“And what exactly is your type again?” He shakes his head and takes a swig of his beer.
“That’s not relevant here. The point is I don’t date.”
“Are you ever?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never did tell me how your meeting went with Bree.”
Bree again. The subject of the day.
“It went as expected. Can we please get back to me? I’m in a real dilemma here. He wants me with Miranda and a wedding date.”
“I think you should come clean, and even then, I don’t think he’s going to change his mind.”
“Me neither. I want the business Logan. It’s on my fucking mind twenty-four seven since he told me about it. It feels like the shift in my life and I was going to take that sabbatical and head to Cape Cod.”
He knows about that. His face softens but he shakes his head.
“Do the two have to be synonymous? I mean you could still take the trip.”
“I could but I don’t think I could be away for as long as I want to be.” That’s the part we haven’t talked about and what I’m not sure about myself.
“And how long’s that?”
“I was thinking of starting with six months.”
His mouth drops. “What? I thought you’d be away for a maybe a month. This is different.”
“Yeah, because this is about me letting go of the past and I think it might change me. I don’t really want to be here when that happens.”
“Why? Home’s the best place to be if you feel like that.”
“I don’t know. That’s the answer. Maybe I just need to get wasted in Vegas and then I’ll be able to see straight. Wish you were coming with us.”
He’s not going for obvious reasons. The trip we plan to have isn’t for the married or guys with girlfriends.
“Those crazy days are over, and I have everything I want inside that house.” He nods looking over at the house where Quinn currently is cooking dinner.
“I’m happy for you.”
“I know you are. Now I gotta figure out how to help you and I can’t other than telling you to see what happens. Maybe he’s right in ways and this might give you the nudge to at least do relationships.”
I shake my head at him. We talked and I’m still on square one.
What did I expect though? The only answer to this is the one I keep coming up with.
Get married.
Chapter 10
Bree
I’m late heading to the barbeque but I walk with a bounce in my step as I get out of my car.
I just saw the house.
The house in Pine Valley and it was beautiful. The place is only under offer because the floor needs to be restored on the left side of the house and the grounds revamped. That’s it. I can work with that.
Shelby and I did a grand tour, and it took a little over three hours because the agent allowed us time to frolic on the grounds of the property. And frolic we did.
I’ve never felt so close to owning anything before in my life and this is a home I’m buying to turn into a business. If I do get it, I think I’d still want to keep my apartment but now I’ve been there I’m not sure.
I’m a firm a believer in not mixing work with my home life, but that might be the exception.
The only thing left to do now is to get it.
I put my name down and my offer for three hundred thousand. If I get it, I’ll have the deposit ready for the mortgage and I’d just need to speak to the bank.
The realtor told me there were ten people who’d applied, and we were the last to view the property. She liked us but it’s not up to her. The owner has that final say and they’re interested in whoever offers the most.
My worry is the place would have attracted people who were already looking to spend a million dollars and my meagre offer will look like exactly that. Meagre.
It doesn’t matter.
I have my fingers crossed.
What matters is that I’ve done it and it’s something to hope for.
I glance at my watch and quicken my pace when I see it’s ten thirty.
I am beat. I just want to lay my head on my pillow and dream of owning the Pine Valley house, but I needed to be here for Logan and Quinn. They’ve been looking forward to today for a long time.
The traffic coming back into this side of town was horrendous so I’m more than two hours late and the party started late anyway to accommodate everyone’s work schedule. It also started late to account for everyone who’s going to Vegas tomorrow.
When I get to the corner of the house laughter greets me. Everyone’s here. A few steps closer and I could be transported right back to high school.
Logan stands with his friends: Ethan, Bryce, Denver, and a few others I recognize from school.
There’s also family dotted here and there like Logan’s father and sister. Quinn’s birth mother, Heather, is here too with her husband and Quinn’s half-brothers.
Heather is standing by the barbeque with a chef’s hat on her head and an apron with the slogan- Kiss the Cook. She’s preparing another round of burgers.
Quinn is with our friends: Mary, Tennessee, and Clarissa.
Everyone has a drink of some kind in their hands, and they all look like their having fun. I love barbeques at night there’s a certain homey feel to them.
I hold the little cheesecake I picked up closer to my chest and make my way over to the girls.
When I get closer Ethan looks my way. He doesn’t smile but he dips his head and I do the same.
Bryce sees me too and eyes me with open admiration.
I look away at that point, from both of them. Both mystified me. Bryce was never as bad as Ethan in the past so years ago when he asked me out, I agreed to go out on a date. I thought he liked me so we planned a second date but the asshole stood me up.
The excuse he gave weeks later about his car breaking down and losing my number was so lame I just called him out on his bullshit and walked away. We haven’t seen each other much since and I don’t talk to him if I can help it. Pretty much like the rest of them.
Quinn smiles when she sees me, and she rushes over to me. She knew I was going to be looking at the house.
