Page 30 of The Crush
“Hey, Daniel!” A loud, grating voice veers me off from my dangerous thought path. “There you are!”
I pivot to my right and immediately see Aarón, heading my way and looking like he’s having the time of his life.
“Heard you were going to be here. Isn’t all this stuff great?” he asks, clapping me hard on the shoulder when he reaches me. “I gotta get my dad to try some of this shit. Make things easier now so I don’t have to do it all when I take over, you know what I mean? You see anything good?”
I give a noncommittal shrug.
“Great. Great,” Aarón replies, looking away as if he doesn’t give a damn what my answer was. Which is…probably accurate.
I start to edge away. “I’ll let you get back to it.”
“Hold up,” Aarón replies, stepping into my path. “Hang out for a bit. You’ve been such a loner since you came back. We’ve not really had a chance to catch up.”
“Maybe another time.”
“Why not now?” Aarón gives me a smile that makes a good attempt at being genuine. “Come on, fill me in. You must havesomethingoccupying your time these days.”
“Ranch does a bit.” My tone is abrupt, but then again, Aarón and I hadn’t known how to play nice even when we were kids.
Which makes it all the more unusual when he offers, “Well, when you have an off night, you should come out with me andEli. We’ve got a pretty good handle on the bar scene.” A group of women walk past, and Aarón’s eyes follow. “Or better yet, you and I can hit the town tonight and get ourselves laid.”
My jaw clenches, my teeth grinding together in annoyance. “Thanks, but I’ll have to pass.”
“That so?”
I meet his gaze, and I get the distinct feeling that he’s fucking with me now. “I’m heading back early in the morning.”
“Me too. Funny enough, my sister’s also out of town this weekend. She’s over in San Antonio.”
“Hm,” I reply, an alarm bell blaring in the back of my head. “What’s she doing there?”
“Something up with her diploma, I guess.” Aarón shifts and crosses his arms. “I thought she might have told you.”
I give him a blank look. “Why would she?”
“Well, you took such an active interest in her the other night.”
“That what you call it when someone objects to you being an asshole?”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Always thehero.”
We stare each other down, and I have been part of enough interrogations to know whoever speaks next here loses.
“Well,” Aarón says eventually, “you enjoy your weekend. I’ll see you back at home.”
The prick actually rams his shoulder into me as he passes, and something dark bubbles up in my chest as he walks away. My right hand flexes.
Calm down.He may be an asshole, but he’s also Isabel’s brother.Calm down.
I check my watch.Another hour and a half.That would be close enough, then I could leave and go find Isabel. A loud bang sounds off to my right, and I pivot, my hand snapping automatically to my hip.
It’s a door.My hand massages into my lower back, trying to cover up the fact that I’d been reaching for a weapon I no longer carry because a damn door slammed too loud.Fuck.
I take one deep breath and then another, pulling Isabel’s face to the front of my mind. Her soft smile. Her laugh. My pulse slows.
Another hour and a half.
Twenty-Five
