Page 17 of Love Like Lightning

It’s not my fault that she’s still stuck in my head almost three months later.

Whatever. I have to hear him whine about his best friend, Elena, dating her “bullshit” boyfriend constantly.

Okay, he doesn’t say that exactly, but he does hate her boyfriend. And I’m almost positive it’s because he wants to be with her.

I’ve earned the right to annoy him over a girl a time or a few.

“Ham, seriously, you’re going to have to get over it.”

“There’s nothing to get over! I’m just making conversation.” I lace the words with humor like I always do, but I don’t quite stick the landing. “Also remember that I sit quietly and listen when you bring up Elena.”

“Don’t start with me, Henry.” He practically growls out my name, and I know better than to push it with him on this topic.

I walk a fine line with my siblings, and I’ve gotten away with it for most of my life. There’s an art to being the youngest and never being taken too seriously, so you can kind of say whatever you want. To a certain limit. And I push the limit sometimes when the mood strikes.

The only problem is when you decide you want to be taken seriously. I spent the better part of the first twenty years of my life just being that guy. The goofy, fun, unserious younger brother. But even when I got serious about creating my own business, living on my own, taking care of myself, no one believed I’d changed.

I grew up and got my shit together, but no one else seems to have caught up with me. Not my family, and not the people of Ever Lake.

“Sorry man, I’m just messing around.”

I don’t tell him that I’ve tried to get her out of my head. I definitely don’t tell him that the two hookups that I’ve had since—sorry, attempted to have—have gone so terribly that I ended up seriously reconsidering my entire life. I didn’t make it past making out in either instance.

I’m not too humble to say that I usually hit a home run when I go out and pick up women. I do; it’s just the facts. But when I went to do my thing after the too-brief time I spent with Gia, I flopped. Big time. Things did not go according to plan. They actually went pretty terribly.

So I tried again. And again, it wasn’t my best performance. I don’t even know where things went wrong. Maybe it was when I tried talking and getting to know the person I was with. Like I did with Gia.

No, that’s not right. That part was fine. It was when I realized I didn’t exactly like them after we got to talking.

That’s when I got in my head.

“Listen, I’ve got to go. I have a meeting about my research. But seriously, get that girl out of your head. You’re never going to see her again.” Ian ends the call before I can turn his advice around on him.

Probably for the best.

Redirecting my focus, I pull up the calendar on my phone and scroll to my next appointment.

I started taking on odd handyman jobs in high school at age seventeen. I just thought that helping people out and tinkering with stuff was fun at the beginning. But now, seven years later, it’s grown into something I couldn’t have seen coming. Now I have a full-fledged business.

And it’s a blast. I’m the first person most people call here in Ever Lake if something breaks or isn’t working. Now I’m starting to get calls from a lot of the surrounding towns too, which is amazing. I’m damn proud of what I’ve built for myself.

Just last week, I spent almost two full days over in Gousten doing a few different jobs. Hence, the calendar. I know that most of my appointments are in Ever Lake today, but I can never remember exactly where and when I need to be at those appointments.

Double checking, I see that I’m supposed to be at The Well in twenty minutes to deal with a minor plumbing situation in the bathroom. I know for a fact that I explained to Betty, the bartender, that I may not be able to handle it myself, but I’ve got the name of a plumber who will if it’s something outside of the scope I’m capable of.

Starting my truck, I head into town and turn down Main Street. It only takes a couple of minutes. I could have easily walked from my apartment, but I want to make sure I’ve got all of my tools and anything else I might need available in my truck.

I snag a parking spot across the road from the bar and decide to hang out for a few minutes, not wanting to be too early. When I glance out the front windshield, I do a double take.

There’s no way I’m seeing who I think I’m seeing walking out of the bed and breakfast. But when I put my phone down and step out of the car, there’s no mistaking her.

Her brown hair might be up in a ponytail, and she may be wearing a jet-black pencil skirt and a flowy blue shirt with sky high heels instead of the pajamas she was wearing the last time I saw her, but it’s her.

Gianna’s back in town.

No. Fucking. Way.

The realization slams into me like a linebacker up against the clock. A flood of feelings rushes through me, most of which I can’t quite pinpoint. Except attraction. Pure, unadulterated attraction.

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