“What? Why are you making that face?” Maddy watched me warily before placing a beer down in front of me. She was eerily good at knowing what I was in the mood for.
“It’s just a group of losers by the hostess stand.”
Two guys walked over to the bar.
“Can you check on her?” Maddy was already turning toward the customers. “I would, but I can’t.”
“Sure.” I was looking for an excuse anyway. I headed back to the front.
“You sure you can’t sit with us?” One of the assholes with a Carolina Panthers t-shirt asked. They weren’t much older than me, but they shouldn’t have been harassing her. I hadn’t noticed them earlier, so I figured they must have been on their way in.
“No. Sorry.” She seemed calm on the surface, but her face was tight. They were stressing her out.
“Maybe later then,” the same guy suggested before winking at her and walking away. The rest of the guys laughed and headed straight out the back door.
“Can I help you?” Carly crossed her arms, making the tight fabric of her t-shirt even tighter. My body reacted in a way I didn’t want it to.
“Just saying hello.”
“So you weren’t checking on me?”
I feigned innocence. “Me? Check on you? Why would I do such a thing?”
“Oh, you’re just bored?”
“Maybe a little.” Technically I was bored.
“Macon!” I turned as a blonde I’d met at a bar the other night called my name. She was with the same crowd as last time, all girls in their early twenties.
“Hey.” My mind blanked on her name, I’d have to cover it well. I hadn’t taken the girl home or anything, I’m not a jackass.
“We’re going outside to get drinks, you should come.” She tugged on my arm.
“Go ahead. I mean you weren’t here for a reason anyway.” Carly’s voice had a slight edge to it, but I ignored it. What did she care if I hung out with a bunch of tourist girls?
“Ok, see ya. We’ll catch up later.” I let the blonde tow me along.
Maddy shot me a look as we passed the bar. She always gave me a hard time for the way I was with girls, but a little flirting never hurt anyone. Besides, I was already at the Grille and both she and Carly were working. What else was I going to do?
“Who was that girl?” The blonde asked as soon as we were seated at a table.
“My friend, Carly.”
“Carly?” A brunette asked. “Isn’t that a ditsy name?”
“What’s your name?” I hoped she’d say something good like Cookie, but I knew it was going be something typical.
“Sally.”
“Great.”
“Do you remember my name?” The blonde ran a finger over my hand. I hate overly touchy feely girls.
I inched my hand away. “I can’t say that I do, sorry.” When pushed against the wall, honesty is usually best. Besides, after her friend’s comment about Carly’s name, I wasn’t interested in hanging out with them for long.
“It’s Emma.”
“Okay, great.” I sipped my beer trying to come up with a good excuse to go back inside. If I’d been willing to leave it would have been easy, but I wanted to stay until closing. Carly needed to celebrate her first night of work, and those guys were still around. I wanted to make sure they didn’t bug her again.
“Do you live around here?” Emma asked.
“Not too far.” If she thought there was a chance in hell she was going to find out just how close it was, she was crazy.
“Oh, cool. We’re staying at the Sanderling.”
“Nice. I’ve been to the bar there.”
“Yeah, we hung out there last night. We met some cool guys.”
Was she trying to get me jealous or something. I smiled. This could be fun. “Oh yeah? Think I’d like any of them?”
“What?” Emma and Sally said in unison. “You’re into guys?”
“No, but I can’t figure out why else you’d be telling me about them.”
By this point the rest of their group was listening in.
Emma smiled and leaned in. “I’m just letting you know, I get a lot of interest from men.”
“So I’m supposed to find the fact that you hook-up with a lot of guys appealing?”
She turned bright red. “I don’t hook up with them, they just flirt with me.”
“So what you’re saying is you’re a tease and you’re wasting my time?” I struggled to hold in a laugh. The expression on the girl’s face was too much. I had to stop while I was ahead. “Listen, that was rude. I’ve got to go. Nice seeing you again.”
“What? You’re leaving?”
“Yeah, I have some friends to talk to.”
“You mean Carly?” She said the name with distaste.
“She’s one of them.” I smiled at the rest of the girls. “Have a good evening, ladies.”
I laughed on my way back inside knowing they’d find some other guys to occupy their time. Maybe they could talk to that group of idiots that were bothering Carly earlier.
All the stools at the bar were taken, so I decided to check on Carly again. She was busy seating a group.
“She’s a pretty girl, huh?” Max surprised me.
I turned to look at him. I was in the Grille so much that sometimes he felt like my boss too. “Yeah, she’s pretty.”
“But, she’s your friend’s sister. Remember that.”
“Why does everyone think I need the reminder? Besides, Colin’s not my friend.”
“He’s dating your best friend. You might as well consider him a friend too.” He patted my shoulder. “And we’re reminding you because of that look on your face. I haven’t seen you with it before.”
“I just like her. Colin’s taking up more of Maddy’s time now, and I think a guy needs female friends.”
