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She was with Kelly. Did all of his brothers have to touch her? Kelly had his arm around her shoulders and was speaking close to her ear as she looked forward as if imagining whatever he was describing and she smiled. She continued to laugh as his vagabond brother went on with an anecdote about God knew what.
She literally took his breath away. Her faded jeans showed off her long tapered legs. He loved the way she could look stunning in casual clothes. The temperature was dropping as darkness approached and she wore a dark blue Villanova hooded sweatshirt. Her feet were bare and the only thought Colin could process wasI wonder what color her toenails are painted?He would bet either clear or a shell pink that was as close as one could get to clear.
He was so consumed with imagining her dainty feet he barely heard Luke and Tristan approach.
“I told you I would, babe. I’ll head to town tomorrow and pick it up and get it done this week.”
“Thanks. I’d do it myself, but I gotta get—”
The sound of footsteps halting had him shaking his head and peeling his eyes away from her.
“Oh hey, Colin. I didn’t see you standing there. What are you doing?”
Colin supposed he did look a bit odd standing in the approaching dark watching the others, but for some reason Luke’s question struck him as overly anxious. “I was just heading down there. Hey, Tristan. How ya’ doing?”
“Good, man. You?”
Tristan was a fairly new arrival to their circle. He moved up here after being their cousin’s roommate in college. Tristan and his brother Luke had hit it off immediately and Colin was glad his brother had such a friend to bring him out of whatever dark place he had been heading toward.
“Good.”
Luke looked as though he wanted to ask something.
“What’s up, Luke? You look like you’re about to be sick.”
His brother gave an uncharacteristically fake laugh. Nervous was something Luke rarely was. Something had spooked him though.
“Uh, nothing. I’m gonna head down to say hi to the others. I’ll catch you later, Tristan. Colin.”
Colin looked at Tristan who appeared fed up. What just happened? “Is he all right?”
Tristan shook his head, but continued to watch Luke go. “Yeah, he’s just…Luke.”
Colin shrugged and headed toward the others.
It proved fairly easy to avoid Samantha with a group the size of the McCulloughs, but his traitorous mind continuously sought her out against all odds. By eleven, he sat brooding in a chair, nursing a beer that was piss warm, and watching her on the other end of the fire wrapped under a blanket with his brother Braydon. He ignored the sound of someone plopping down in the chair beside him.
“Hey, bro. What’s got you so down?”
He looked over at Kelly and knew his demeanor was the farthest thing from welcoming, but as always, Kelly was undeterred. He took a sip of his tepid beer.
Kelly gave a long ominous whistle. “Wow. Don’t usually see you in this mood. What happened?”
Colin ignored him as a fire raged in his chest when Braydon tried to pop a hot puffed marshmallow in Samantha’s mouth. She dodged his finger and took the morsel into her hands to eat.
“Colin?” The serious note in Kelly’s voice had him turning to face him. “Seriously, you okay?”
“I don’t know, Kelly. I don’t know what I am.”
Kelly eyed him with all seriousness. “What happened?”
He gave a deprecating laugh and shook his head. “I can’t talk about it.”
“You sure? You could tell me anything, Colin, and I’d never betray your trust or judge you. I love you, man.”
“Thanks. I love you, too. But this is something I need to figure out for myself.”
Kelly nodded solemnly. “Okay, but the offer still stands. You know, no one expects you to get it right all the time. You may be taking your vows, but you aren’t JC. No one’s perfect. It’s human to be unsure.”