I was supposed to be working with her today, but I knew she’d be in good hands with Heather. Heather is usually here a few days a week to help her with her classes anyway but since finding out about the baby, she’s been here more often.
“You brought cake, cheesecake. Please tell me it’s New York,” she beams clasping her hands.
“It’s New York and from that shop you love near the entrance to Wrightsville Beach.” Another reason I’m late.
“You’re the best. I’ve been craving cheesecake all day.” She takes the cake, and we continue walking over to the other girls who are looking eagerly at me.
At least I know they aren’t watching me because I’m here solo. They’re all married, and their husbands aren’t here. They tend to join us for bigger events that take place over the weekend when they’re free.
Mary’s husband is a surgeon and Tennessee and Clarissa’s husbands work together in Charlotte as senior partners a big law firm.
“Hi girls,” I say with a wave.
“Hello Bree, Quinn told us about your business idea,” Mary says.
I gave her permission to. I knew it would divert them from talking about Liev. Although I’m a firm believer in not counting my chickens before they hatch and not jinxing things, I thought this could be the exception.
I need it to be.
“What do you guys think?” I bring my hands together nervously.
“Are you kidding?” Tennessee asks. She sounds more Southern like me because hence the name she’s actually from Tennessee. Her parents weren’t that creative when it came to her name. “Sign us up, honey. I needed that day spa from years ago. Tell us all about your idea.”
“Of course,” I agree and that’s how I spend the next hour.
It’s refresh
ing to talk about my dreams in such a way amongst friends who support me. They might not all have believed in me at certain points in my life, but they did always support my ideas.
The conversation is great for that whole time, and no one asks about Liev. I was geared up to tell them we broke up but since they didn’t ask, I plan to tell them another time.
Suddenly Quinn complains about her stomach only because she somehow managed to eat the whole cheesecake, but the other girls took that as an invite to talk about childbirth. Apart from me, Tennesse is the only one without kids, but she and her husband have been trying for years so she’s all clued up on birthing techniques—which is what they’re talking about now.
So, not my thing. I have nothing against children and I want to have them some day but once again I’m the odd one out and now I don’t have Liev, I’m the single odd one out.
The conversation continues like that for nearly another hour. I sit there as still as a scarecrow listening, but my awareness is working, and I feel eyes on me from time to time.
I don’t need to turn to know who they belong to. That’s what happens to you when you have years of practice from staying away from Ethan Carson.
“I think I need another burger,” Quinn says shuffling to get up.
While I’m surprised she can fit any more food in that teeny tiny stomach of hers I’ve been waiting for an excuse like this to leave the conversation. I didn’t want to go to the bathroom because then I’d have to get closer to Ethan to get in the house.
“Let me get it for you,” I offer. “Is the burger all you want?”
“Oh, I’d love a hotdog too. Just tell my mom I’m hungry again, she’ll know what to do.”
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks so much. Oh, and Bree could you also get me that fluffy blanket Logan bought me from his trip.”
Eww, that dreadful thing that looks like an old sheep dog. “Of course. Food first?”
“Yes, I can’t believe I’m starving again. It’s like I haven’t eaten a thing.” She giggles and glances in awe at her stomach.
“Don’t worry I’ll grab the food for you.”
I do and Heather knows exactly what Quinn wants. I take Quinn her food and it smells so good I decide to go back to Heather and ask her to make me the same before I grab the blanket from inside the house.
“Could I have those relish things too please?” I add just as Heather places the beef patty on the grill.
“Of course, I’ll give you my special Jack D blend,” Heather says with a proud smile. She looks like she’s loving being the cook far too much.
“I still find it hard to think of you as a burger person,” Ethan says from behind me.
I turn to face him while Logan’s dad starts talking to Heather.
It’s dark. We’re lit by the host of outsight lights and the moon that have cast a silver amber glow on everyone else, but it’s made his eyes look otherworldly.
They seem even more striking than in the daylight.
“Why is that?” He made that burger comment to me before. It was a while back when I had the misfortune of running into him at the diner in town Quinn and I practically lived in in our teens. “You’re not going to tell me some shit like you think I look like I should stay away from them because it will go straight to my ever-growing hips.”
He chuckles. “You have ever growing hips?”
“I’m not skinny.” I’m curvy and athletic and I like it that way. I tried skinny before and it made my boobs sag.
“No, you look like Marylin Monroe.”
For a moment I just stare because I don’t know how to take that. I’m not used to this guy saying anything other than shit to me so when he pays me something that sounds an awful lot like a compliment I don’t know how to react.
“I’m sorry, did you just give me a compliment?” I squint at him and look him up and down.
“I guess I did. And if I were you, I’d be careful who you tell about those ever growing hips especially with the assholes you tend to attract.”
I’m sure I’m not going to be able to forget my trip to the police station any time soon, and if not for him I could have ended up at Guantanamo Bay with no hope of ever seeing another sunrise again.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you for saving me from the same fate as Liev.” I don’t want to know what happened to Liev since the arrest. I’m assuming it could have been any of the number of things Ethan listed. All I say is, serves him right and may he have whatever comeuppance God has in store for his lying ass.
