“You can only hope,” Gabby chimed in.
“I’m not hoping. I’m praying,” Lily laughed.
“Hey, aren’t your brothers single?” Gabby teased, catching my look in the rearview.
I nodded and grinned at Lily. “Yep. Both ready for the taking, Lily.”
Lily shot a devilish grin at me and then at Gabby. “I never wanted to mention the obvious, but they are pretty fine.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”
“You better not,” Lily quipped, throwing a goldfish at me.
“You guys are both going to owe me a car detail after this trip. I swear you’re worse than toddlers.”
“It’s not us,” Gabby laughed. “You’re the neat freak.”
I spotted the glimmer of water in the distance between the pines that were sparsely scattered along the road.
“So I know we brought a tent, but are we really going to have to stay in the tent?” Lily asked.
“We don’t have to, but the cabin is like a frat house. Ayden saved us a room to share, but I have a feeling you’ll learn to appreciate the tent as soon as you see—”
“Is that it?” Gabby interrupted, pointing at the one cabin in sight situated next to the water. It was about the size of a pencil eraser from our distance. There were miniature-sized people already on the lake in Jet Skis, and my heart began to beat a little faster. I needed this break.
“That’s it. Looks like the party has already started.” I turned the car onto the road that would take us directly to the cabin and immediately felt close to home.
I had been stuck in such a rut of studying and working that it was nice to think about letting loose. And if anyone knew how to throw a weekend-long party, it was my brothers.
As the road snaked along the lake, the people on the lake came into better view as well as the makeshift campsites peppered along my brothers’ property.
“This is going to be phenomenal,” Lily exclaimed, turning in her seat to watch the jet skiers.
“I wish Jason could’ve come,” Gabby groaned.
“Doesn’t the idea of a girls’ trip do it for ya?” I teased.
She stuck out her tongue and started rolling up the M&M bag.
“The nights are going to be cold and spooning with you guys isn’t the same. Sorry.” She pretended to pout and I grinned. It was awesome to see Gabby so happy.
Watching the jet skiers gave me the jitters and I shook my head. “Please promise me you guys aren’t going to go out on the water on those.”
“Please promise me you aren’t going to stay on the shore,” Gabby mimicked.
“Really?” I asked. “You want to do those?”
“Hell, yeah,” Gabby said. “It’s like a bike on water.”
“Exactly my point,” I replied.
“You’ve never been on one even with all the times you’ve been over here?” Lily asked, perplexed.
“Nope, and I don’t plan on it. I don’t have to feel like my life is on the line to have fun, you know.”
Approaching the long, gravel driveway I hugged the left side so I didn’t knock off anyone’s side mirrors. This party looked bigger than any of the others they’d held over the years, and I was kind of nervous about it. I didn’t want anything to go wrong as the weekend went on. I couldn’t even guess how many people were here. The liability always worried me, which in turn, was why I was meant to be an attorney. At least, I could turn my worries into something useful.
I saw two orange cones with pink and silver balloons tied to them with a large sign written in a sharpie.
“Guess that’s your parking spot?” Lily said, laughing. “I’ll get out and grab the cones.”
“Thanks.” Leave it to my brothers to keep a watchful eye out for me. They always treated me like a princess but not in a bad way. I had come to expect certain things from men because my brothers always put me first, and I was grateful for it. My standards were set high because of them. But maybe that’s why I was so leery of Aaron. Maybe it really had nothing to do with him being Gabby’s brother, but what if he could never be that perfect person or offer me that imaginary life? Maybe no one could. I thought back to the chemistry with him. Everything felt so right.
I let out a sigh, which Gabby caught as soon as it slipped.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on. Spill the beans.”
“Honestly?”
Gabby nodded.
“I was just wondering if my brothers ruined me for ever finding the perfect guy. They have always treated me like—”
“Like you deserve to be treated,” she finished for me. “Don’t lower your standards. The right guy will appear and when he does, you’ll know beyond a shadow of doubt that he’s the one. He might not be perfect, but he’ll be right for you.”
