Page 89 of All Autumn
Would she ever be able to learn to trust me? She had no reason to. I had a history of avoiding relationships, of which she was fully aware. Add to that the fact I hadn’t told her I was falling in love with her, and it wasn’t a surprise that she’d panicked if she was falling for me, too. As far as she knew, I was still on board with our having some fun together and nothing more.
I knew in my heart that I would never cheat on her. For one, I understood what that would do to her, and I would never hurt my best friend like that. And although I’d sworn never to fall in love, I had, and it was with the most amazing woman I knew. But what to do about it?
“I don’t want you to make the same mistake as me.”
“He speaks.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “And what mistake is that?” The river wasn’t wide at our place to talk, and in the quiet of the night, our voices carried without having to raise them.
“I didn’t fight for Savannah when I should have.”
“Exactly what did happen between you two?”
Adam stood and walked to the water’s edge. “It doesn’t matter anymore. The time for Savannah and me has passed. But it doesn’t have to be like that for you. Autumn loves you, Connor, and she could be the best thing that happened to you. Don’t let that slip through your fingers.”
He picked up some rocks and began skipping them across the water. “And don’t use me as your excuse. That’s not fair to you or Autumn, and frankly, it pisses me off.”
“Stop reading my mind, bro.”
He chuckled. “I’ll always be able to read your mind.”
“Works both ways,” I grumbled.
“My point is, you have a chance to be happy. I mean, really happy. Or you can go through life having meaningless relationships.” He threw another stone across the top of the water. “Like me.”
After tossing that out there, he turned and walked away, and I felt his heavy retreating footsteps in my heart. But it was that very pain that told me I didn’t want to be like him. I didn’t want a life of regrets.
It wasn’t something that I’d ever thought before, but sitting here in the dark, hurting for my brother, I believed that Adam and I were destined to only love one woman in our lifetime.
Mary stoodin front of us, glittery gold hair sparkling under the neon lights of Town Hall and looking a lot like Tinker Bell in a shimmering green dress and matching boots, smirking as her gaze roamed over us.
My eyes hurt looking at her, and I wished I’d brought my sunglasses in with me. I glanced nervously at the door that had been locked behind us, the one that Sarah Griffin, captain of our police department, and Kim Payton, junior detective, stood guard over, smirks matching Mary’s on both their faces.
I was afraid. Very, very afraid.
“Not a one of you made an appointment with Renee, so she’s here today to give you a chest that women all the way to Atlanta are going to drool over.”
Thirteen men stared in horror at Mary, and then, as one, our gazes swung to Renee from Hair for All Seasons. Damn if she wasn’t smirking, too. Standing alongside her were three stylists I recognized from her salon, their expressions mimicking Renee’s.
“I’m outta here,” Gene Lanier, Dylan’s lead detective, said, heading for the door.
Kim crossed her arms over her chest, blocking his exit. “You might be my boss when we’re on duty, but in this I get to tell you what to do. Sit. Down.”
“What she said,” Sarah said.
Gene turned to Dylan. “You’re the chief of police. I demand you fire both of these traitors right now.”
Sarah and Kim snorted.
Dylan grinned at his detective. “Give it up, Gene. The ladies have outmaneuvered us.” He leaned back in his chair and winked at Mary. “Doesn’t mean we aren’t going to get our payback,” he said in a stage whisper, then shifted his gaze to Sarah and Kim, an evil smile on his face. “Carry on, ladies, at your own peril.”
They both grinned. “Whatever you get up to, Chief, will be worth hearing all thirteen of you guys scream when all your chest hair is ripped off,” Kim said, sounding too cheerful.
Us guyssucked in a painful breath, and Renee hadn’t even touched us yet. “We can make a break for it, since we outnumber them,” I muttered. “They can find some other twins for June.”
“I’m on board with that plan,” Adam said from my left side.
On my right Dylan chuckled. “Pretty sure they’ll shoot us if we tried.”
“Shirts off, boys,” Renee said, way too much glee in her voice.