“That’s okay. I think you learned your lesson.”
“I did, but honestly, thank you for taking care of it. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t help me the way you did.”
This feels like something new for us. I’m about to explore when laughter steals the moment right away before it can even take residence in my mind.
We both look at Bryce standing paces away from us. He’s holding a bottle of beer and looks wasted. There’s a Jack Nicholson from the Shining smile pasted on his face, and it grows wider when he looks from Ethan to me and settles on Ethan.
“I don’t think this is fair,” he slurs. “She gets to thank you because you look like the good old cop while I look like some creep.”
“Bryce you’ve had too much to drink. Why don’t you go take a walk,” Ethan tells him.
I was inclined to agree, but Ethan looks guilty. I’m used to that look too.
“Are you kidding me? I’m not that drunk and she shouldn’t be thanking you when you set up that whole arrest with Liev to teach her a lesson.”
My mouth nearly smashes into the ground, and I snap my gaze to Ethan so fast I nearly break my neck.
“What is he talking about?”
“Nothing,” Ethan says quickly. “Bryce stop.”
“No, fuck you. She should know the truth.” He turns his attention to me. “Bree Ethan set that whole thing up to scare you, so you’d think twice about dating men like Liev. You were never implicated in any way. The cops could have left you alone, but they were under strict orders from their senior, Detective Carson to bring you in as you were.”
“Oh my God!” I rasp out looking at them both. My gaze settles on Ethan and I just know everything Bryce is saying is true. “Did you really do that to me?”
I’m so loud everyone is looking at us.
“Yes, but… I can explain.”
“Oh my God.” I ball my hands into tight fists getting ready to punch him.
“Bree—”
My hand flies up and I stop his next words with the slap I’ve been dying to land across his face for months. Years. It’s actually been years. My hand was looking for any excuse. I’ve had several, but this is the closest I’ve been to him, and this shitty shenanigan is a damn good excuse to give it to him. What a fucking asshole he is. I knew he could hit below the belt, but that was low.
Ethan looks shocked by the slap but like he knows he deserved it. Damn right he did. If I were a man, we’d be down on the ground fighting it out and I’d beat him until he turned black and blue.
“You bastard.”
“Bree—”
“No,” I cut him off again. “You are such and asshole. All my life I’ve been kind to you, and you’ve just been plain old mean and horrible to me.” He has and now my damn night is utterly ruined, even with the excitement of the house.
“I can explain.”
“How can you explain any of that to me?” Is he for real? “What you did was so wrong on all levels. You had me arrested and told me I could go to Guantanamo Bay. You said Homeland security and Interpol would come after me if I left the country. I was taken to the police station in my underwear! Then you grilled me about my sex life. How do you explain that, you fucking asshole?”
I push him, shoving him as hard as I can but of course he doesn’t even move because he’s made of granite. All I manage to do when my hands connect with his rock hard abs is hurt myself.
; “I can explain everything,” Bryce kindly offers, like he’s not an asshole too. “Ethan is the same dick from high school. He thinks he’s your white knight like Bruce Wayne or fucking Batman or whatever the hell. Your own personal vigilante to stop you from hooking up with the bad guys.”
“Bryce shut the hell up!” Ethan retorts.
“I don’t think so, if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me. So Bree, Ethan was the reason Bobby Fairchild never took you to the prom. He was a dick too who just wanted to collect your virginity like the Pied Piper he was. Ethan stopped him in his tracks. Ethan is also why Sam Daneman and Jim Stenner mysteriously stopped dating you. Fast forward to adulthood, Ethan was why we never had that second date. He stopped me from seeing you. He kicked my ass when I told him I really wanted to bang you. Then he threatened to shoot off my dick if I ever saw you again. That’s Ethan Carson for you. Fuck knows what else he might have done.”
My whole body is on fire. I’m so hot I could combust.
I feel like someone threw me into the sun and the longer I stare at Ethan the hotter I become. But it’s not just rage that’s coursing through me. There’s something else. It feels like shock, but I don’t think that’s a strong enough word to describe the emotion.
“Bree, I…” Ethan attempts but his voice trails off when Logan and Denver approach.
“I’m going home,” I say before anyone else can talk.
At this point I’m certain anything anyone else says will make me feel worse than I do.
“Bree, wait.”
When I back away, Ethan takes one step forward but Logan places one firm hand on his shoulder stopping him from moving. Denver—who’s normally Ethan’s wingman—gives him a hard disapproving look.
When I turn around, I see the girls were just behind me—all of them. Just like high school when Ethan did some shit to me.
But this isn’t high school anymore. In a few months I’m going to be thirty. I can’t run off and cry in the locker room or run home to my parents and ask them to make me muffins so I can feel better.
So I leave before I can draw any more attention to myself.
Out of Bounds: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Sinful Bachelors Book 2) Page 6