by Dalia Aims
When we get back to the cabin, my brother is still not well. Hangovers are hell when you’re closing in on thirty. We figure we might as well buy more food while we are trekking out in the freezing dead of winter for pharmaceuticals. We weren’t too far from civilization though. The closest grocery store was about twenty minutes away.
Once again, Renee opts to stay behind with Zach. I can see her giving the thumbs up at me out the front window as we peel out of the driveway. She fakes a wave and disappears behind the curtain when Kurt looks her way. He cheerfully waves back. Her and her damn “wingwoman” mission was getting to be a thorn in my side.
It’s a quiet drive to the store. Elevator music crooning from the radio is the only thing breaking the silence. Maybe I need to relish this quiet moment with just us two. We may not get to be like this again once Zach was up and feeling well again. I questioned if my brother could be so blind. Hadn’t he wondered why Kurt would invite me on this trip? Did he really think it was so they would have friendly company to share?
We stroll down the aisles, one by one, throwing odds and ends in the cart. A frozen pizza here, a bundle of bananas there. We’d skipped breakfast so by this time of day we were ravenous. Every other thing on the shelf looked delicious. we’re having so much fun in our domestic bliss that we almost forget to get the things off Zach’s list entirely.
My eyes skim over the laundry list of items my brother has requested. I can’t tell if he’s hungover or dying? The things on his list make it look like he has the flu or the Black Plague or something. He was almost as dramatic as Renee, I think to myself and chuckle out loud. Nevertheless, we make our way through the pharmacy. I try to not make eye contact with Kurt as we pass the condom aisle near the medicines. I can’t help but wonder if he brought protection on this trip. Was he expecting something? Or did he always carry in case the opportunity arose? Also why am I even thinking about this?!
I make myself busy by splitting up with him and going off on my own to retrieve some of the things on the list. We meet again near the registers and unload the contents of our cart on the conveyor belt.
“Oh my my, you two must have a sick little one at home,” the elderly cashier lady eyes their items spread out on the moving track toward her.
I can’t see myself, but I can feel the red, hot blush of embarrassment already creeping into the tips of my ears. I open my mouth to correct her.
“Yes, we certainly do. Our little boy, poor….Zachariah is at home sick,” Kurt lies, looking at me with a glint of mischief in his eyes. He stifles down a laugh when he sees my jaw drop.
“Well, he must just be darling. You two are a beautiful couple,” the cashier beams at us, making sure to take her time moving our products across the scanner. I was used to the city stores where the cashiers were as quick as possible, wanting to get their patrons in and out. But things moved slower out here in the country. They like to make conversation, getting to know they customers, giving them the full small-town hospitality experience.
“Why thank you. He sure is a bundle of joy. Takes after his momma,” Kurt says wrapping an arm around my waist to pull me closer.
“We better get going home to little Zachariah, shouldn’t we honey?” I play along, eager to get back to the cabin to eat. I was never one for improv. I like to have lots of planning, remember?
He’s still smirking about the exaggerated exchange with the cashier about our non-existent child on the way back to the cabin. We spend the rest of the night relaxing on the sofa. I strategically place myself on the love seat next to Renee. We let Zach pick out the movie and get stuck watching some obscure sci-fi action movie that I’ve honestly never even heard of before. I’m zoning out before the bad guys with the laser guns even get off the spaceship.
“Thanks for giving me a recover day guys. Sorry I ruined the party. I think I’ll be good to go tomorrow though,” Zach pipes up during the commercial break.
Kurt jumps at the statement, his large frame shaking the entire sectional. “Town Bar?” he exclaims.
“Town Bar!” Zach mirrors his response with a nod and an excited smile.
I’m training my eyes on the television, but they keep wandering over to Kurt, lounging with his legs kicked out on the chaise where we were that very first night. The memories of his tongue in my mouth have me squirming in my seat. That was the last time we drank.
So tomorrow we’d have another night of drinking. This time at a public bar. We ended up tangled up on the couch after we lowered our inhibitions with alcohol last time. What could go wrong this time?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kurt
I’m dripping with anticipation to take the girls to the Town Bar. It was one of my favorite haunts when I got to be drinking age. Zach and I made sure to visit a couple times every annual holiday trip here. It was always a killer time thanks to the strong drinks and the friendly atmosphere. There was always a surly townie or two but for the most part it was other jolly people enjoying their holidays.
The best part of it was the convenience of it all. They had scored when his family purchased the property decades ago. The location was perfect. Most things like the grocery store, the gas station, hell even the hospital was thirty miles out. But not the Town Bar.
The Town Bar, another staple of the rustic, cabin in the wood’s life, was within walking distance. Many a night, I’d wondered how Zach and I had managed to stumble through a snowy night from the fine drinking establishment to my front door.
When we arrive, the inside of the building is warm and inviting. It is the epitome of rustic with its log tables and trophy buck’s heads mounted on the wall. The walls are littered with rusty license plates and hand painted, kitschy signs that say things like “Gone fishin” and “No working during drinking hours”. Country music is blaring from the speakers and the lighting consists of mason jar lamps.
