Page 95 of Whiskey Run Heroes

Kinsey starts bouncing in her seat excitedly. “That's great. Go tell him.”

“It’s not that easy.” I resist her trying to pull me from my seat and shake my head. It pains me just thinking about it. “I can't go for it. And then what? Wait for him to change his mind and decide that we should just be friends? It will kill me. Literally, I don’t think I would survive it.” My chest hurts just thinking about it.

“You're scared, May. That's all, but you can't live in fear. You could lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you.” She holds her hand up when I try to deny it. “Tell me he’s not,” she commands.

I shake my head firmly. “He is. I know he is, but I can’t do it, Kins. He probably never wants to speak to me again, anyway. You saw him. You heard what I said. He's not going to just forgive and forget that.”

Kinsey nods in agreement. “Fine. What about the other thing?”

I look over Kinsey’s shoulder, wondering if my brother is within earshot now. He’s still talking to some cowboy up at thebar. But I can tell by Kinsey’s tone that I definitely don't want him to know this. “Tell me you didn't tell Colt. I told you that I can handle it.”

Kinsey looks at me in fierce protectiveness. We've always looked out for each other, and I know that she's fighting hard on what she needs to do in this position. “You need to tell your brother or I'm going to tell him.”

I throw my hands up. “There's nothing to tell.”

She hisses across the table, “You have a stalker, May. I would say that’s definitely something that your brother needs to know about.”

I shake it off. “He brought me flowers and asked me out. I told him no. I wouldn't really say that that's being a stalker.”

She holds her fingers up as if she's counting. “And you keep getting phone calls with heavy breathing. He shows up everywhere you're at. Heck, he's probably here right now.” She looks around the room.

I reach over and put a hand on her to stop her. “Stop. I’m going to handle it.”

“Look, May, I can hold off on telling Colt about Aiden and let you figure that out. But not this. If you got hurt, if this stalker did something to you and hurt you, I would never forgive myself.”

I knew when I told her that she would not be able to keep this as a secret. “Fine, but not tonight. I've had enough tonight.”

She wants to argue with me. I know she does. I should never have told her, but I was freaked out one day when I saw Dr. Lassiter at three different places when I was running errands. I swear, I drove around Whiskey Run for hours just trying to make sure I’d lost him. It was a moment of weakness that I confided in Kinsey about it.

“Tomorrow then. Promise,” she commands.

Darn it. I see Colt over Kinsey’s shoulder, and he’s heading back this way. “Okay, tomorrow.”

We both sit up straight as Colt sits down. “What’d I miss?” he asks.

“Nothing, just talking about the kids,” I answer.

He sets the beer bottles down in front of us, but I push mine away. Drinking is the last thing I need right now. I need to keep my head on straight and figure out what the hell I’m going to do. I’m trying to figure out how to cut out when Kinsey’s favorite song comes on the jukebox. She stands up. “May, you care if I steal your brother for a dance?”

I’m already standing up with them. “Not at all, I need to head home anyway. Y’all have a good night and have some fun.”

I barely get two steps when Colt hollers after me, “Don’t forget about tomorrow night. We’ll see you at six.”

I wave in acknowledgement. I really don’t want to meet this guy, but I also know where my brother’s coming from. I’ll have dinner with them, and that will be it. There’s no way anything more will come of it because my heart’s already taken.

5

AIDEN

The phone rings, and I almost let it go to voicemail. I've avoided everybody today because I sure as fuck don’t want to talk to anybody. I'm still reeling from last night and May telling her family that she's not in anything serious. As if our two years together has meant nothing to her.

Yeah, we talked about keeping it light and easy, but she had to have known how I felt. Fuck, my stomach drops just thinking that she doesn’t feel the same. I mean, that’s pretty much what she said last night.

The phone rings again, and even though it's not her ringtone, I pick it up and see that it's Colt’s wife. Immediately, I hit the answer button. “Hello. Kinsey?”

“Aiden, yeah, it’s me.”

I grip the phone tighter. “Is everything okay?” I ask, meaning is May okay. Kinsey’s never called me before, so something has to be up.

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