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“Maybe a little of both,” I say honestly, wishing I could just snap my fingers and have all my stuff appear at the new place. “I’m actually a bit surprised by how much crap I have, so I’ve mostly just been throwing things away instead of packing.”
I might be getting the larger room in the little two-bedroom house Briar and I are moving into at the start of the new year, but it’s still a little two-bedroom house. It’s unrealistic for me to think I can keep everything I’ve amassed in my twenty-four years of life.
In just a few short weeks, I’m finally moving out of my brother Rusty’s house, the childhood home where we both grew up. It’s bittersweet, for both of us, and I think he might be taking it harder than he’s letting on. Still, we both know it’s time.
My brother is only six years older than me, and he’s been forced to serve as a pseudo-parent for far too long. That’s just one of the things that happens when you lose both of your parents before you become an adult. Well, Rusty was an adult at the time, but I definitely wasn’t, and it meant he became the person I relied on for everything.
Eventually I moved away from Cedar Point to go to college, and each of us got a bit of freedom from each other. Some room to spread our wings. But when I decided to move back to town after graduating two years ago, I had no idea just how difficult it would be to live together again.
It has kind of cramped my style.
When I was in school, I was able to do what I wanted, when I wanted, without worrying what anyone else thought of me. Being back in my hometown, though, means I’ve had to put my good-girl hat on. I’m a little jealous of the fact that my brother doesn’t seem to care at all what people here think about him.
I, on the other hand, am constantly concerned with how Cedar Point residents see the Fullers. There are only two of us left, after all, and my brother certainly isn’t doing the family name any favors with his rough-and-tumble attitude and propensity for hooking up with women who aren’t entirely available. Which means it’s up to me to keep us from being the main subject of town gossip.
Just for a night, though, I’d love to take that good-girl hat and chuck it in the bin. Get back to some of the fun I had when I was in college, some of the freedom to go out and drink and hook up and do whatever feels right.
My attention shifts when I hear a metallic slap on the table and catch sight of a large hand as it’s pulling back. I follow the movement until my eyes land on a man standing right next to me.
It’s…
Holy shit, it’s the guy from the bar.
The five-star-ass guy.
And damn if he doesn’t look even better from the front than he did from the back.
“Let me know if you wanna use that later,” he says, a smirk stretching across his face.
I’m stunned speechless, which is a miracle in and of itself, and I take a long, long second to peruse the man before me.
Thick brows. Deep-set steel-blue eyes that sparkle with humor. Honey skin that hints of time spent outdoors. A chiseled jaw covered in just the right amount of scruff. And a dark twist of a tattoo peeking up the side of his neck from under the thick flannel shirt he’s wearing.
Before I can think to say anything in response, he winks and walks off, disappearing into the growing crowd.
I blink twice, fairly certain I just hallucinated the entire interaction.
But when I look down at the table, I know our brief encounter was very real. Because there, sitting in front of me, is a shiny silver quarter.
My eyes wide, I turn to look at my friends and find them both watching me in various stages of amusement. Briar’s eyes are bright, her hand over her mouth in surprise. Andy is trying to hide his laughter behind his pint of beer.
“Was I really that loud?”
Andy snorts. “Well, I could hear your ass talk at the other end of the bar, so my guess is he could too.”
I cover my face with my hand, the embarrassment washing over me as I realize my loud mouth has gotten me into trouble again. It’s the one thing about me I can’t seem to control.
I can work hard. I can be nice. I can volunteer. I can join in. I can be everything to everyone in any situation.
But the one thing I can’t seem to control is my damn mouth.
“Well, are you gonna go after him or what?”
My head flies up, and I look at Briar in shock. “Excuse me?”
She just shrugs, as if she hasn’t completely blown my mind.
“How many times have you told me you need to get laid?”