We order the first round of beers and seat ourselves at a booth in one of the corners farthest from the door. We were all still shivering from the walk over which was only minutes but had chilled us to the bone. I wanted to pull Mona close to me when I saw her shaking in her boots. I’d throw my arm around her and keep her warm. But instead I’m holding myself back. She hadn’t given me a straight answer at the lake earlier, so I wanted to keep my distance.
It’s painfully obvious that Zach is holding back. Usually my boisterous best friend is the life of the party, buying rounds for the other patrons, loudly telling jokes, and challenging me at the pool table. We’ve been here an hour and he’s still sipping his first beer.
The girls on the other hand are enjoying themselves. A group of drunk old men at a table in the corner have bought them a round, as well some townies seated at the bar, twice.
The girls head to the bar to get us another round. I’m keeping my distance, but I can’t keep my eyes off Mona. She’s not quite dancing, but I can see her leaning on the bar, bouncing and swaying her hips as the pop country song pumps from the speakers. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
And then right before my eyes, I see the flanneled townies saunter up to her and Renee. I can’t hear across the music, but it looks like the girls are thanking them for the drinks. The bartender appears with our four beers and the townie reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a wad of cash and tries to pay for the drinks. The girls raise their hands to protest, but eventually give in when he places it directly in the bartenders hand.
Before they can make their way back to the table, one of the townies grabs Mona by the arm. She shakes it free of his grasp. All I see is red. How dare this asshole put his mitts on her.
She clearly didn’t like it, and he clearly doesn’t care because he grabs her again. He pulls her close and and places his other dirty hand on her hip. My blood pressure skyrockets right through the Town Bars roof and into the stratosphere. She pulls away again and gives him a quick slap.
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m out of my seat charging at him. The song ends and, in the pa
use, I can just make out his words to her. “Well you accepted all those drink from us, honey. What did you think we did that for? To be nice?” he laughs, and it makes my lip curl.
“Get your fucking hands off of her,” I bark. I’m ready to kill him. I don’t care if it’s jealousy. I don’t care if she’s not mine. I will protect her to the death. And I’ll be damned if this piece of shit is going to paw at her in front of me.
“Whoa, Hoss, calm down,” he slurs his words.
“Get your hands off of the lady before I break them,” my fists are already balled at my sides ready to swing. “Do you want to lose a few more teeth?”
“I thought you said those guys were your brothers,” the townie says, putting his last two brain cells together.
“That’s the brother,” I jab a thumb towards Zach who’s already hot on my heels. “I’m the boyfriend,” I lie, pulling her over to our side of the metaphorical line that’s been drawn in the sand. For good measure I plant a kiss on the top of her head and muster my cruelest, smug smile for the asshole.
The townie sucks his tooth and removes his vest that has a patch revealing a name: Toby. Toby begins cracking his knuckles preparing for a vicious fight. The bartender runs a hand through his silver beard, pauses the music and holds his hands up. “Hey now, I don’t want any trouble here.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just go boyfriend,” Mona says quietly, tugging my arm toward the exit.
“Consider yourself lucky,” I snarl at him, hoping he wasn’t as stupid as he looked and understood this thinly veiled threat. The four of us turn to leave and I hear him try to get the last word in.
“Don’t ever come here again! Or else! This is my bar! I own this place!”
I stop dead in my tracks and turn back to him. My palms are itching. I am fully ready to pummel this little shit, but Mona steps in front of me. With her small hand on my chest, she looks up at me with those big doe eyes. “Let’s just leave. He’s not worth it,” she pleads.
I don’t move. “Please,” she continues. And I just can’t say no to that face. If that’s what she wants, that’s what she’ll get. I put an arm over her shoulder, and we take our leave into the cold. We walk past Zach who is being held back by Renee.
When he thinks we are out of earshot, we hear the idiot, Toby, shout from the porch of the bar one last time.
“Come back here again and you’re dead!”
CHAPTER NINE
Mona
I have to admit, I’m a bit shaken at what happened at the bar. I’ve never been so blatantly pawed at like that. I probably could have handled it myself but I’m glad I didn’t have to. I’m so thankful that Kurt was there. And I’m thankful that I was there to de-escalate the situation. It had the potential to turn very ugly. I’m thinking like trip-to-the-hospital-for-stitches ugly.
My knight in shining armor was silently stewing as he walks beside me in the night back to the cabin. I can see the muscles of his jaw clenching in that beautiful jawline of his. It was embarrassing how hot he was when he was angry. It made my thighs clench. His biceps pulled at the thin fabric of his Henley shirt when he flexed his fists.
Renee is arm in arm with me. Zach is up front leading the way. My overly animated bother is already recreating the incident with a booming voice and arms waving. This is probably the most exciting action he’s seen in a while. I imagine that this scuffle was something like reliving his teenage-hood.
When we get back to the cabin, we gather on the sectional in the spacious living room to watch a movie. It had become of sort of evening ritual for us since arriving at the snowy oasis. Zach tells Renee it’s her turn to choose. She chooses a chick-flick, rom-com.
“Romantic comedy, Renee? This is not what we should be watching tonight,” Zach jokes. “We need to be watching something with lots of guns and killing. I’m amped after almost rumbling with those dickheads.”
