“Let’s fix that. Come on inside before this wind blows us away.”
“Don’t tell my mother you’re on the air mattress.” I tossed dirty laundry from my suitcase into a hamper.
Alfie held his finger up to his lips and stretched out. One corner of the sheet popped off the inflated mattress. We both laughed. “Truthfully, this is more comfortable than the bed in the dorms.”
“How did we not know one another before the trip?”
“UT’s a big school. We don’t have the same major. Besides, I’m a year behind you.”
I threw a pillow at his face. “Rub it in that you’ll get to go to Paris again next year.”
“I thought all you wanted to do was come home.”
“That’s not true.” I planted a hand on my hip. “And it’s Paris. If I could go again, I would.”
“There’s always the summer.” He fixed the sheet and flopped back down.
“I’ll be graduated by then.”
“What are you going to do with an Art History major here?” He waved his hand around.
“Open a museum?”
The sheet popped off again, and I snickered.
“You’re serious?”
“No. I—I thought I was going to live on a ranch. Now, I don’t know.” I hadn’t been home a few hours, and I already felt like I didn’t belong. It had been Mitch and Juliana since high school. And before that, he’d been my best friend. I didn’t know who I was here without him.
Alfie scratched the side of his head. “I can’t picture you on a farm.”
“Oh no?”
He shook his head. “Paris was good for you.”
“How are you so sure? We didn’t even know each other before.”
He leaned back, planting his palms on the floor. “You took everything in, didn’t waste a minute of the trip. How many cafés and museums did you drag me to?”
“If you didn’t want to see anything, why’d you come along?”
His focus remained glued to the ceiling. “In case I never had another chance.”
Given what Alfie had confided in me about his past, I understood his concern. One of the things I’d grown to admire about him was that he lived life as if every day was an opportunity.
Suitcase empty, I sank down on the floor beside him and touched his arm. “You’ll make it. You’re too good not to.”
Alfie had sketched all over the city as we discovered it, his drawings life-like and mesmerizing. His paintings were even more amazing, and watching him create was an experience.
“What if we hadn’t been sitting next to each other on the plane?” A twinge of melancholy shadowed his dark eyes.
“You’d have had to find someone else to drag you all over Paris.”
The phone on the nightstand rang, and I dove for it. Christopher had already answered from somewhere else in the house.
“I’ve got it,” I said when I heard the sound of my best friend’s voice.
“Jules. You’re back!” Emily squealed.
“Just got into town.”
“I heard. That’s why I called, silly.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Emily went to Texas Tech a few hours away in Lubbock, and I missed her.
“When’d you get home?”
“Three days ago.” She lowered her voice. “Tell your parents we’re going to the movies. Bryce Green is having a party out in the woods tonight. We have to go.”
“I don’t have to lie.”
“Sure you do. That way it’ll be just like old times. I’ll come pick you up at seven.” She hung up before I had a chance to respond.
I stared at the phone a second before hanging it up.
“Ever been to a party in the woods?”
Alfie put his hands behind his head. “Nope.”
“We’re about to change that, Texas style.”
Chapter Two
Mitch
“Why do I let the two of you talk me into this stuff?”
Stone slung an arm around my shoulders. “Because you can’t just sit around at home, big brother. Besides, somebody has to look out for our sister.”
Mulaney slapped him in the back of the head. “More like somebody needs to look out for you.”
“It’s only one more semester,” I said to the inky sky. A sharp slap stung the back of my head. “Ow. What was that for?”
“You act like living with us is the end of the world,” she said. “It’s your shit that stinks to high heaven. And you’re the one who needed somewhere to go last minute.”
“The only reason the apartment is clean is because Stone does it,” I shot back, ignoring her last jab. Why I’d had to live with them this year was still a real big sore spot.
“If you get into vet school, you’ll be off to College Station,” my brother pointed out.
I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of going even farther from home. He flashed me a saccharine smile and motioned toward the bonfire. “If your sister didn’t primp so much, we wouldn’t be late.”
Mulaney stuck her foot out. Stone tripped, but didn’t fall. “You take longer to get ready than I do.” She waltzed off toward the group of our friends from high school.
There was a pretty good crowd gathered already. We’d been coming to this spot for as long as I could remember. Set way off the road, the thicket of trees gave good cover, but there was enough open space for everyone to hang around a fire. Some people were in foldout chairs, others perched on tailgates of the pickups backed around it.
Stone pulled on my neck to stop me.
“I heard she’s back in town.”
I lifted a shoulder and lowered it, even as my pulse kicked up a notch. “So?”
“So I just thought you might want a warning.”
I stalked toward my old friends. “Anybody got a beer?”
One was immediately tossed in my direction. I caught it, popped the top, and chugged half of it.
Just a few months ago, Juliana and I would have shown up to a party like this together. I found myself scanning the crowd to see if she was there and cursed the disappointment I felt when I discovered she wasn’t.
