Page 27 of A Touch of Heaven

I pull my phone out of my pocket. “Guys, seriously chill. Tink has her phone, and she has the Life360 app. It’s something we set up years ago, so I can always find her if she needs me, like when her car broke down in the middle of nowhere last year.”

I run my hand through my hair as I open the app, knowing she will kill me for this, but now I’m nervous.

What if she accepts Chase isn’t the guy for her, but neither am I?

Or what if another guy doesn’t care what she thinks.

“She’s heading to Blaze…it’s a local club. Well, the only club round here, but I can see her taxi heading along Main Street. The clubs at the end. Me and Chase have gone before when we summered here with the parents. If you want to go, we can just say we went out and didn’t know they were there.”

Jax grins and slaps me on the shoulder. “Damn, Asher, we could use him, you know. I didn’t realize he was so sneaky.”

I look at him, puzzled. “Use me for what?” Glancing at Asher.

“Sure, that will go down well with Chase,” he responds, grinning at me.

I’m confused and suddenly realize my asshat of a brother is missing.

“Where is he?”

Asher and Jax go quiet for once, and I raise my voice a little, repeating the question.

“I dunno, man. He stormed out earlier after you went in on him.”

I sneer. “Fucker deserved it…you should have seen Brooke.”

Jax looks at me with an intense gaze as he drops his hand from my shoulder.

“Trust me, Nate…your brother is in a worse state than you think because he hurt her, but he did it for what he thinks are the right reasons, whether you want to believe it or not. That guy wouldn’t just kill for Brooke…he would lay down his life for her. He’s just looking at the situation wrong, is all.”

I sigh, feeling out of the loop again. “And I’m guessing you’re not going to tell me what that means either.”

Asher laughs. “Nope, we’re not.” Slapping me on the back. “But you’re an idiot if you don’t see how he is with her, Nate. Or maybe you’re just too blinded by Brooke yourself to see it?”

He’s right when it comes to her. I am blind because all I see is her.

“That obvious, yeah?”

He chuckles. “To everyone but her Nate…but then she’s a little blinded herself.” I wonder what he means about that again. These guys are so fucking good at saying everything but nothing at all.

“You two are cryptic mother fuckers…you know that, right?” They laugh and agree with me and proceed to walk out the door.

“We’re taking my truck,” I shout. Jax chuckles.

“Oh, no doubt…I already swiped your keys.”

“What the fuck, man?” I shout as they exit the house and pat down my jeans pockets. “How the fuck did you do that… Get the fuck out of my truck. No one’s driving baby but me!”

He laughs, getting out of the front seat and tossing my keys at me before jumping in the back.

“You call your truck ‘baby’?” I glare at him in the mirror of my car as I get in before blasting my stereo loudly, slamming my door, and starting the ignition to go find my girl.

CHAPTERTWELVE

BROOKE

This is a regular summer spot for a lot of us from Asheville, and Harper texted a few girls from our old high school who are here on vacation. Turns out they are at Blaze. To be fair, it’s the only club here so there’s not much surprise there, but it’s actually pretty cool. They play decent music and have a bouncer that looks the other way if you’re underage.

Currently, I’m sitting with Harper and a few people from school. I’m on my fifth drink…no, sixth drink, and life feels good. I haven’t even thought about the guys…much. Maddie, one of our friends I haven’t seen since school because she went to California for college, is laughing uncontrollably as we discuss the guys she dated in the last year.

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