Page 146 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

We’ve discussed coming to Braysen and how this would be the year we’d embrace our freedom and find ourselves.

She’s battled with her decision, especially because I know her heart and how much she loved Tanner. It hadn’t been an easy choice. I think she always knew that the distance would eventually be the end of their relationship, but she still held out hope that they’d find a way to work through it.

I’ve let her sit around and mope, knowing she needed time to work through her feelings, but I wasn’t going to let her waste the best years of our lives. So, when Friday rolled around and I found Hallyn sitting at home alone, I told her to get her butt up and get ready, even if it meant dragging her out with us tonight.

“You still gonna tell me that nothing is going on between you and Colter?” Hallyn asks, tilting her head to the side as we walk through the doors of Whiskey Sinner’s.

A large bar in the middle of the open room has barstools lining the sides. Rustic beams are spread throughout the large space. The iron details and the dance floor near the back remind me of the bar Hallyn’s mom works at in Beaufort. We spent many nights cutting up the dance floor together.

“We’re just enjoying seeing where things go.” I shrug, trying to play it off nonchalantly.

“What do you think Alec will say if he finds out?”

Hallyn presses her lips together in a thin smile.

“Honestly, at first, I just didn’t want the drama, but I don’t care anymore. It’s not like the two didn’t just play on the same team together. If he has a problem with us dating, or whatever the hell it is we’re doing, then he can kiss my butt. He’s my brother, but I’m sick of him trying to have a say in what I do.”

“Amen to that, sister.” Hallyn snickers as we slide up to the bar and order our drinks. The benefit of living in a small town is they turn a blind eye to our fake IDs.

“I think I’m falling in love with Colter,” I mutter, glancing her way.

I felt bad talking about Colter to her, especially when I knew she was still moving on from her relationship with Tanner.

“Have you told him yet?”

I shake my head. “It’s been on the tip of my tongue a few times, but I’m scared. What if this doesn’t mean to him what it means to me? What if I’m misreading this between us, and he’s only looking for something fun? I mean, hell, we talked about wanting to focus on us this year. Maybe that’s what I should be doing and not falling over myself at the first man in Braysen I see.”

Hallyn bursts out laughing. Damn, I have to admit, it’s good to see my friend happy again.

“Is Colter coming out tonight?” Hallyn asks.

“Yeah, he and Reed are gonna meet us here,” I answer as the bartender, Kenny, sets our drinks in front of us. I take a drink of my whiskey and Coke, sending a shiver down my spine and spreading warmth through my body.

“No Beckham?” Hallyn asks.

The two met at a party Colter and his roommates were having when the football season kicked off last month. They didn’t get off on positive terms for obvious reasons. Beckham was the guy who took Tanner’s starting QB spot, and Hallyn was determined to hate him, no matter how hard she had to try.

Things shifted when her car broke down, and he proposed to help her fix it, and as payment, she’d tutor him. The two have kept their tutoring sessions a secret, but now that her relationship with Tanner has ended, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.

Hallyn tries to pretend she hates him, but I know there’s more to it. I’ve noticed the way she tries to downplay her reaction whenever his name is brought up or when we’ve run into him on campus. Even I can see how flustered he makes her.

She throws back the rest of her drink, and I can’t help but laugh. I quirk my brow and lift my drink to hide my grin, but not before she catches me.

I wish she’d admit her feelings for him, but who am I to talk? Heck, look at me and Colter. If anyone needs to face their feelings and come out with it already, it’s the two of us.

Colter and Reed both saunter into Whiskey Sinner’s not long after we’ve finished our second drink. We snag a high-top table nearby, and Colter pulls me into his arms.

He buries his face into my neck, and I wrap my arms around his, holding him to me.

“I don’t know what it says about me or where we’re at, but when we’re not together, all I can think about is how much I wish we were,” Colter admits.

I press my lips together, resisting the urge to say what’s been on my mind for a while. Instead, I ask, “What is this between us? What are we doing?”

“What do you mean?” he counters.

I pull away to stare up at him, and his eyes search my face. We’re both skating around the topic, but neither of us wants to make the first move, and I can’t help but wonder why.

“You know what I mean.”

---