She’d up and left me. I hated her for that, but the bigger part of me missed her like hell. No. I was done with that. She made a choice for the both of us. Who cared if she showed up?
“Well, well. If it isn’t Burdett royalty.” Randall Hedley shot at us with a finger gun.
“Just like the Jacobs to come to a party with no beer,” Bryce Green said as he passed one to Stone.
“They’re good at mooching off other people,” Randall said.
“What is your deal?” Stone asked.
“Nothin’.” He pulled a tin of chewing tobacco out of his pocket and shoved some into his mouth.
“We may not have beer…but the moon is shining bright tonight.” Mulaney pointed toward the truck, and the tension dissipated.
“Miss Ruby’s?” Bryce asked eagerly.
A disgusted look crossed her face. “Who else’s?”
Our grandmama had a knack for making moonshine. Said it kept us strong and healthy. Even the sheriff agreed.
Bryce stood. “I’ll go get it.” Thank god Randall went with him.
It was too early in the night to be breaking out that shit, but I was ready. I needed something to soothe this ache. Football had helped. In a few days, I could get back to that. We were headed to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Next semester, with nothing to distract me…I couldn’t even think about that.
Mulaney bumped my shoulder and offered me the Mason jar. “Don’t look now.”
I twisted my head automatically and then wished I’d listened to my sister for once. The glow of the fire lit Juliana’s features as she walked into the circle. She had on the same jeans and boots she’d always worn. The flannel was new, but still her style. Yet somehow she was more sophisticated.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, not even as she hugged our old friends and laughed at something Emily said
, the sound a reminder of everything I’d missed.
“You’re gonna burn a hole in her,” Mulaney said. I couldn’t make myself look away, even though the sight of her was heaven and hell all at the same time. “Who’s that guy with them?”
That snapped me out of my trance. Glued to my girl’s side was some good-looking bastard. I balled my fist, feeling an instinct to punch him in the face.
And then I deflated and hung my head. She wasn’t my girl. Wasn’t even my friend. How could she have moved on so fast? I couldn’t think of anybody but her, let alone actually date someone.
“That Ain’t My Truck” by Rhett Akins started up from somebody’s speakers. I downed too much moonshine, welcoming the burn.
“I got a feeling I’m going to have to call Ruby to come get us,” Mulaney muttered.
“You good?” Stone asked as he grabbed the jar from my hand and took a long swallow.
“Do I have a choice?”
Glutton for punishment, I glanced back over my shoulder. Juliana froze. Our eyes locked, and for one tense moment, everything else disappeared. And then he spoke into her ear, making just a hint of a smile appear on her face.
I tore my eyes away from her as pain sliced through my chest. It used to be me that made her smile. Used to be me whispering in her ear.
I snatched the jar from Stone and took another swig.
“I’m going to find out just what the hell she’s up to.” Mulaney’s jaw clenched.
I caught her by the arm as she marched past. “Leave it. She made her choice.”
Sympathetic eyes surveyed me. “I don’t like that you have to live with it.”
“Just part of life, right?”
She rested her rear on the tailgate next to me. “Shouldn’t be.”
Bryce sauntered over. “Mitch, you always did pout when you didn’t get your way.” I gripped the edge of the tailgate. “I didn’t know Juliana was back on the market. I may just have to try to get on that.”
My fist connected with his face before I could think. A hush came over the woods. Everybody looked to see the commotion.
Bryce rubbed his jaw. “You asshole.”
He took a swing, and I caught his fist in my palm. “Don’t you ever talk about her like that again,” I warned.
Mulaney stepped in between us and pushed Bryce’s chest. “Take your trouble somewhere else.”
He remained rooted in place as I struggled to get my breathing in check. The guy was trouble, always had been, and the thought of him getting after Juliana had a fresh round of anger pumping through my veins.
As if he could see it, his eyes turned wary before they flicked from her to me. “You better watch your back, Jacobs.”
What could he do to me that could hurt worse than what Juliana had done?
Chapter Three
Juliana
“Who is that?”
Alfie looked on in surprise as he watched the showdown between Mitch and Bryce.
“Her ex-boyfriend,” Emily volunteered.
I shot her a look to shut it, but she just casually sipped on moonshine.
“He’s aggressive,” Alfie noted.
I bristled at the observation. “He’d never do anything that wasn’t deserved.”
Emily snorted, and I glared at her. So what I was defending him. It was the truth.
“Guess that explains the look a second ago.” Alfie swallowed some of the liquid fire, coughing when it went down.
I patted his back as everyone turned to see what was going on. “You okay?”
“What is that? Gasoline?” he spluttered.
I snickered. “Something like that.”
Mulaney approached, and my palms turned sweaty. I hadn’t seen her since Mitch and I split up. Avoiding her wrath was a priority, but it was too late.
“The more you drink, the easier it gets,” she offered in Alfie’s direction.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Alfie said as he accepted a beer from Emily.