What if that someone was your brother?
Lily took the orange cones and held them out in front of her chest as if they were attached to her, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I doubted that she’d ever grow up.
“Nice,” I hollered out my window.
“You like?” she laughed.
And that was why the guys flocked to her. A tall blonde began making his way over to her with a beer in hand, and Gabby busted out laughing.
“She never ceases to amaze me,” I muttered, as I pulled the car forward and watched Lily joke with the newcomer. Putting the car in park, I watched Lily work her magic and wondered if I should start adopting Lily’s carefree attitude.
“He’s a cutie. Do you know him?” Gabby asked.
“Nope.” I opened the door and stretched as Gabby followed my lead.
“Hey, knucklehead,” Ayden called from the stoop.
Gabby started laughing and waved at my brother. “Some things never change.”
“Tell me about it.” I crinkled my nose and waved back at my brother.
Ayden walked down the stairs and glanced at Lily. “Be careful of that one,” he shouted in her direction.
“Is he that bad?” she teased, smiling at the blonde.
“I wasn’t talking about him,” Ayden chimed back.
The guy next to Lily started laughing as she crossed her arms in front of her and flipped my brother an evil look.
“I’ve got the master saved for you three,” Ayden said, spying the tent tied to the roof of the car. “Why’d you bring that?”
“Brandy said we probably wouldn’t want to stay in the cabin. It was what… like a frat house?”
I nodded.
“Well, we’ve got new rules in place, so I’m sure it will be just fine. Let’s at least haul everything up there and if you still want to tent it, then fine.” He began untying the straps on the roof and released the tent. Gabby opened the trunk and grabbed her bag and Lily’s.
“I’ll get Lily’s stuff.”
“Hey, where’d she go?” I looked around the driveway, noticing Lily’s absence. “That didn’t take long.”
“I’m sure she’s just getting us some drinks,” Gabby chuckled.
“When pigs fly,” Ayden muttered.
“Hey, now,” I warned. “She’s my friend.”
Ayden winked and grinned as he hauled the tent bag and my duffle bag off the roof just as Mason walked along the side of the house.
“There you are,” he called. “I saw Lily and knew you couldn’t be far behind.”
He came up and gave me a big hug and then switched to Gabby. “How are you two doing? Ready to party like it’s—”
“Don’t say it,” Gabby said holding up her hand. “You’ll make us feel older than we already are.”
He laughed and grabbed the cooler out of the trunk. I’d brought some meat for the grill and some drinks. It was kind of a do-it-yourself setup, and I knew my brothers had already footed the bill for most of it.
“Off to see your room?” Mason asked.
“Sure.”
Gabby and I followed my brothers thro
ugh the cabin, and it was just as I remembered it. The exposed timbers on the inside of the cabin gave it a cozy vibe. The wood-burning fireplace in the corner of the great room had logs stacked neatly next to it. The two dark green couches had been pushed back to the walls to provide more seating with the foldout chairs. As we followed my brothers toward the back of the house where the staircase was, I started laughing as I saw what they had done. Two yellow caution tapes had been crisscrossed at the bottom of the stairs.
“We knew you didn’t like all the commotion upstairs so we think we found a fix,” Ayden said proudly, unpinning the caution tape so we could move through.
“This way we can keep an eye on you three as well,” Mason said, grinning.
“That was very sweet of you,” I said laughing, climbing up the stairs.
There were two bathrooms upstairs. One was to the right of the stairs in between the two guest bedrooms, and the other one was connected to the master.
“See. There’s no one sneaking around upstairs now,” Mason said, completely enthralled with his bright idea.
I pushed open the master bedroom’s door and was completely shocked. They had redone the room. There was a large pine four-poster bed that was jetting out from the corner of the room. A chaise was under the picture window that overlooked the lake, and my brothers had blown up a full-size air mattress that was tucked in front of the closet.
