Page 69 of Second First Kiss

“I think that sentence should be, ‘That he likes me.’ The end.”

Kat set the beer on the bar top and popped the cap off before sliding it to Brynn. “The only end to this story is someone getting hurt. From the outside, the edgy wild girl seems fun and exciting, but once he sees just how crazy my life is, he’ll be out of there as fast as a wildfire in the Sierras in July.”

“Or maybe he likes your kind of crazy and would stick like gum on a shoe.”

“Or like a snowflake at first snow. And gum on a shoe is gross.”

“I could say your crush on my brother is gross, and totally breaks girl code, but I think it’s kind of cute.”

“I don’t have a crush on him,” Kat insisted.

“Then why are you whispering like you’re saying the word sex?” Brynn slapped her hand over her mouth. Eyes big as beer goggles, she said, “Oh my god, you’ve had sex!”

“Many times. It’s called being a sex positive woman.”

“No, I mean you and Nolan.” Brynn looked perplexed. “I don’t know whether to be excited or sick. I haven’t seen him this googly-eyed since Nina.”

Now it was Kat’s turn to be perplexed. She didn’t know whether to be excited or sick. “Well, I am no Nina.” Kat grabbed a rag and wiped down the bar top.

Brynn’s face fell, and Kat felt like she’d just kicked a puppy. “I didn’t mean it like that. Of course you aren’t. You’re Kat and that’s why he likes you and—Oh shit!”

Brynn looked over her shoulder. Then, without warning, she ran behind the bar and squatted down like a child hiding from her parents after being caught red-handed with her grimy mitts in the cookie jar. “Did Jax and Lucas just walk in? Look. But don’t be obvious.” She said the last part with sheer desperation and panic in her voice.

Kat went up on her tiptoes and peered over the crowd of customers and, yup, Thing One and Thing Two had entered the building.

“I said don’t be obvious,” Brynn hissed.

“You want to tell me why you’re hiding like a dog who peed on his owner’s favorite shoes?”

“Because I have a date and like an idiot, I agreed to meet him here. He’s staying at the lodge, so it was convenient. Also, I was hoping you could suss him out before I agree to go to a second location with him.”

Kat chortled. “If this guy is hot enough to endure the wrath of your brothers, why ask someone whose second location would be the closest flat surface to suss him out?”

“Because tonight, I want to be like you. I want to have a no-strings, fun time, ending with a man-made orgasm. I want to not overthink things and go with my bad girl side.”

“That statement is as ridiculous as Pollyanna saying she wants to join a biker gang.”

“Hey!” Brynn hissed. “I don’t have to be confined to the good girl box all the time. I thought you’d get that.”

Translation: You’re a bad girl. Not something she wanted to be reminded of when fighting to prove to the town and a social worker that she’d changed.

“But my brothers will ruin it for me if they see me with a man. They will intimidate him, hound him, even threaten him, until he leaves and then they will lecture me on the rules of safety when dating as a woman.” Brynn looked up at Kat with wild eyes. “Do you know the last time I had a man-made orgasm?”

“Not really interested.”

“Nine months ago.”

“TMI, but go on.”

“I went to a Search and Rescue conference in Reno, and no one knew who my brothers were. There was this guy, he was hot, it was amazing, then I never heard from him again.”

“He ghosted you?” That was a play right out of Kat’s handbook.

“Sucks, right? But at least we both got something out of it. In Sierra Vista, men either know about my heart defect and treat me with kid gloves, or one of my brothers manages to sniff out when I’m on a date, crash said date, and tell the guy what will happen to his balls if he even lays so much as a hand on me. Even women won’t look my way.”

“Do you want women to look your way?”

“Not necessarily, but I’d like that decision to be mine.”

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