“But she isn’t Maddy. She’s not like your sister, and if you kiss her it’s not going to feel that way.”
“How’d you know about Maddy and I kissing?” Had she told him about our drunken kiss from years earlier?
He laughed. “I didn’t know you two actually had. I was just assuming it would be the case. There’s no chemistry between you and Maddy, but I saw you and Carly earlier. There’s something there.”
“What?” I forced myself to keep looking at Max instead of back at Carly. “You’re a relationship expert now?”
“I run a bar, and I bartended for years. I know people.” He turned to leave. “Just be smart about this, Macon. A man doesn’t meet a girl he connects with that way every day.”
I shrugged off his words and went to talk to Carly. So what if I found her attractive? I’d already promised Brody I wouldn’t mess around, and Colin would go through the roof. I’d just have to keep things platonic. It couldn’t be that hard.
Chapter Nine
Carly
I slept in until ten o’clock the morning after my first day of work. My feet hurt, and I was so tired I didn’t think I’d ever want to get out of bed. I’d worked until closing, and then ended up hanging out with everyone afterward. Colin was already sleeping by the time we got home, he’d never made it by the Grille, so I didn’t get a chance to ask him about the visit to see Maddy’s parents. I really hoped it went well.
I knew he was already long gone when I made it downstairs, and I wasn’t sure when Maddy would get up, so I changed into a bikini and headed out to the deck to lay out. Colin’s house had a gorgeous view of the ocean. I settled down on a lounge chair and got ready to soak up some sun.
I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up Maddy was sitting in the chair next to me.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to get used to the bright sun. “Hey, I didn’t know you were up.”
“I didn’t know you were asleep.” She laughed before leaning back in the chair. “I was thinking about getting the rest of my stuff from my old room today. That way I can surprise Colin and you can get ready to move in whenever you want.”
“Tha
t’s a great idea. Want me to come help?” I needed something to do anyway. I couldn’t just laze around the house all day.
“I don’t have much more to get, but I’d appreciate the company.” She stood up. “Do you want to get changed first?”
“Oh, I might just keep this on.” I slipped a beach cover up on over my bikini. “I was thinking about heading down to the ocean later.”
“You know what, I might change too. That sounds like fun.” She headed toward the door. “Oh, and do you want to bring over anything with you? It might save you a trip.”
“Good idea.” I collected my towel and followed her in through the French doors.
I grabbed one of my large suitcases that I still hadn’t opened. I wasn’t exactly sure when I was going to officially move in, but it couldn’t hurt to start moving something over.
I wheeled my suitcase out the front door and down the stairs before resting it on the ground next to Maddy’s car. Her car was blocking mine in, so taking hers was the easiest option. When Maddy didn’t come out right away, I leaned back against her trunk.
“Hey, sorry.” Maddy met me at the car a few minutes later. She looked slightly pale.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just still a little under the weather I guess.” She popped the trunk and I tossed my suitcase in.
“Okay.” I decided not to press further. It wasn’t exactly my place.
She unlocked the doors, and we got in. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
I tried to read between the lines of her words. “Moving in with Colin officially?”
“Yeah. We lived together in Paris, and I’ve spent practically every night at his house, but this feels different.” She pulled out of the driveway.
“A good different?” Please be a good different, I said over and over to myself. I glanced at my phone. The first chance I had I was texting Colin. I needed to know how the visit went.
“A very good different. I just never pictured myself as the girl who moved in with a guy like this before marriage.”
“Really?” Maddy didn’t strike me as the most traditional girl.
“Yeah. I don’t know. It just wasn’t the way I envisioned things.”
“Life’s full of surprises like that.” I tried to keep my cool, but I was dying to talk to Colin. If she was talking that way, it meant she’d want the proposal. She wanted to get married. I was practically bursting at the seam.
She glanced over at me as she slowed to let some pedestrians J-walk. Maddy was too nice that way. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I wasn’t very good at hiding things from people. Colin just needed to propose so everything was out in the open.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Her words seemed like they came out of nowhere, but I appreciated them. It was nice to be wanted somewhere. Before long we pulled into the lot of the condo.
I moved to pull my bag out of the trunk, but Maddy stopped me. “Macon or Brody can get it. Those stairs are steeper when you’re lugging something up with you.”
“Oh. I can handle it.” I was okay making my brother do the lifting for me, but otherwise I wasn’t into guys helping me with everything.
“If you’re sure.” She locked her car and headed toward the stairs. I followed behind. Half a flight up I regretted the decision to lug my suitcase myself. The sweltering heat and the way the wheels managed to get wedged in the gap of each stair made the process feel endless.
“Here, let me help.” Maddy reached for it.
“Nope. It’s my bag.” I stubbornly refused her assistance.
She shrugged and took off up the rest of the stairs. Before I made it three steps more the bag was pulled from my hand.
“Next time just ask me to get it from downstairs.”