“Yeah, that was crazy. I thought you guys were going to kill those dudes,” Renee says with eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, thanks for sticking up for my little sister,” Zach pats Kurt on the back. “You’re a for-real friend”.
“No problem. Just doing what a good guy would do.” He looks at me and I can read him like a book. I know the guilt in his eyes. I’ve had it behind mine too. He wasn’t just doing what a good guy would do. He did it because we had feelings for each other, whether we could admit that to ourselves or not.
“That whole boyfriend bit was genius too,” Zach continues. “That guy was like steaming green with jealousy, the poor schmuck. Like someone missing that many teeth could be good enough for my little sis” He laughs like it was a hilarious joke. Like nothing could be funnier than if Zach and I were together. Like it was unthinkable.
“Yeah, that’s what I was going for,” Kurt says weakly with a shrug.
“That would be so fucking weird though. My sister and my best friend together,” Zach shakes his head as if the thought is ridiculous.
I feel a surge of anger in my chest like it was shot there from an arrow itself. “And why would that be so weird?” I shout louder than I should. Kurt shoots me a warning glance and Zach just looks at me like I’ve grown a second head.
“What’s so wrong with me,” I ask playing off my remark as just me being offended.
“Nothing is wrong with you,” he throws his hands up as if to say I’m just an innocent bystander.
“Are you saying you want to dictate who I date,” I stand to throw my hands on my hips.
“Of course not, Mona. I just meant that it wouldn’t be right if my little sister dated my best friend. He’s known you since you were a little kid,” his brows are furrowed with confusion. “And it would be fucked up if my best friend wanted to get with my little sister. Why is this such an issue with you?”
He shifts his focus toward Kurt now. “You don’t want to date my little sister, do you?”
A second passes by but it feels like an eternity. Renee is on the edge of her seat, waiting for the drama to unfold. I knew this little family spat was more exciting to her than the movie playing out on the screen in front of us.
Kurt almost winces when he gives his answer. His voice is low and even. “Of course not. I was just protecting her from those townies, like you were.”
It was like a dagger to my heart. That can’t be how he really feels. I felt his true feelings when it was just the two of us at the lake. This has to be a lie. This has to be a front.
“But you can’t tell your sister who to date, you know,” Kurt continues. At least he tried to redeem himself in my eyes. And he’s right. My brother can’t tell me who to date. I’m a grown ass woman.
“Bullshit, I can’t,” my defiant brother declares, planting a seed of rage in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m done with this conversation. Good night.” I announce and then storm off to my room. I may have slammed my door like I used to when I was a toddler having a tantrum, but I don’t care. My brother had made me feel like a child tonight.
I lie in bed with a burning anger flowing from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. Who did my brother think he was? The boss of me? Who is he to ban me from dating someone? What century is this?
I can’t believe I let him hold me back from Kurt. I am fully capable of making my own choices and living with the consequences. And there that night, I make my final decision. I’m living for myself. My brother would have to learn to get over it. I’m going to stop holding myself back. I’m going to stop saying no. I’m going to let myself fall for my brothers’ best friend. And I’m doing to do it tonight.
CHAPTER TEN
Kurt
Tonight was supposed to be all drinks and laughs at the Town Bar, but it did not go down how I envisioned it. I don’t know how it spiraled so quickly. One minute we were doing funny impressions of each other, the next we were almost having a full-on bar brawl, and the next we were having an extremely uncomfortable argument on my couch.
I’m lying in bed, trying to r
emember how it all happened when I hear a muffled thumping noise. It’s so quiet the first time, I thought I’d imagined it. It could have been an animal outside in the bushes. I strain my ears through the darkness, listening. I hear it again, three distinct taps and now I know it’s definitely knocking at my door.
I slip out of my bed and pad my way to the door thinking it must be a dream. I open it a crack and in the sliver of moonlight filtering in I see it’s Mona. My heart jumps into my throat. What could this beautiful creature be doing knocking at my door in the middle of the night? Doesn’t she care her brothers’ room is right across from this one?
I quickly pull her inside and shut the door. She sits herself on my bed watching as I double check to make sure the door is locked behind us. Only this measly piece of old wood stands between us and the hall with her brother sleeping unknowingly on the opposite side of the hall.
I’m afraid to break the silence so I sit on the edge of the bed next to her. She’s stroking the sheets and doesn’t move to break the silence either. There’s only charged eye contact. I want to undress her with my eyes but she’s keeping me captive in her gaze. Mona Fox is on a mission. Her eyes are telling me we are about to do things that we might regret. And somehow I couldn’t wait to complicate my life with her.
She slides further onto the bed, laying in my spot and dips herself under the covers. A devilish twinkle in her eye and a curved finger beckon me closer. There was nothing in this world that would keep me from obeying her every command tonight. I slip under the covers next to her and wait for her to make the first move.
And in an instant everything changes. Our slow and calculated moves become fast and frenzied as her lips crash on mine. My tongue darts inside the farthest corners of her mouth as I intend to devour her whole. I break the kiss only to rip her shirt over her head. I admire how her chest sits in her lacy white bra for a millisecond before I pull her on top of me.