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“So, you’re going to be there?” I ask, already feeling my spirit lift.
“Yeah. I was hoping I’d get to see you. Maybe we can sneak some time together?”
“All of your brothers are going to be there, and my brother and sister, so I don’t think that will happen.”
“Is that a challenge?” he asks playfully.
“It’s a fact, Kincaid.”
“Will you be there?” he asks. I can hear someone calling his name in the background.
“Yeah, Brooks. I’ll be there.”
“See you soon, beautiful.” The line goes dead.
The call is over, but my heart is still beating erratically. I’m too attached. I can already almost feel the cracks in my heart that losing him is going to make. My phone pings with a message. Looking down, I see it’s from Piper.
Piper:45 minutes, Palmer!
Her threats mean nothing, but I promised Brooks that I would be there, and that means everything. Placing my phone back on the counter, I rush to my room and pull one of the new bikinis I bought when Brooks and I were shopping, and toss it on the bed. I grab a pair of cutoff shorts, and a tank, adding them to the pile. Quickly, I slip into a bra and panties, and pull my green sundress with flowers off the hanger, tugging it over my head. It’s one of my favorites because it brings out the color of my eyes.
Orrin doesn’t have a pool, but you always need to be prepared. You never know what you’re going to encounter when the Kincaid brothers and my brother put their heads together.
Grabbing a bag from the bottom of my closet, I toss everything inside and place the bag on my bed while I go back to the bathroom to rush through doing my hair.
I finish getting ready with minutes to spare. Making sure I have my phone, purse, bag, and keys, I lock up and head outside. By the time I push open the door to my apartment building, my sister and Heath, who is officially her boyfriend, pull up to the curb.
I make a mental note to ask her how things are between them. I know something they’re not doing. They’re not sneaking around behind the backs of everyone they love. It’s getting harder and harder to keep this up, but I crave time with him. I feel like if we continue or if we put an end to this, we lose either way.Ilose either way.
“I feel like I should be bringing something,” I say from the back seat of Heath’s SUV.
“You are.” Piper turns to look at me and points to the floorboard. “I made chocolate chip cookies and brownies. One is for you.”
“You rock, Piper.”
“I wasn’t taking any chances of you trying to back out.”
Instead of replying, I sit back in my seat and stare out the window. I’m about to be with Brooks in front of everyone we care about. The last time it was a disaster. Okay, it wasn’t really a disaster, but for me it was. I was a nervous wreck, and it took extreme effort to not let on how I feel about him. If he wasn’t getting too close, he was ignoring me. I don’t know what today is going to hold, but I feel even more lost in him than I was then. I don’t know how I’m going to pretend like the man doesn’t hold my heart in the palm of his hands.
* * *
“Palmer, there’s someone we’d like you to meet.”
I shield my eyes from the sun, cursing the fact that I walked out of the house without my sunglasses, and peer up at my sister. I’m currently sitting on a lounge chair on the back deck, just soaking up some sun.
My sister comes into view, and I see Heath standing next to her and another guy I’ve seen around town before but I’ve never formally met. “Palmer, this is John Mays. He works with Heath down at the fire station.”
“Hi.” I wave from my seat.
John shocks me when he moves to sit next to me on the lounge chair. “Nice to meet you.” He grins.
I glance up at Piper, and she smiles. “We’re going to go grab a drink. Do you need anything?” she asks.
“No thanks.”
“I’ll take a beer,” John speaks up.
Piper waves, slides her arm around Heath’s, and they move to the other side of the house, where the coolers are in the shade.
