Her Best Men

“Is somethin’ brewin’ between you and my brother?” Andrew asked.

“Why? Would that make you jealous?” I teased.

I looked up at Andrew as his eyes hovered over the horizon. Most people would think he was simply watching Wyatt walk down to the barn, but I knew him better than that. When we were kids, hanging out on the porch and talking until all sorts of hours in the morning, he would get that look in his eye whenever he was deep in thought. It was always followed by a heavy truth. One that took a second to swallow down and unpack.

And this time was no different.

“If there were, I would be, yes.”

“Really. You’d be jealous?”

“I would, yes. But there’s no point in the jealousy if nothin’s goin’ on. Right?”

He turned his gaze to me and I felt my heart slam against my chest. His dark green eyes bored into my soul, piercing straight through to the good stuff as I swallowed hard.

“Right,” I said. “No reason to be jealous.”

“I’ll let you know when Caleb finds a job for you to do here. Then you can make an executive decision about things going forward. All we want is for you to have as many options as you need to paint the life ya want. It’s what you deserve, Katie. Nothin’ but the best.”

“Thank you, Andrew. Really. And say thank you to Caleb for me.”

“Will do. Make yourself at home. The restaurant’s open ‘til midnight and the bar’s open ‘til two. It’s usually reserved for payin’ customers, but I’ll make an exception for you.”

I felt my cheeks heating at his words as he brushed by me. Just the smallest graze of his arm against mine sent my head flying into the clouds. Holy hell. Andrew had been flirting with me.

Just like he had been at that bonfire all those years ago.

When I was alone, I fell into a chair and pulled my phone from my pocket. I had to call Lizzie. I had to tell her all the things that were happening so I could keep my head from popping off my shoulders. Whitney helped to ground me when my drinking got out of control in college, but Lizzie was my best of best friends. She knew how to calm me down and she knew when to tell me the truth.

And right now, I needed both.

“Did you talk to your landlord? How’d it go?”

“Can we table that conversation in favor of another?” I asked.

“Do you have a place to live, Katie?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then that’s all that matters. You sound like you’re panicking. What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I had sex with Wyatt,” I said in a whisper.

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening.

“Like, just now?” Lizzie asked.

“A couple of days ago. After the talk with my landlord, I came back to the resort. To clear my head, and maybe to see him. We went on a walk, he k

issed me, he pushed me up against a tree—”

“Way to fuckin’ go, Katie!”

“So, this is a good thing?” I asked.

“It’s a fuckin’ wonderful thing. Girl, Michael was shit. I heard you complain more ‘bout your sex life with him than any other man ever. Period. How was he?”

“Wyatt?”