Page 42 of Feel It in the Air

“It’s not like that; we’re just friends.”

“Riiiiight…” Jace mutters.

“And Willa couldn’t stand Nash,” Ewan adds.

Burn…

See, once again, hitting the nail square on the head. Ewan has a gift. Hux glares at baby brother—if looks could kill—who responds with a simple shrug and sip of his drink. Ewan knows he’s not wrong. We all do. Only time will tell.

“Percy will be back soon, right?” Milo chimes in, trying to smooth things over, bringing us back to the point. “So, just keep things quiet until he does. Not that tough.”

“Not that tough,” I scoff. “Just can’t be seen in public, so have to limit our time together at work. She lives at Hayes House, so I can’t go to her place. I share a place with these two,”—I gesture between Hux and Jace—“so having her over gets cramped. Can’t take her out in public because then the whole damn town will know. Yeah…not that tough.”

“We can make ourselves scarce if you want to have her over,” Hux offers. “We’re not complete jackasses.”

I nod, thinking that could work.

“If you need to get creative, I’ve got ideas. All that reading has not gone to waste,” Jace adds.

I roll my eyes. I’m sure it hasn’t, but am also sure that I don’t need to hit up my younger brother’s romance novel collection for date ideas. Although, on the other hand, whatever ones Kenzie Wilder has at the library might not be a bad idea. Still not going to give Jace credit though.

“Bring her to Sunday dinner,” Ewan suggests.

“No.”

I answer so fast I think I give him whiplash. But Sunday dinner is one thing I can’t bring Margeaux to. Not yet. Despite the fact that every inch of me is dying to introduce her to Miss Belle. But that can’t happen. Yet.

“Auggie can’t know. This stays here. This is a brothers’ secret,” I tell them, making sure they know I’m as serious as they come.

“Keepin’ a secret from the big man,” Anton says. “Who are you and what did you do with Gus?”

“I mean it. Brothers only.”

“And our sister,” Ewan adds, peering into the house. “Who, by the looks of it, still has your girl in her clutches.”

I look back through the door, those teased curls impossible to miss. They aren’t what steals my attention though. Or my heart.

No, that’s the smile of the redhead across from her, grasping her stomach as she laughs at some story the Keller twins are telling. My heart squeezes, everything suddenly making sense. I know exactly what I want.

Here’s hoping she wants me too.

Placing my beer down on the railing, I give my brothers a nod, heading into the house. This isn’t where I want to be tonight. I want to spend tonight getting lost on the back roads of this small town with the prettiest girl I’ve ever known sitting next to me while a country song plays in the background. Left hand on the wheel, the right trying to cross the line we blew past earlier this evening. Maybe we’ll get a little lost. Find a field and dance under the stars. Get lost in each other.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Milo calls after me.

I pause, holding the sliding door open just enough to stick my head out. “After this past summer, that takes absolutely nothing off the table.”

“That’s why I said it.”

Fucker…

I’m through the kitchen and into the living room in no time flat. I don’t bother interrupting, at least not properly. Stopping in front of Margeaux, I hold out my hand, giving her a wink.

The same electricity that was in the air earlier snaps and pops. I can feel it buzz as she slides her hand in mine, her impish smile taking over. The one I now know is reserved just for me. Damn, does that make me feel like the king of the world.

If Willa objects, I don’t hear it. Then again, nothing else registers except Margeaux and the magnetic pull I feel toward her, even as I lead us toward the door. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like there is a force field around us and an energy that belongs to us and us alone.

Just the way I want it.