“Huh what?” Jenn asked.
“Didn't you notice that he didn't even order anything?” I asked.
“Probably didn't come here for the coffee then. Guess he was in the mood for something else,” Jenn said, giving me a flirty little wink.
I looked out the window and saw Cason climb into his pickup truck. He waved at me, clearly seeing me through the large window to the street.
“Yeah, I guess maybe you're right.” I laughed. “But now what am I going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I have Quinn and Cason both reaching out to me, and I'm not ready to date anyone,” I said. “Much less brothers. Do you have any idea how complicated that will get?”
Jenn shrugged. “Go out on your date with Cason, have fun,” she said. “Tell them you're not looking for anything serious and see where it goes. There's nothing wrong with dating around before getting serious. You are allowed to go out and have a little fun, you know. There's nothing wrong with it.”
“But – brothers?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “That just seems a little strange. A lot strange, actually.”
“Hey, at least you don't have Ben after you too,” she teased. “Well at least not yet. You have, after all, only been in town a few days, and –”
“Hush,” I said, finding it hard not to laugh at my bizarre situation.
Back in high school, I would have killed to have had either of them – Cason or Quinn – notice me. Back then, neither one of them even seemed to really know I even existed. Now, I had both of them after me. Then reality intruded, and all of those bad memories came flooding back. Everything I'd been trying to escape from. Everything I'd left back in California. I needed to work on me at that moment. I needed to find a way to leave the past in the past and focus on myself in the here and now. I didn't need to get involved with one of the McCormick brothers – let alone two, or maybe even all three of them.
It was a depressing reality. “It's crazy, and I'm not going to lie, it's flattering as hell,” I said. “But it's also the last thing I need right now.”
***
A short time later, we left the coffee house and parted ways. Jenn climbed into her crossover SUV – a car, once upon a time, I would have never pictured her in. I was within walking distance to my parent's house, where I was staying, so I took off on foot. When she drove by and gave me a quick beep with her horn, I waved.
A small grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. I still couldn't believe that I'd agreed to have dinner with Cason – something I never would have agreed to had it not been for her. But then her voice echoed through my mind. I deserved to have a little fun. There wasn't anything wrong with me enjoying myself. Was there?
I'd been through pure and utter hell before coming back to Black Oak. Didn't I deserve to just enjoy myself and my life a bit for a change?
Acting on impulse, I pulled out my phone and texted Quinn as I walked, not wanting to be a complete jerk to the guy. After all, he'd been nice enough to help me escape the bonfire when I got to feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.
I thought it would only be polite to show him a little appreciation for pulling me out of there. I sent him a quick “Thanks for saving me last night,” text and put my phone away.
Not even a full minute had passed when my phone buzzed again, and I had to admit, getting such a quick response from a man like Quinn made me smile. I didn't want to admit it, lest things start getting complicated, but I honestly felt better than I had in a while. When I pulled out my phone and read his text, my face literally hurt from the smile that broke out across it.
Anytime, beautiful. Wanna grab a drink tonight?
Ahh... two dates in one night, what are the odds? And with brothers, no less. In a town as small and insular as Black Oak, it would be positively scandalous and gossip fodder before the day was out. I knew I had to respond and politely decline, figuring that I'd just tell him I had plans already and leave it at that. It didn't want to completely shut the door on us getting together at another point in time though.
I keyed in my message, sent it along – and then my phone rang less than a minute later. I sighed, but was smiling as I answered the call.
“Yes, Quinn?”
“Plans, huh?” he said, in that smooth, sexy drawl of his. “Nothing that can be changed?”
“I'm pretty sure they're set in stone,” I said with a laugh. “But, you can always talk to your brother about that.”
“Bennett?” he asked.
“The other one.”
“Dammit. Cason. The little shit. I should've known,” he muttered under his breath. There was silence on the line for a second, but when he came back on the line, he still didn't seem deterred. “What are you up to right now?”
“Just walking home from the coffee house,” I said.