It’s like I can hear his smirk over the phone. “You know me better than that. If you’re not coming to the bar, then I’m coming to your house and that’s it.” I’m quite familiar with the tone in his voice. No matter what I say, he’s going to make sure I see him tonight.
Austin never was the type to bluff. “Fine. I’ll see you at the bar. Give me twenty minutes.” I don’t even have to ask him where he’s at. There are only two bars in town and we’ve always gone to the same one. Even when we were too young to go to bars, we always went to Spirits and Tyme. I shake my head at the memories. The one good thing that has come from all of this is I’m home again, back in my small town that I never should have left. I have my family here and Austin. For the first time in a while, I know everything’s going to be okay.
I hang up the phone and put on only enough makeup to be presentable. My long red hair is holding the curl I put in it last, so I leave it down and head out to meet Austin… and his date.
Austin
“You’re leaving?” Blair screeches as soon as I hang up the phone. Obviously she’s been listening to the whole conversation. I hate it when girls get all possessive and clingy. It’s definitely time to end this, but right now I can’t focus on anything but Laney.
I start to walk back into the bar and hold the door open for her. “I’m staying… Laney’s coming here. You’re going to get to meet my longtime best friend.”
“Oh that’s great. I love meeting your friends,” she says and yes, I can tell just by the way she’s primping her hair and she touches the buttons on her shirt, like she’s wondering if she should undo another button, that she thinks Laney is a guy. I don’t correct her assumption because Blair is the jealous type. She’ll find out soon enough.
We go back inside and this time I walk to get a table that’s in the back, further away from the live band so that when Laney arrives, we will be able to hear each other talking without having to yell.
Blair tugs on my arm. “Let’s go to the table by the dance floor.”
I know she enjoys being the center of attention, but I take a seat at the table in the corner “You can go and dance and keep that table but I have some catching up to do with my friend.”
I think Blair is on the fence. It’s like I can see the thoughts in her head. She’s considering it. She thinks if she goes and dances she can try to make me jealous, but it just goes to show that she doesn’t know me at all. I hope she does go dance. More than anything else I want to see how Laney is really doing. She’s just not the type to whine and complain, unlike Blair.
For her to come without her untrusting fiancé Keith, I’m thinking things could be on the rocks for them. As much as I don’t like Keith, I’m worried about Laney.
If that jerk hurt her, I’ll rearrange his smug fuckin’ face!
3
Austin
I keep telling myself not to get all wound up to beat up Keith until there’s something to get wound up about. Blair goes to get drinks and says that she might dance since I’m in “such a bad mood.” Her words, not mine.
I’m glad to have the quiet—well, as quiet as it can be in a bar—and am about to take a drink from my beer when Laney arrives.
Damn. She looks amazing.
I’ve always thought she was beautiful, but this last year she’s really developed from young woman to full-on sexy woman. No, she’s not just sexy, she’s the kind of woman to give grown men wet dreams.
She has on tight fitted jeans and a pink shirt, and her long red hair is in curls over her shoulders. I don’t even try to stay in my seat. I set my drink down on the table and stand up, waving at her. My heartbeat stutters when her green eyes settle on me and she smiles with that pure joy that only Laney can seem to emit. She’s headed my way, but I’m too excited to see her and I walk partway to meet her.
Reaching for her, I notice she’s not wearing her engagement ring. My protective instincts surface and I pull her in for a tighter hug than I’d originally intended.
Immediately I can feel that our easygoing hugs of the past are just that, something of the past, because a hug from Laney has never felt like this before. The way Laney fits against me and the physical charge that sizzles through my veins at the contact lets me know that something has shifted. Somehow, things are different between us.