Brady’s voice was distant as I hustled away in near panic. “Guess she doesn’t want to grab breakfast.”
The unhelpful thoughts spun faster. How we’d barely fought at all last night, and even when we had, it had been fun, entertaining bickering. The way he always noticed me, and how much history existed between us. How he’d read my past relationships like an open book, then highlighted, color coded, and annotated them for maximum impact.
I didn’t want to think about the guy with a king of hearts pressed to his forehead. Or the fact that my nemesis couldn’t settle down and go to sleep knowing I was shivering across from him.
As I breezed through the pumpkin patch toward the General Store, knowledge continued to assault me. A teasing grin and a dimple in his right cheek. A playful quip that had me fighting a smile. A gentle hand rubbing warmth into my freezing back. A strong thigh beneath mine and a soft place to land. Steady optimism to combat my overwhelmed frustration. And an accident turned adventure. One that I’d enjoyed more than any date I’d ever been on.
As I closed and leaned against the door to the restroom in the General Store, I covered my face with my hands.
It came then. The most unfortunate truth of all. One that had me sucking in lungfuls of air.
Maybe I didn’t hate Brady Judd after all.
I didn’t go to the Friday night bonfire at Abby’s five days later. When Larry asked me with a knowing smirk what my big plans were instead, I gave her my best I-don’t-know-what-you-mean stare and told her to have fun without me.
Then, the following day, I’d worked my mother’s shift at the farmers’ market. My gaze strayed to the adjacent booth more times than I wanted to admit, but it had only been Mercer and Candace working the table for Judd’s.
The night in the shed had messed me up. It had shifted something out of alignment that no chiropractor could adjust. I was off-kilter and unsteady. Being aware of Brady—or attracted to him, whatever—had caused chaos to reign. I thought about him all the time. Replayed that illuminating and annoying conversation about the guys I’d dated not being enough for me. I wondered if he’d been genuine or if the real Brady was just playing some elaborate prank.
I’d been checking my Chatter app for notifications and new posts constantly. But so far, he’d been quiet. It was like he knew that being out of sight would drive me out of my fucking mind.
I wanted to see him, but I didn’t trust myself. I was scared I’d expose something, inadvertently show my hand. I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes to myself or, worse, my hands and lips. Deep down, I knew that something big had changed—bigger even than the kiss that was playing on a loop in my head.
What would it be like to declare a truce with Brady Judd? And was this just some weird attraction that would pass in time?
I had many questions and zero answers. Mostly because I was too chickenshit to come face-to-face with him.
But when trivia night rolled around on Monday evening, I gave myself a stern talking-to. I’d had over a week to be a coward. That wasn’t who I was.MacKenzie Clark didn’t lose her mind over a man. Especially not one she’d seen eat his own boogers in preschool.
When I got to Trailview Brewing, the place was abuzz. Plastic vinyl panels enclosed the seating area to keep the cold out, and every picnic table was filled with people. A lot of them were locals, teams of folks I faced weekly for trivia. But the watering hole was also packed with tourists. The line at the bar had a dozen people. So I was grateful when I spotted Larry, Kayla, Bonnie, and Danny already seated with an extra beer waiting on me.
“I wondered if you’d show up,” Larry called with a grin while I stripped off my jacket.
“Why wouldn’t Mac show up?” Bonnie asked in confusion. My sister was a sweetheart, but I didn’t want to get into this right now. Larry thought the shed incident was hilarious, but, strangely, she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. And I hadn’t told a soul about getting locked in overnight with Brady.
Larry had always been convinced that Brady and I had the hots for each other, and I knew that was why she was giving me a hard time right now. That was partly why I was so reluctant to admit I was having ... feelings.
I slid onto the bench next to my sister and kicked Larry under the table. “Of course I’m here,” I said brightly. “Gotta lead this team to victory.”
Bonnie wrapped her arm around me and squeezed.
Larry was rubbing her shin beneath the table, and Kayla passed over the extra beer. “Here you go, Mac.”
“Thank you. I did not want to wait in that line.”
“I’m going out to the car for a minute,” Danny announced out of nowhere.
Bonnie frowned. “But?—”
“I’ll be back in a few,” he interrupted, standing with his phone in hand and shuffling off through the crowd without a backward glance for his wife.
Danny and Bonnie had been together since high school. They’d been a unit. Their relationship a fixture in my life since I was twelve years old. Danny had been part of our family for a very long time, attending festivals, birthday parties, and holiday gatherings.
He’d taught me how to drive a stick shift and change a tire. But Danny had been acting off for a while now. Distant and aloof. On his phone all the time.
I eyed my sister and took a sip of my beer.
She watched her husband with a frown before noticing me out of the corner of her eye. Her brows unfurled themselves, and she forced a smile. “Probably just needs to make a call,” she said quietly and then reached for her own glass.