“I can handle my own bag, Brody.” I didn’t know Brody well yet, but he seemed like such a nice guy. I couldn’t understand how a guy like that was single. Tall, attractive, sweet, and he could cook? He’d be lots of girls’ dream. He wasn’t the star of my dreams though. That position belonged to Macon as of late. Having those thoughts about your new roommate probably wasn’t a good thing.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take it from here.” He easily carried the bag up the final flight. I let out a silent sigh of relief. Hopefully I’d regain the feeling in my arm eventually.
Maddy was already in her room, or I guess it was my room now, when we walked in. I didn’t hear Macon, so I assumed he was at work or something.
She emptied out the last drawer and picked up a few odds and ends from around the room. “I think that’s it. I’ve moved the rest over already.”
“This whole trip was for that?” I could have brought her the bag anytime.
“Yeah, I needed to just do it. I feel like I’ve been dragging my feet this whole time.” She sat down on the bed. She’d striped off the sheets already, and both clean sets sat in a neat pile on the dresser. I guess she didn’t need extra twin sheets.
“Can I be nosy for a second?” I sat down next to her. The mattress felt firm which boded well for some good nights of sleep.
“Sure, I already know what you’re going to ask.”
“You do?”
“You want to know why I’ve been so reluctant to move in fully with Colin.”
I folded my hands in my lap. “That pretty much sums it up.”
“I guess I was scared. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s possible to feel as strongly about him as I do.”
“But that’s a good thing, right? I mean isn’t it great to feel that way?” I wouldn’t know. I’d never been in love before. At least not the kind of ‘I want to spend my life with someone’ love.
“It is, but it’s also terrifying. It’s like suddenly my decisions, and the things I want aren’t just mine.” She looked away for a second. “I’m afraid of letting him down.” She whispered the last words.
“Letting him down?” I turned toward her. “How would you do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is this about your parents? About not getting into med school?”
Maddy had ended up in Corolla after getting rejected from med school. I didn’t know all the details, but from what I gathered, I wasn’t the only one who used a summer in the Outer Banks as a post-graduation escape.
“Maybe. I feel like I’m all over the place lately.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” I put an arm around her. “He’s so in love with you it’s crazy.”
She smiled. “I know. I feel the same way.”
“Then finish getting packed.”
“Are you trying to kick me out?” She wiped her eyes.
“Possibly.”
“In that case, I guess I should go.” She stood up.
“I’m coming with you.” I hopped off the bed.
“Why? What are you afraid of? Didn’t you bring half your stuff with you?”
I laughed. “I figured I should probably tell Colin before I officially move.”
“Why? He’s your brother, not your parent. You’re an adult anyhow.”
“You don’t think he’d care if I didn’t come back tonight?”
She played with a loose string on her cover up. “I never said he wouldn’t care, just that it’s not his decision.”
“What about the rest of my stuff? And my car?”
“It’s up to you, but we can definitely bring everything by. Just give me the keys.”
I tried to get a read. Did she want to get me out of the house? That just didn’t feel like Maddy. Maybe she didn’t want me to chicken out or something. Either way, staying made the most sense. “Ok, you’ll have Colin bring my car and stuff over later?”
“Absolutely. You know he’s going to want to come check on you anyway.”
“Okay, good luck.”
She laughed. “Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?”
“Any last minute advice you have about living with these guys?” I lowered my voice hoping Brody wouldn’t over hear.<
br />
“Don’t sleep with them,” she said completely seriously.
“What?” I’m sure my mouth was hanging open.
“You heard me.” She grinned before heading to the door.
“You don’t know that from experience….” I really doubted it.
“The only experience I’m speaking from is living with them. They can be annoying and full of themselves as is. If you get in their beds it will probably just be worse.”
“Colin would freak if he heard you say that.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t then.” She laughed again. “I’ll call you before we come over later. Enjoy the new place.”
“I think I will.”
“I know you will.” She disappeared through the doorway.
I braced my hands behind me on the bed. What had I gotten myself into?
Chapter Ten
Macon
I pushed open the door to Maddy’s room, ready to give her a hard time for listening to electronic-pop music. It wasn’t her usual taste. “Hey, Maddy, what are you—” I stopped mid-sentence.
“Hey.” Carly gripped a towel tightly around her.
“Oh.” I forced myself to turn away despite the pleasant view of seeing her in just that blue cotton towel. Her skin was slightly red from the hot shower she must have just taken.
“Yeah… could you give me a second?” Her cheeks were red, but otherwise she seemed unconcerned with my entrance. That probably meant she was really embarrassed. She was trying hard to hold it together.
“Oh, sure.” I backed out of the room awkwardly. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
I closed the door securely behind me and walked back to the main room. I made the mental note to start knocking on that door. It wasn’t Maddy, my friend who could care less if I saw her in a towel. It was Carly, the gorgeous girl who also happened to be Colin’s little sister. If I didn’t watch myself she’d think I’d invited her to live with us for other reasons. I hadn’t, and I needed to make up for my little invasion of her privacy.
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