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I thought about how quickly he’d stepped in between me and a ticked-off Eric, and wondered what the man wouldn’t do for the women in his life. Although Max and Broderick had both been forthcoming about how much of a defender Jameson had always been in their lives, too. So, maybe it was just who the man was at heart. My train of thought was cut off by the buzzing in my pocket. Shock lit up my chest when I spotted my siblings on a thread. I loved them both, but unlike the perpetually vibrating pockets of the Rhodes siblings, it was the first time I’d seen them pop in.
Alex
Hey sis, how’s the land of the midnight sun?
Maddie
Find a sexy lumberjack to break you in half yet?
Alex
Ew. Jesus, Mads.
When my eyesflicked from the screen to a spectacularly rugged, fresh-off-the-boat Jameson in his chronic flannel, I burst out laughing.
“Who’s that?” Rosalie questioned, perking up expectantly as I shook my head.
“My siblings, oddly enough.”
“Not close?”
“We’re notnotclose, we just…suck at staying in touch. Even when we all lived in Tampa, I was lucky if we saw each other once a month outside family dinners. I certainly wasn’t ever waking up to Alex brewing coffee in my kitchen.”
Rosalie snorted, shaking her head. “Say sayonara to that peace and quiet now that you’re a Rhodes. I expect you’ll never eat a solitary breakfast again.”
“You know, I’ve caught on to that,” I said, laughing, but pulling my phone up so I wouldn’t forget. “We’re all just kind of…out of sight, out of mind people, you know?”
Noel
No spine-snapping lumberjacks, I’m sad to report.
Alex
Hey Siri, how do you remove yourself from a text thread?
“They can be a lot.”Laughing, I turned back to Rosalie as she said, “Believe me, I remember meeting them all the first time. That was pre-Finn, and even then,” her brow hiked and she leaned back into the booth. “It was a lot. But goddamn, they know how to love big.”
“You’d kind of have to,” I declared, finding Elora where she danced with a man she’d already vehemently sworn disinterest in, and Alessandra and Axel schooling a couple of college-aged guys at the pool table. Her sharp intake of air drew my posture up straighter, eyes wandering but coming up empty. “What?”
“There’s my Tara!” She pointed to a petite little lady with a pixie cut and a tiny sparkling stud in her nose. She was rocking expensive-looking yoga pants and cute slip-on tennis shoes. Once she’d properly introduced us, she leaned for a kiss that made me blush, and I excused myself, making my way across the bar as the music swapped to Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man” and the dancers slowed down, some leaving the floor to grab fresh drinks.
“Hey,” I said as I sidled up next to Jameson. “Where’d you go?”
“You were in good company.”
“Aren’t I now?”
“You tell me.” Sweet baby cheeses, the man could liquefy stone with those eyes. I swore I saw a little smile play in them before he pursed his lips, shaking his head. “Certainly not my call to make.”
“Hmm, I guess I’ll just have to find out. Dance with me?”
He scoffed, shaking his head. “Don’t dance, darlin’.”
Darlin’. Good god, what kind of woman felt weak at the knees being called darlin’, like some old cowboy movie? This girl,that’s who. “Oh, come on, it’s slow. Doesn’t even take any skill. Just wiggle about.”
“Wiggle. About.”
I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Yes, you big gargoyle. Just move to the music.”
