Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

Breanna was pissed (I gave fewer fucks than I should have).

My brother was a mess, just after he’d gotten his shit together (that bothered me more than it should).

Ivy was probably upset with me (and I cared about that more than anything in the world).

And now I had Max looking at me like I was about to bust a gasket. Fuckin’ rad.

“What?” I snapped, meeting his amused face that also held a glint of caution.

“You okay?”

No.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just want to kill Carrie.”

Max sighed. “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

I didn’t answer him because as soon as I opened my mouth, I heard the bar doors opening and found Ivy shyly walking over to us.

I watched her the entire time and it was almost an instantaneous feeling of relief. Like just seeing her face made me feel a little less suffocated, like I wasn’t actually being pulled in ten different directions.

Her voice was soft and hesitant. “There were only a couple drinks on his tab. Apparently he came with the band.”

Max started to back away, to give her and I some privacy but before he got too far, he looked over his shoulder and said to Ivy, “I’ll see ya in there and I’ll have a new drink made for ya.” Then he winked, and I actually growled out loud.

I instantly wished I could take it back, but it was only a natural reaction. One of a wild animal, that is.

Ivy turned around, squinting her eyes, and when I looked back at Max his eyes were widened and his arms were up in surrender. I knew he didn’t mean anything by winking at her, but the thought of her in the bar with Max, coupled with the thought of every other guy who was checking her out from head to toe, put me right back into the frenzy I’d been feeling seconds ago – out of fucking control.

“Can we talk before I go in and pay and then drag this sloppy mess home?” I asked, hitching my thumb back to Emmett.

She smiled softly. “I already paid; it’s no biggie.”

And just like that, my heart was climbing out of my chest and reaching out for hers.

“You didn’t have to do that—I’ll pay you back. How much was it?” I asked, pulling out my wallet from my back pocket.

She landed her hand on mine and I froze. She pulled it back quickly and then peered up at me with those long eyelashes brushing against the tops of her eyelids.

“It’s fine, it was only ten bucks. What are friends for?”

Friends. Why did that one little word irritate me so fucking much?

I leaned back against my truck, peeking a glance at Emmett, who was curled up like a baby in the backseat.

“Are we okay?”

Ivy adjusted her feet on the gravely parking lot, kicking up a few rocks in her wake. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

I almost smiled because even by the way her voice stayed neutral, I could tell she was beating around the bush.

“Ivy,” I protested. “If you’re mad, then just tell me.”

Ivy’s brows furrowed as her light pink lips formed a straight line. “I have no idea why I would be mad at you, Dawson.”

I exhaled. “Because of Breanna and I dating.”

She let out a nervous laugh. “Dawson, I know you and I had a mind-blowing kiss when we were teenagers, but I didn’t expect you to carry a torch around for me the entire six years that I was gone.”