With Liv’s help today, the work is done so much faster. She left a couple of hours ago to go home and get ready while I stayed here. I’ve gone back and forth all day trying to decide if I’m going to head over to Aaron and Whit’s tonight. It would be nice to see everyone.
To see her.
“You ready, man?” David asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“When did you get here?” I ask him.
“Just now. Liv’s in the car, sent me in to get you. You ready?”
Am I ready? I look around the bar; it’s slow for a Friday night. I have plenty of staff, and it’s not like I’ll be hours away.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket. Pulling it out, I see a text from Whit. Swiping my finger across the screen, I see it’s a picture of her. Of Jamie. She’s sitting on the couch, legs crossed with a photo album in her hands. After a closer look, I see I’m the only one who got the message.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” I tell David, sliding my phone back in my pocket. I could’ve said no. I was really thinking about it, until I got that picture. She’s just as beautiful as I remember. I wonder if she’s still with that guy. I wanted to kiss her that night, more than I’ve ever wanted to kiss anyone, but I’m not that guy and I won’t do that to her. I don’t share, and I don’t poach on another man’s girl.
“That was easier than I thought,” David chuckles. “Liv sent me in to strong-arm you if I had to.”
“My sister has lost her damn mind,” I laugh.
“Hey, now,” he mock warns me.
“Admit it. She’s out there on this one.”
David grins. “There’s no stopping her when she puts her mind to it.”
Liv is set on fixing me up, and since that night by the pond, there’s been only one girl she’s pushing. From that text, it appears that she and our cousin Whitney are in on this together. Should make for an interesting night.
Liv grins when I climb in David’s truck beside her. She doesn’t say a word, but then again she doesn’t need to; I know what my little sister is thinking.
We pull in the drive and see Evan and Kinley are already here. There’s also a little silver car with Illinois license plates.
“Looks like everyone’s here,” Liv says.
I climb out and wait to see if she?
??s going to follow me. She doesn’t, sliding out the driver side door with David assisting her instead. She didn’t need it, obviously, but he’s gone for my baby sister. It was weird at first since he and I are friends, but after seeing him with her, the way he looks at her, I’ve adjusted.
I’m glad she’s happy. She deserves that. For the longest time, she had a huge crush on Aaron, but over time she moved on. I was glad because I just couldn’t see the two of them together. Everything worked out in the end.
Aaron greets us at the door. “Hey, guys, come on in. Everyone’s in the living room.”
I shake his hand in greeting and follow David and Olivia down the hall to the living room. Aaron takes his spot in the recliner, pulling Whitney down on his lap. Evan and McKinley are sitting in the same fashion in the other recliner. Olivia pulls David to the love seat, which leaves me to sit on the couch with Jamie, who is currently sitting in the middle with a stack of photo albums on one side. I take the spot and tap her knee. “Hey, stranger.”
“Good to see you,” she says, smiling.
“What you got there?”
“House pictures, pictures of the farm, of some shows,” Whitney answers for her.
“Basically getting to witness what’s been going on in my best friend’s life without being here.”
“I told you how to fix that,” Aaron chimes in.
Jamie gives him a soft smile. “You made a suggestion,” she corrects.
“So, I made a ton of snack food. It’s all ready to go whenever you all are hungry,” Whitney says.
“So what’s the plan for this evening’s festivities?” Liv asks her.