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“Jesse,” I whispered what had meant to be only a thought the second I set my eyes upon the man.
Jesse had his arm over A.J.’s shoulder, but he was laughing at something A.J.’s good friend, Marcus, was saying to them all. Seeing that man smile. Laugh. My heart just . . . may have exploded.
Beckett pivoted to the side, but I didn’t follow his gaze. And I didn’t have to. I knew he had Jesse in his crosshairs since Jesse was currently in mine.
I couldn’t steal my eyes away from him. Not for anyone or anything.
The manager would have to literally “boot me” out before I’d go anywhere.
The second Jesse’s eyes slid my way, as if suddenly realizing I was there, his laughter died. He lowered his arm from A.J.’s shoulder, said something to the guys, and began cutting straight to us. Blue eyes intensely focused on me.
“You’re letting us stay, right?” Rory asked Beckett. I was only vaguely aware of their continued back-and-forth, still too busy locking eyes with the man who starred in every one of my fantasies as he dodged people trying to talk to him.
“Fine, fine. But if I see you drinking, I’m personally escorting you both home,” Beckett warned just as Jesse reached us.
Jesse took me by surprise and lifted me up in the air as if I were weightless, his hands beneath my underarms, bringing us face-to-face. “Hey, you.” He blinked a few times as if startled by the fact he’d literally swept me off my feet. He slowly lowered me down before I threw my arms around his waist and hugged him.
I smashed my cheek to his chest. Breathing him in.
He was safe. Alive. There in the flesh.
And there was so much muscle beneath the clothes that I didn’t remember being there before he went to the Army.
“Alllllright, that’s enough of that. If you don’t stop, you’re going to squeeze the life out of that man,” my brother said, embarrassing me. Basically, what big brothers were probably supposed to do. That and protect their sister, which mine were almost too good at.
And having grown up with four overly protective brothers, the guys in town were not exactly lining up to ask me out.
And maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
Because the only guy I cared about was currently pressed up against me in my semi-death grip. “Sorry,” I cried, realizing we were in a bar with pretty much everyone in town.
I finally peeled myself free from Jesse and stepped back to take him in.
“Good to see you, Ella.” Jesse tipped his head, then spun his ball cap backward before jerking a thumb toward A.J. and the others. “You going to let them hang, or be a buzzkill and kick them out?”
“I guess they’re fine.” Beckett tossed a hand over his shoulder, then left us to join A.J., Shep, and Caleb—our other brothers.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d really come,” Jesse said, eyes on Rory now.
“Wait, it was your idea for us to come tonight?” I looked back and forth between my best friend and Jesse.
Rory smirked. “Maybeee I convinced him to think it was his idea.”
Jesse laughed.
Ah, that sound again. So beautiful. Why didn’t he do it more often?
My attention cut over to where Marcus was pretend-slugging A.J., a shit-eating grin on my wiseass brother’s face.
Jesse and A.J. had been friends since birth, but A.J. had met Marcus at the University of Alabama, and they’d become close as well. Marcus had plans to be a SEAL, too.
“How’s Bama? You liking it so far?” Jesse asked us.
“Only been a few weeks on campus,” I said with a sigh. “It’s nice, though. Different than here.” Overwhelming, really. But our entire family bled Bama’s colors, so, there I was.
“Everywhere’s different from here,” Rory remarked. She wanted to travel the world. Go places. Escape our small town.
Me? I could live in Walkins Glen forever. Hell, our little hometown was even, in part, named after my father.
