“The McCormick brothers are still around?” I asked.
That was an interesting piece of news and I strained my neck, trying to catch a glimpse of who might be working the grill. All I could see were flashes of a white apron. The crowd milling about, as well as the small windows of the food truck were obscuring my view of the person inside.
“Uh yeah,” Jenn said. “Where would they go? Black Oak is their home.”
“I dunno,” I said. “Figured they'd get football scholarships somewhere and get out of Black Oak. At least Quinn.”
“Yeah, he did,” Jenn said with a shrug. “Notre Dame. But he blew out his knee and ended up coming back home.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling sad for the guy – he deserved better than that. “Quinn was actually nice to me.”
“Hell, all of them are still good guys,” Jenn said, removing Marty from her breast and straightening her shirt. “I went on a date with Ben before Martin and I got back together. We had a good time, but it didn't end up going anywhere. Obviously.”
I looked over at Jenn and tried to imagine her with Bennett McCormick – the oldest of the brothers. He'd been a senior when we were freshman, and the last time I saw him, he'd been dating one of the cheerleaders. Typical jock move. Back then, he'd never given us the time of day. “You went on a date with Bennett McCormick?” I asked. “And you never told me about it?”
Jenn shrugged. “Like I said, it didn't go anywhere. He was nice, but I was already interested in Martin by then.”
Back in high school, there was no way Jenn or I would have chosen Martin Drake over any of the McCormick brothers. No girl of sound mind would have. The McCormick brothers were the most gorgeous men in school. They were practically royalty in Black Oak and had their pick of the girls. And for the most part, they'd been cocky assholes. But like I'd learned, a lot had obviously changed since those days. And Jenn was happy, so that was all that mattered.
A mischievous little grin spread across my best friend's face. “Why don't you go over there, Hailey?” she said. “I'm sure they'll just die when they see you!”
My cheeks burned and flushed with color as I looked down at my hands. “They wouldn't even know who I am,” I said. “They never did back then.”
“You'd be surprised, sis,” Jenn said. “Seriously, go say hello.”
“Maybe later,” I said, no longer straining to see if the brothers were in the truck.
I didn't want to look too desperate. Besides, I may have been single, but I was far from ready to start dating again. Just the idea of entering into a relationship so soon after getting back to town made my stomach roil and a wave of nausea rise up within me.
Not that I stood a chance with any of the brothers in reality, anyway. Even if I looked a lot different than I had back then, my transformation was nowhere near as dramatic as Jenn's. She was like an entirely new person.
And me? Well, I was apparently still very much me.
CHAPTER TWO - CASON
Preparing for the Bonfire
“Think I could get some help here?” I asked.
I pushed the door to my brother's bedroom open. Bennett – the oldest of the three of us – was already up and at the restaurant. But Quinn, the middle brother, was sleeping in.
Quinn rolled over in bed and grumbled something that vaguely sounded like English at me, the girl next to him still snoring away. The girl – Shelly Stewart – was an on-again, off-again fixture around the house, so that wasn't surprising to me that she was snuggled up with him in bed.
What was surprising though, was that both of them were fully clothed. Usually, I got an eyeful when I opened the door to Quinn's room in the morning. Typically, I either got a glimpse of my brother's bare ass or Shelly's boobs – which she didn't seem to care about hiding.
But today, they were both in pajamas, which was different.
Ever since I'd graduated from high school, I'd slacked on the workouts and wasn't nearly as in shape as I used to be, especially compared to Quinn and Ben, who still worked out hard every day – and it showed.
Sometimes, I envied my brothers’ muscular physiques. Having a leaner build, when I saw either of my brothers with their shirts off, was another reminder to me that I needed to hit the gym.
Except for the fact that he was more muscular and in better shape than me though, Quinn and I were spitting images of one another – right down to the reddish-brown hair. Quinn was desperately in need of a haircut though, with his shaggy locks spilling down to his shoulders. I kept mine trimmed neatly – mostly because I needed to keep it out of the way when I was working in the kitchen.
“Quinn, seriously, we need to get moving, bro,” I said. “We need to get the grills set up by ten.”
Sometimes, going into business with my brothers seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth. There were times I felt more like a babysitter than a partner. And other times, I enjoyed the hell out of it. The camaraderie we shared sometimes made the workdays fun and entertaining.
This though, wasn't one of those times.