Page 33 of Whiskey & Honey

“Good grief. Ash, please stop calling Jameson names. This is his place. And, J?” Jameson turns to look at me. “You blinked first, you lost. I’m going for a run, see you all in a bit.”

Leaving the cabin, I can still hear Owen and Landon campaigning for the elusive title. Thank goodness for those two and their banter. If there is one thing their argument is sure to do, it’s to ease the tension between Ash and Jameson. Tension that is giving me a headache, and tension that is bound to implode when we all least expect it.

After an internal battle over a run versus nap, the run wins out. There is no way Ashton will let me out of a day of drinking and shenanigans. I’m going to enjoy the day and my friends without letting last night’s conversation with Ben interfere with any of it.

Four hours after the stare down in the kitchen, we are all enjoying the sun, water, and coolers full of drinks. The guys have tossed some food on the grill and left Ashton and me to our own devices for a while. It’s a much-needed moment of quiet.

“Ash, can I ask you something?”

Ashton raises her head from where she’s laying on her towel and looks at me over her sunglasses. “Obviously. What’s up? Don’t look so serious, you’ll kill the moment.”

I laugh at her. “Sorry, it’s not serious. I don’t think so anyway. What’s your deal with Jameson? Did you guys hook up and you never told me?”

Putting her sunglasses back in place, Ashton buries her head and mumbles a response I can’t quite make out. “Stop mumbling.”

“Ugh,” she sighs as she sits up and looks at me. “Nothing ever happened. I just … I don’t know. He drives me nuts. He both infuriates and saddens me at the same time. He makes my insides flip. It reminds me of that time I bungee jumped. Then he’ll say something and I want to kick him in the nuts and never speak to him again.”

Interesting.

“Do you like him, Ash?”

“That’s a dumb question, Piper. We’re friends. We’ve been friends most of our life; he is my brother’s best friend. Of course I like him. He’s just annoying and set on screwing every ho-bag in the county.” Ending her short monologue with a huff, she lays down again.

“Would you ever date him?” I don’t know why I ask this, but I do, and part of me hopes she says yes.

“Yeah, no. Jameson and I, well we aren’t like that. Plus, he’s Ben’s best friend. That’s a violation of some sibling best friend code or something. Besides, my brother would lose his shit if I went to him and said I wanted to ride Jameson’s pony.”

I offer her a little laugh. “Pretty sure you should never refer to a man’s penis as a pony. Do you really think Ben would care?” He’d be a hypocrite if he did.

Shrugging, she starts to settle back on her towel. “It doesn’t matter; I’d never do that. No good could come from hook-ups among friends. One breakup and the entire group would be chaos and I just think it would put my brother in an awkward position.”

“I guess it could be weird.”

“Weird? Piper, it would be more than weird. I’m Ben’s sister. If something happened, and that’s a huge if by the way, and it ended not only would Ben have to choose sides but he’d probably always choose mine. He’d lose his best friend and that’s not worth a pony ride.”

“Stop with the pony reference. I just think there’s a reason Jameson gets you in knots and maybe you should think about that.”

No reply given says volumes. The guys return with food and another great day at the lake continues. No drama, no chaos, and no serious conversations with Ben or Ashton. Another game of chicken between the guys this time gives Ashton and me enough time for quick showers before dinner.

Before I join the group at the bonfire, I excuse myself into the cabin for a few minutes to myself. I’m washing dishes when those little hairs on my neck raise. I don’t need him to speak to know Ben is behind me. He doesn’t touch me but I feel him as if his hands were on me.

“You doing okay? You’re a little quiet tonight.”

Rinsing the dish in my hand, I place it in the drainer before grabbing the next or offering him an answer. After what feels like minutes but is only seconds I resign myself to answer.

“I’m great. It’s been a fun day. I am ready to get home though.”

“Piper,” he says, but I don’t let him finish as I rinse and place one very clean plate to dry and grab a towel turning to him.

“Ben, please don’t. I really had a good day and don’t want to talk about this anymore. Can we please just be friends? We have less than a week before school starts. We’ll see each other every day and it’d be great if we were in a good place.”

A small smile appears and he nods. “Okay. So, friend, can you please tell me why we start work on a Thursday? This really seems ass backwards.”

I laugh and know then and there that everything will be okay.

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