“How was the trip?” Her gaze shifted and zeroed in on me.
“Amazing. More than I expected.”
“I see that.” She frowned, flicking a sideways look at Alfie. “We need to talk.”
Emily dug her finger into my back. Nerves fluttered. A quick glance toward Mitch and I saw he wasn’t looking in our direction.
I pasted a serene smile on my face. “I’d love to catch up. How are your folks? Miss Ruby and your grandfather?”
“They’re good, but you know that’s not what I meant.”
Emily looped her arm through Alfie’s. “Let me go introduce you to everybody.”
He cast a questioning look at me. I nodded, and she dragged him off.
Mulaney didn’t even give me a second to gather my thoughts. “Why’d you do it?”
I let out a long sigh. She never was one to beat around the bush.
“That’s none of your business.”
She drank from a Mason jar and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Actually, it is. When somebody hurts my brother—”
“Ever consider he hurt me?”
She tilted her head to the side. I immediately regretted the confession. What happened with me and Mitch was mostly my fault, but we both could’ve handled it better.
“Why didn’t you tell him as soon as you found out?”
I reached for something to steady me at her softened tone. Mulaney had two speeds: bulldozer and wrecking ball. Gentle was something new.
“I couldn’t think of how to do it without letting him down. Moving in together meant so much to him. He’d have tried to talk me out of it.”
“For being with my brother for so long, you don’t really know him, do you?” She propped her elbow on the bed of the closest truck.
“We didn’t work out, okay?” My voice rose. “Just leave it.”
“So that’s it? You’re giving up?”
“Don’t act like you ever thought I was good enough for him.”
She set the jar on the metal ledge of the truck. “Who do you think convinced him to finally ask you out?”
“What are you talking about?”
Her smile was surreptitious. “I know how to make my brothers do what I want. All I did was give him the little nudge he needed.”
“You forced him into it?” I thought he finally stepped out of the friend zone because he loved me.
“I told him George King liked you, was planning on asking you out.”
“He was?”
“I have no idea. Sometimes people just need a little push.” She winked at me.
“Don’t meddle. We’re done.”
“What’s the deal with you and that one?” She pointed her head toward Alfie.
“There is no deal.” I folded my arms over my chest, refusing to explain the relationship that was none of her concern.
“Whatever you say. But if Mitch thinks there is, you just might be able to get him back.”
“Who said I wanted him back?” I muttered.
She held up both her hands in surrender. “All right, all right. I get it. I’ll stay out of it.”
Then she just walked away. That was way too easy. I’d known her since we were kids. She won arguments, even when she was wrong, just because she wouldn’t let it go.
Emily came up behind me and slung her arm around my shoulder. “You survived.”
“She was…” I paused searching for the right word and came up short.
“Nice?” she supplied.
“I wouldn’t go that far. Now what’s a girl got to do to get a beer around here?”
“You cut your hair.”
My heart thudded against my chest at the sound of his voice.
“Not even an inch.” I held my breath as I turned. All night I’d kept a comfortable distance between us, but I’d needed a minute of space. It was too much being so close and yet so far away.
“But it’s different. I like it.”
I’d had layers cut into my hair in a Paris salon. The fact he�
�d noticed the subtle change did strange things to me.
“You had a good football season.”
“Is that really what you want to talk about?” He took a pull off his beer, those strong fingers wrapped firmly around the can.
I shuddered, well aware of what those hands were capable of.
“And you wanted to discuss my hair?”
He leaned against the front of a truck, crossing one ankle over the other with a hint of a smile.
“You haven’t changed at all,” I huffed.
“Is that what you wanted? Me to change.”
I tapped my foot. No. Yes. I didn’t know. “I can’t do this.”
I’d made it two steps when he spoke. “Who is he?”
The words were a double-edged blade that sliced through both of us. I spun and got right up in his space. It was a mistake. The familiar scent of nature and spice hit me in the face. Who we’d been, what we were, assaulted me from every direction.
“A friend.” Not that I owed him an explanation. Mitch was the one who gave up on us. “You didn’t even try to stop me,” I hissed.
“Was I supposed to? I thought the whole point of waiting until you were practically on the plane to tell me was so I couldn’t do anything but watch you go.”
The bitterness in his tone clawed at me. I’d hurt him, and I hated myself for it.
“You ended things.”
“Now that’s where we differ. The way I see it, the second you chose not to tell me about the trip was when you ended it.”
I staggered back at the truth. “I didn’t know how,” I whispered.
“Guess it doesn’t matter now.”
He pushed off the hood of the truck and walked away.
Chapter Four
Mitch
“The Morgans will be here any minute. Help me get this roast from the oven, boy.”
My grandmama slapped two oven mitts into my chest.
“Ruby, did you set an extra place? You might want to put it next you. Juliana’s new boyfriend is something to behold,” Mulaney said.
I slammed the oven door so hard it rattled between the cabinets.
Righting Our Wrongs (Paths To Love) Page 2