“Do you realize how much you two spoil me?” I asked, dropping my backpack down.
“We try, knucklehead,” Ayden said.
“This is great. Forget the tent,” Gabby said. “I’m staying in here. I don’t care if someone’s doing beer pong outside the door. This is where I’m staying.”
“Agreed,” I said, watching her plop both bags down next to the air mattress.
“It’s so freaking hot on this side of the mountains,” she said, looking toward the bathroom. “I think I’m gonna shower and suit up.”
“Awesome. I’ll do the same, but first I’m gonna get the scoop from my brothers,” I told her as we three exited the room.
Gabby closed the door and my brothers, and I walked back down the stairs.
“Okay, guys. I’ve kind of got a surprise planned for Gabby.”
“Yeah?” Ayden said, his brows raising.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and I followed my brothers to the kitchen. It was a bright and cheery space, and every surface was covered with either chip bags, cracker boxes, or cookie tins. We would not be going hungry this weekend.
“So you know the bike builder she’s been seeing?”
My brothers nodded.
“Well, I invited him over here for the weekend. He had some delivery today, but was planning on getting here tonight. I gave him both of your numbers in case he needed directions.”
“I thought it was a girls’ weekend for you three,” Mason said, grabbing a bag of potato chips.
“It is, kind of. But she’s so happy with him, and I thought it would be an awesome little getaway for them. And that’s why I brought the tent.”
“What was his name again?” Mason asked.
“Jason. He’s so sweet. I think you guys will really like him.”
Ayden and Mason both shook their heads. “We’ve heard that before,” they said in unison.
“Well, whatever. Just keep it a surprise and if you get a call from him, let me know. I was also kind of hoping with a pretty please and a cherry on top, that you’d maybe sneak up there and grab the tent bag and put it up somewhere for them.”
“Anything for you,” Mason said, pecking the top of my head with a brotherly kiss right before he shoved me away. “Now go suit up and start to have some fun you worrywart, and no, we didn’t make any of our guests sign waivers.”
“Hardy-har-har.” I grinned and ran up the stairs.
This weekend was exactly what I needed.
Chapter Thirteen
The afternoon had turned to early evening, and the temperature was beginning to shift. I was lying on a towel by the lake, reading one of my favorite authors as Lily and Gabby took turns riding one of the Jet Skis. We had gorged on hot dogs and potato salad for lunch, but my stomach was already responding to the smells from the grills lighting up around the property. It had been a wonderful afternoon, and my skin was already turning a nice shade in the ninety-degree weather. Lily had ditched the blond but was still keeping her eye out as she showed off on the watercraft. I wasn’t sure when Jason was going to be able to get across the mountains, but my guess was early evening. I hoped it was before it got dark so he could find it easier, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Even on a mini-vacation I managed to worry. How annoying.
“Hey, girl. I’m freezing,” Lily said. Unfastening her life vest, she tossed it on the grass next to me. “I think it’s time for me to get in my sweats.”
“Me too,” Gabby seconded, towel drying her hair.
“Sounds good to me.” I snapped my book closed and sprung up.
We grabbed our towels and headed for the cabin. I saw Ayden’s ex-girlfriend and waved. She gave a friendly wave back, and I noticed there was a guy standing next to her, his hand on her shoulder. I was always amazed with how my brothers handled break-ups. Granted, I wasn’t as extreme as Gabby where she’d switch her phone number and call out the national guard, but I don’t know that I’d ever be inviting them to parties I hosted.
Opening the front door, I saw the fire roaring and knew it was going to be a wonderful, cozy night. Even though the days were warm over here, the nights cooled off tremendously. My brothers had already stopped by while we were at the lake to let us know about the three different bonfires that they were setting up along the waterfront. Mason also managed to whisper to me where they had set the tent up for Jason and Gabby, which was so sweet.
