Page 53 of Keep My Heart
‘I ran into her at the airport,’ Nick says. He looks over at Sawyer. ‘You were supposed to tell them all this before we got here.’
He shrugs. ‘I’ve been busy. I got a lot going on.’ He sets the beers on the bar. ‘You hungry? We got sandwiches in the back.’
‘I’m good,’ Nick says as we walk to the bar. ‘We had a big breakfast.’
Sawyer stands across from us at the bar, smiling. ‘You had breakfast? Must’ve been a late night.’
‘You know what time I got in,’ Nick says, sounding annoyed at what Sawyer’s insinuating. ‘You woke up and yelled at me to be quiet.’
‘Did I?’ Sawyer says. ‘I don’t remember doing that. I don’t even remember you getting home.’
‘It was pretty late,’ I say, taking a sip of my beer. ‘Nick and I sat down here and talked after we left the bar.’
‘You coming to the party?’ Jason asks, sitting next to me.
‘No, I’ll be going home after this. I’ll probably do something with my mom this afternoon.’
But I’d rather be with Nick. Knowing he’s leaving Monday makes me want more time with him. I’m getting too close to him, having feelings I shouldn’t be having. But being with him feels so good, I don’t want to stop.
Chapter 13
Lyndsay
‘She could come to the party, right?’ Jason asks Nick. ‘Did Dad say we could bring guests?’
‘He didn’t say, but I’m sure he wouldn’t care if we did,’ Sawyer says, answering for Nick. ‘And it’s Lyndsay. She’s like family.’
I laugh. ‘Nick tutored me in high school. I’d hardly call that family.’
‘Yeah, but you’re from here. A local. That makes you family.’
‘You should come to the party,’ Brody says, going behind the bar to refill his beer.
‘Slow down there,’ Sawyer says to him. ‘Dad doesn’t want you showing up drunk.’
‘I’m not even close to being drunk.’ Brody stands next to Sawyer behind the bar. ‘And the party isn’t for a few more hours. Whatever I drink will be out of me by then.’
Looking at Brody, I’m amazed at how much he’s changed. I can’t believe how tall he is now, even taller than his brothers. Nick was probably six feet back in high school, but now he’s taller and alot bigger, like he spends hours at the gym. Maybe he works out to burn off stress from his job. That’s why I started doing yoga, except my stress was from Chris and all the scams he got involved in that drained our bank account.
‘Who’s running your business today?’ Nick asks Brody.
‘This guy, Kevin. He’s Dale’s stepson. He dropped out of college so I hired him before someone else got him. He’s still got a lot to learn, but he knows enough to handle the afternoon for me.’
‘I can’t believe this idiot’s running a business,’ Sawyer says, hooking a thumb toward Brody. ‘He couldn’t even run a lemonade stand.’
Jason laughs. ‘That’s because he gave it all away to cute girls that walked by.’
‘You gave girls free lemonade?’ I say. ‘That’s so sweet.’
‘His motives aren’t what you’re thinking,’ Nick says before taking a drink of his beer.
‘He was trying to get them to kiss him,’ Jason says, laughing. ‘He tried with this one girl and she threw the lemonade in his face.’
‘Bet she’s regretting that now,’ Brody says.
‘Yeah, you’re a real catch,’ Sawyer says, rolling his eyes.
‘Is this where the party’s at?’ a deep voice says.
