Page 73 of Highball Rush
I chuckled a little at that. George was too big for us to throw in the lake, even if we all took a limb. The guy could hold his liquor, too. It had taken an impressive amount of moonshine to get him drunk. But that trebuchet toss had become the stuff of legend.
“He’ll show,” Jonah said.
My phone buzzed, so I wiped a smear of paint on my jeans and took it out of my pocket. I had a text from Callie. She’d sent me a picture of herself wearing a fluffy white bathrobe. She was at the spa with the girls while the rest of us helped Bowie paint the gym.
Ordinarily, I’d have grumbled about that. We were busting our asses to help Bowie out, and they got to get massages and manicures and shit?
But I loved seeing Callie having fun, even if I was stuck here with these shitheads.
She’d been skittish about coming into town for a few days, but I’d spread the word about that Lee Williams prick to my family, and they’d been keeping an eye out. No sightings of him, so we figured he’d left town. Probably just been here that day. No one else remembered seeing him.
I didn’t for a second think we could let our guard down. But she was with Scarlett today, so I wasn’t worried. My sister was a force to be reckoned with.
All things considered, I was in a decent mood. Sleep helped. I’d spent the last week sleeping in my own bed again. My couch wasn’t bad, but this was better, especially because Callie was in there with me. She snuggled up to me every night and I fell asleep to the feel of her breathing.
It was pretty fucking great.
Maya was still my girlfriend in public, and we acted every bit the couple. I’d even planted a kiss on her lips right in front of Myrt Crabapple and Old Jefferson Waverly outside the Brunch Club yesterday.
In private, when she was Callie, was where things were getting real. Instead of keeping my distance, I held her closer. Kissed her more. Slept cuddled in bed with her. Woke to her scent, and usually her long hair in my face.
That was pretty fucking great, too. Even her hair.
I dipped the roller in the paint and rolled it on the wall, leaving a wide streak of dark blue.
“How’s progress on the house?” Bowie asked, glancing at Devlin.
Even in an old Cock Spurs t-shirt and paint-splattered shorts, Devlin looked like a suit. He and my sister were such a mismatched couple. But he made her happy, and he treated her like gold. She loved him, so that was good enough for me. Dev was on my short list of people I actually liked.
“Walls are going up on the second floor,” Devlin said. “It’s starting to look like a house. How’s married life treating you?”
“Best thing ever,” Bowie said, rolling more paint on the wall.
Weird shit was happening. Bowie was married. Jameson was planning a wedding. The only reason Scarlett lacked a ring on her finger was her stubborn insistence on keeping her promise to Mom. She and Dev were building their dream home together. Even Jonah had given up the bachelor life for Shelby.
A few weeks ago, I’d have left them all to their funerals. Get hitched and tie myself to a woman? Hell, no. Why would anyone go and do a thing like that?
It was crazy how fast a man’s perspective could change.
Less than three weeks. That’s how long it had been since I’d opened my front door to find Callie Kendall standing there. Less than three weeks since she’d jumped into my arms and sent my entire world into a tailspin.
That wasn’t enough time to know anything, was it? Not enough time to fall in love, even if I had known her before. When I thought about it like that, it seemed crazy.
My problem was, I had no idea what love actually felt like. Maybe I was still riding the high of seeing her again. Of having her reappear when I’d thought she was gone forever.
But that kiss. I could still feel it. The way her lips had pressed against mine. Her arms draped around my neck. I’d kissed her plenty of times since then, but that was all we’d done. Like we were a new couple, getting to know each other. Not wanting to rush it.
Was that normal? I had no idea what I was doing.
“Gibs?” Bowie asked.
I startled, realizing I’d been staring at the wall with the roller in the paint tray. “Shit.”
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, fine.” I rolled off the excess paint and got out of his way.
“You sure?” he asked. “Everything okay with Maya?”
