Page 3 of No Way Home
“Bull crap.” She gave my knee a hard flick.
I tilted away to look at her, shocked. “Excuse me?”
“Just…” She threw her hands up. “Be honest. At least with yourself. You like her. A lot.”
“Liked. Past tense.”
“Bull crap,” she said again, a scowl cutting lines into her forehead.
“That was a year ago. Griff would never forgive me. There’s no point in even entertaining it.”
She sighed. “I just miss her. Miss the dynamic of having her around.”
I knew what she meant. Maggie fit in with this family of country music stars, authors, actors, and professional athletes. Not because she was all about riding our coattails, but because she wasn’t. Maggie was one of the only girls I’d ever met who didn’t get starry-eyed by the last names Dupree or Bishop. If anything, our surnames were a deterrent for her.
“You need to make some girlfriends.” I bumped Charlie’s shoulder. “You’re tired of being around a bunch of guys. Admit it. Living in an RV with your smelly husband grates on your nerves. He probably leaves hair all over the toilet. Doesn’t rinse the sink after he brushes his teeth. Farts in his sleep.”
She giggled, but then it faded. “Actually, Cash is pretty dang perfect.” She gazed at her husband of two months, who was setting up tables for the reception. Like I should’ve been. Cash was another of my cousins. My uncle Ashton adopted Charlie when he married her mom, Tally. So, when Charlie married Cash, she became a double Dupree. Dupree squared, as Cash liked to call her. She sighed, watching him. “I could be happy even if we were the only two people on earth.”
“Wouldn’t miss the rest of us at all, huh?”
She gave me a soft smile. “You know what I mean. He completes me.”
“Okay, Jerry McGuire.”
“He does,” she said matter-of-factly. “We’re great together.”
“You are.” So perfect, I would’ve been disgusted if I didn’t love them both so much.
Her big brown eyes turned down. “But you know who else would be great together?”
“Charlie,” I warned.
Her hands flew out. “Just think about it. We’ll find someone else for Griffin.”
“It’s not that easy and you know it.”
She turned toward me. “She’s still gutted about how everything went down. I think…she misses you.”
“Did she say th-at?” my hope-filled voice cracked. I don’t know why. There was no way we could be together, even if that’s what she wanted. Which I highly doubted. Would it be flattering if Magnolia missed me? Yes. But I didn’t want her hurting over this.
I’d hurt enough for both of us.
I mean, what kind of horrible person kisses his brother’s girlfriend? Fine. What kind of horrible person kisses his brother’s girlfriendback? Magnolia had kissed me first.
Pshaw. Like it even mattered. It was all terrible, regardless. So terrible, in fact, that Griff could hardly stand to be in the same room with me even now, a solid twelve months later.
“No, she didn’t say it in words. But I could tell.” Charlie hooked an arm around mine and lay her head on my shoulder. “Just think about it.”
But that was the thing. I already did.Allthe time.
I leaned my cheek against her hair and closed my eyes. And just like always, Magnolia’s face appeared. It was the last time we’d trained together before the race—the night before Griff forbade me from training with her anymore. Her green eyes were wide, laughing at something I’d said. She tipped her head toward the trail on Dupree Ranch, urging me to run with her. I obediently followed. Our strides synced almost immediately.
I loved running. Always had. But running with Magnolia? Flying over the trail? Flinging her up over the six-foot wall, my hands wrapped around her waist? I felt so…alive. I counted the minutes until I’d meet up with her the next night to train. All day long, I could hardly focus on anything else, a constant fizz of anticipation in my gut.
Ishould’ve known better. There is no way you fall in love with your brother’s girlfriend and it turns into a happily ever after. Not for me, her, or Griff.
“Wish I’d never been paired with her,” I whispered, my chest aching.
