"

She looked over at Izzy. "Who's that?"

Of course she would use the only distraction she had available. 

"This is my best friend, Izzy. You don't remember her, but she's known you since you were a baby."

Izzy bent down to be eye level with Amelia. 

"Hello again, Amelia."

"How do you know me if I don't know you?"

Her spunk had been named as Shelby all over again, but I didn't see anything wrong with it. She had no problem telling people like it was.

"Because you were little, and it’s hard to remember that long ago."

"But you remember?"

Izzy smiled and held out her hand. "Well then, I think it's time we meet again. My name is Izzy, and it's very nice to make your acquaintance."

"My name is Amelia. It's very nice to meet you too, but I don't have any akwntence for you to make, and I don't think it sounds very good, either. But we can just be friends, okay?"

Izzy and I both laughed while Amelia stared at us like we were losing our minds. Izzy stood up, walked over to me, and whispered, "I want one just like that."

"She's definitely a keeper, that’s for sure."

I looked down expecting to still see her there but she had already run off. I glanced over at Izzy whose eyes were scouring the area.

"Apparently, we can add magician to her list of qualities because I've never seen a disappearing act be pulled off so well."

I took her hand and giggled. "Let's go in the house and see Arianna."

We walked through the back door, and sure enough, my sister was standing over the stove cooking something that smelled amazing. 

"Do you have enough for two more?"

She spun around not expecting us and jumped in the air when she caught sight of Izzy.

"You're here. Oh, my gosh, come here, hun, it's been too long."

Izzy stood stock-still, wearing a shocked expression on her face. I was lost. She had known my sister forever.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Arianna stopped advancing on her and wore the same confused look I did.  When Izzy finally spoke, we died from laughter. 

"You're growing another one?"

I had completely forgotten about telling her about the baby. It must have slipped my mind. Ari closed the distance and took Izzy's hands before placing them on her baby bump.

"I sure am, and he's getting bigger every day."

He must have kicked because Izzy jumped while Arianna laughed. 

"Holy crap, that's insane."

"They do that often in there. You'll enjoy it when it's your own, I promise."

I expected Izzy to pull back and spout off some smart ass remark, but she left her hands where they were and bent down to my sister's stomach. 

"Come on, little man. Give me all you got."

He must have heard her or fate was on her side, because seconds later her pupils disappeared and her jaw dropped.

"Woah, I don't think he's ever kicked that hard before."

Standing there watching made me jealous. So much so that I didn't wait nicely by for Izzy to move. Instead, I semi shoved her to the side as I said, “Move over. I want a turn."

Izzy huffed but finished it with a smile.

"There's enough belly here for you both. Besides, what do you guys have planned today?"

I hadn't had anything plotted out for the weekend. In fact, I was just grateful to have Izzy with me. When my sister took in the fact that both of us were wearing clueless expressions, she giggled and said, "Well, that was easy. You both are coming with us tonight."

Izzy got excited immediately,

"What's the plan?" 

"Oh, just a rodeo."

She knew I hadn't been to one since I stepped away right before college. I had been avoiding them knowing I would miss my old life. Clearly, she read my lack of enthusiasm because she was quick to add the one thing that would make me lose all reservation.

“There was a last minute opening when Canyon talked to the event coordinator so we were able to get the spot for—"

"You can stop right there. I don't want that life anymore. I've moved on and I'm going to—"

"Listen up, Miss Know-It-All, don't cut me off and you might get the surprise of your life. We got Gabriel in."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard her say. Canyon was adamant he was going to wait until he was older. What changed his mind? I was so excited I began to jump up and down.

"No way. Oh, my gosh. He's got to be freaking out right now."

I grabbed Izzy's arm and started to pull her from the house when Arianna stopped me.

"Don't you take one more step." Confused, I turned back to her. "He doesn't know yet. We are going to surprise him once we get there. That wouldn't ring a bell, would it?"

It was exactly what they had done to me all those years before. 

"You have got to be kidding me. Were you going to invite me had I not come here? I wouldn't have wanted to miss this for the world, and I think I would have killed you myself if you had kept it from me."

"Of course I was going to invite you. Mom is coming too. It's going to be a night we will never forget. Oh, and one more thing."

She looked nervous, and I couldn't understand why until she finished with, "Would you mind if he used Nyah?"

I have never felt more excited, elated, over-the-moon happy.

"Of course he can! What a great idea. No horse knows those barrels like she does. He will do great. But wait. Has he worked with her at all?"

Her face lit up with a smile I didn't see her wear often.

"He's been on her back all day."

I jumped up and down, so ready for the night to come already. 

"This is going to be the best night of his life."

"And ours."

"Absolutely."

I was in such a state of shock I completely forgot Izzy was standing next to me until she said, "A rodeo? Really?"

If looks could kill, both Ari and I slaughtered her on the spot. Her hands went into the air. "Sorry. Sorry. It sounds awesome. I can't wait."