Before running upstairs, we stopped in the kitchen and each of us filled a bowl with tortilla chips, and I grabbed the guacamole.
Gabby grabbed the entire bag of chips. “Just in case we need more.”
We ducked under the caution tape and jogged up the stairs, excited to change into something warmer. I grabbed a pair of pink sweats that I could roll up and a white hoodie. I didn’t bother putting on a shirt and just zipped up the hoodie. My bikini top would be fine. Lily slid a pair of jeans on and an oversized sweatshirt. Gabby grabbed a pair of black, baggy sweats and a grey sweatshirt. She pulled out a face wipe from her bag and began wiping off all of the sunblock and makeup from her skin.
“There. Now I feel all ready to snuggle in for the night next to the bonfire. Which one should we hit up?”
“Whichever one doesn’t have Dustin hanging around.”
“Dustin?” I asked, confused pulling on my sweatpants.
“Yeah. Dustin,” Lily replied, exasperated.
“Oh, the blonde,” Gabby chuckled.
“I say we do the fire closest to the house.” I eyed Lily and she nodded, once she realized I wanted Jason’s entrance to be caught by Gabby.
I scooted back on the bed and grabbed my bowl of chips as Gabby and Lily piled on top. Tossing them each a throw blanket we settled in and munched on our chips quietly for a few minutes.
“So how’s everything going with your brother?” Lily asked, scooping a huge pile of the guacamole on her chip.
Gabby crossed her legs underneath her and let out a deep breath. “Surprisingly good. I kind of figured I had two ways to go about it. Keep him out of my life forever and hold a grudge or just accept the past as the past and move on. I mean, truthfully, I couldn’t hold a grudge against my brother and not hold one toward my dad. And then what? Have no family? My dad was equally to blame, if not more so. I’d have no family left if I didn’t just accept it. Aaron’s not a bad guy. In fact, from what I’ve seen and learned about him, he’s done some pretty incredible things.”
Lily glanced at me quickly and I dropped my gaze.
“It sounds like you’ve really done some thinking about it,” Lily said. “I’m proud of
you. It’s like we just might be becoming adults after all.”
“Well, some of us,” I interjected, repositioning my pillows.
Lily tossed a pillow at me, and it narrowly avoided the guacamole bowl.
“I think it’s really amazing how mature you’re being about it. I was just thinking about your family the other day, and I thought about how angry I would have been at my brothers if they just took off without a trace for ten years,” I said.
Gabby bit her lip and nodded slowly. “What really hit home for me was the fact that, sure I didn’t have my brother for ten years, but I did have my family. He had no one. Imagine holidays and birthdays passing year after year with no family around to celebrate. I at least felt loved. My father basically banished him. I couldn’t even imagine.”
The moment the words escaped Gabby’s lips, a knot formed in my stomach. The thought of Aaron without anyone, family or loved ones, made my heart hurt just thinking about it. And it also explained his inclination to stay that way, alone.
“I mean I know it had to have screwed with him. Look at his dating life. He obviously doesn’t trust women so he just keeps them at a distance.”
“Has Jason ever mentioned anything?” I asked, tracing the pattern of the comforter. It was the one tip-off this house was owned by guys. The sheets and comforter cover were a Christmas pattern full of snowmen and miniature Santas in the middle of summer.
“A little bit. He tries not to put himself in between anything, but he’s mentioned a few things that had happened over the years, and it tore me up. When they were in the military together they formed a bond really quickly and became one another’s family. He did tell me that he doesn’t think Aaron has ever been in love before. Can you imagine?”
My heart started pounding and I felt Lily’s gaze on me.
“No. I can’t imagine,” I managed to say.
“Everyone deserves love,” Gabby continued on. “I hope he finds it sooner than later rather than continue on with those meaningless relationships. Actually, I don’t think they’d even qualify as relationships. I googled him, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with the same person twice.”
Spring Fling Trio- Beyond Love Starter Set Page 34