Page 94 of Whiskey Run Heroes

“Look, he’s a good guy. You know I wouldn’t steer you wrong. You’re my baby sister, for goodness’ sake, and it's not like you have to marry him or anything. It's just a low-key meal. You guys can get to know each other. There’s no pressure at all.”

May shakes her head, and it's only then that I start to breathe a little because she's going to say no. Thank goodness because I don't even know if I could hold my reaction if she said anything else.

“No, I don't think that's a good idea,” she says, shaking her head with her nose crunched up like she just smelled something really bad.

That’s right, baby. No dating unless it’s me.I’m about to pump my arm in the air when Colt reaches across the table and grabs May’s hand. His voice drops low and is thick with emotion while he stares at her. “Look, sis, all I’m saying is it’s just us now. I promised that I’d look out for you, and that's what I plan to do. If something happened to me, I need to know you won't be alone, that you'll have somebody.”

He stops, and I can see it's sinking in with May. She and her brother have always been close, and they are the only family they have left. I know that Colt takes looking out for his little sister seriously, but what he doesn't understand is that I've also been looking out for her for two years now. She's mine to look out for now.

Kinsey grabs on to Colt’s hand because I know that she can feel the emotion too, and I understand what he's saying. We do have a dangerous job. I'm right there with him all the time, every step of the way. I want to know she's protected too, but I want to be the one to do that.

Even I can hear the weakening in her response. “I get it. I do, Colt, but you have to understand, I can take care of myself.”

With his forehead creased, Colt asks her, “We haven’t seen much of you lately. I know your job as a nurse is demanding, but you have to have some time off. Are you seeing someone? You haven't been around a lot lately. Is that what this is about?”

Her face flushes, which is a definite tell when she's hiding something or not telling the whole truth. I'm still staring at her, almost begging for her to tell him. I want to come clean about this. I’m about to do it myself when she shakes her head. “No, nothing serious.”

Her words hit me hard. I physically put my hand up to my chest like I need to check that my heart is still in there and still beating. I push back from the table, and Colt looks up at me. “Where you going, man?”

“Home,” I tell him, and now it’s me that’s avoiding looking at May. I can’t believe she said we’re not serious. If I wasn’t sitting here and heard it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’m in love with May, and she’s telling her family it’s nothing serious. Fuck me.

4

MAY

“What is going on?” Kinsey barely waits before Colt gets out of earshot before she's on me, wanting to know what in the world is going on.

“Nothing,” I tell her, shaking my head, but even I can hear the lie in my voice.

She looks at me doubtfully. “That's a lie. Did you see the look on that man's face when you said ‘nothing serious’? I swear it was like you physically punched him in the heart. What's going on with you two?”

I did see that. I was doing my best not to look at Aiden the whole time. The conversation was happening, and you want to talk about something awkward. That was so awkward. But I felt like I was stuck, and I had to say something. Obviously, I didn't say the truth. To me, what Aiden and I have is serious. At least on my part. But it's not something that I'm ready to announce to everybody, especially my brother, who is never going to be okay with me and his best friend dating. Especially when his friend is a player. “Nothing's going on between the two of us,” I tell her. She tilts her head to the side.

“May Stone. We have been best friends since grade school. You better spill it. How long has this been going on?”

I let out a deep breath and put my head in my hand. “Almost two years,” I admit.

She gasps, and I lift my head to look at her. I know she's going to be upset. She's my best friend, and I should have told her, but there's no way I wanted my brother to know. He wouldn't understand or approve.

I shrug my shoulders like it's not a big deal. “We're just having fun. That's it. We never said it was serious or even exclusive. He was allowed to date other people, and so was I. We were just spending time with each other.”

She leans across the table and looks over her shoulder to make sure Colt is not close and then looks back at me. “Well, you may not have said it was serious or exclusive, but obviously that's not what he thought.”

I throw my hands up. “He's a player. Kinsey, you've heard the stories about him.”

She pounds her fist on the table. “From what? Years ago when they were in the Army? We live in Whiskey Run, May. There’s always gossip. Heck, you can’t avoid it. But have you heard one peep of him with another woman? Even Kelly at Red’s Diner hit on him, and he turned her down. She's like a sure thing. If he was a player, he would have taken her up on it, don't you think?”

I sit back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest. I didn't know that. I had no idea that Kelly had asked him out. My heart starts to pound just thinking about it. I hate to even think of him with another woman.

Kinsey's nodding her head. “Yes. Damn. Why didn't I put this together? You two are always hanging out together when we're in a group. You never want to do anything. I should have known. Why did I not figure this out?”

“It's not serious. We're just friends.”

Kinsey straightens in her seat. “Okay, are you telling me that you don't love him? That you don't want him as more than a friend? There’s no way I’m going to believe that you’ve been with this man for two years and don’t feel anything. That’s not who you are.”

I almost say it. I almost tell her that I don't love him, but I know it would be a lie. I've been through hell lately wondering what could be between us, but I haven't let myself believe that we could be anything more. We said we were just friends, and I've worked hard to keep my feelings in check.

But even as I’m thinking it, I’m shaking my head. “I can't say that, Kins. Damn, we agreed. We said we'd be just friends with benefits but I... I fell in love with him.”

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