Page 30 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
Walking into the barn, I checked on the horses. Thankfully, my favorite ol’ guy was chipper today—that would definitely play into my favor this evening.
“You look like shit,” Oliver muttered as he looked over at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Gee, good morning to you, too, big brother. How was your evening?”
“Are you sleeping at night?” he asked, ignoring my question completely.
I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “Is it that obvious?”
His arms folded over his and he arched a brow at me. “Is this over the girl?”
I debated my answer, which for me was a rare thing indeed. Normally, I just spouted off whatever was in my head at the time and thought about the consequences later. This was different, though. I wanted them to love Aspen as much as I did—and no, I wasn’t looking too deeply into that thought process right now. But I couldn’t tell him that I was obsessed with this woman, and she was driving me insane.
“It’s the girl,” he said after a moment.
“It isn’t what you think,” I replied quickly.
“What do you think I think?”
“That she isn’t good for me and I should stick to what I know and stop being obsessed with some chick I just met,” I muttered.
Oliver busted out laughing. “Oh, okay. Well, I guess I’ll just fuck off with what I was going to say.”
“That…that wasn’t it?”
“I was going to say that the best ones drive you the craziest. Make sure you bring her by soon so we can meet her.” He slapped me on the back in that loving brotherly way and walked out of the barn, leaving me speechless. The best ones drive you the craziest? That was his advice?
“Well, fuck! Let me tell you how crazy she makes me!” I yelled after him.
“Nope, don’t want to know about the insane shit my brother has been up to! You look like you’ve been sleeping in your truck, and that tells me enough,” Oliver yelled back.
I smiled because he wasn’t wrong in the least.
14
COMFORTABLE AND AT EASE
Aspen
The restof the week passed quickly. Between work, spending time with Ivy, trying not to think about my upcoming date, and apparently drinking too much wine and losing a whole pair of shorts in the process, I’d done a wonderful job distracting myself. But of course, that only worked for so long before life crept up on you. When I wasn’t having incredibly vivid dreams of the man in question, I was mentally panicking over our upcoming date.
Said date was about two hours from now, and Ivy was on her way over to help me prepare for whatever it was that man had planned. He just told me to dress nice, comfortable, and be excited. No idea what that meant in terms of a date.
I was sitting on my couch in my black fuzzy robe when Ivy walked in the front door. Thankfully, she had a key so she could just let herself in. I watched as she walked in carrying a large tote, wearing a smile on her face that I knew spelled out trouble of the girlie variety for me.
“What in the world did you bring? It’s just a casual date…it’s not the MET Gala or something.” Was I being slightly whiny? Yes.
“I know you’re only saying that because you’re nervous, not because you’re judging me for being excited for you. So, I’m choosing to let it slide this time.” She dropped the massive tote bag next to me on the couch and started emptying the contents beside me. “Okay, so I brought everything we could possibly need. I already know what you’re doing, so maybe just trust me on this setup, okay? Try not to dig too deep into the meaning and question me too much.” She paused unloading and stared at me. “Assuming you can manage that.”
I stared at her for a moment, anxiety bubbling inside of me. I was choosing to ignore the comment about me being unable to question shit. She knew me too well to even bother lying. “What do you mean you know? He told you?”
She smiled. “Well, I had to ask and find out how to help you get ready, right?”
“Ugh, Ivy! What are we doing?” I whined. I was excited, deep down past the anxious feelings that were setting up residence in my chest. I’d never been on arealdate before. Sam and I had just started talking, and then heproclaimedus boyfriend and girlfriend. After my dad died, we moved in together, and that was that. All of this, Ivy knew, which would explain why she was so adamant about helping me get ready and trying to settle any nerves she knew I’d have. “You didn’t…you didn’t tell him, did you? About this being my first actual date,” I whispered as I toyed with the cord on the curling wand she’d pulled out.
She stood back up and looked down at me, her brows pulled together. “Aspen, I would never. If you want to tell him, you can. But that isn’t my place. I just want to help, I promise.” A small, encouraging smile graced her pale pink lips, and I returned the gesture. “Now, something comfy but cute, of course. Warm,definitely. So don’t skimp on the layers but also don’t overdo it. But, onto more important things. Curly or straight?” she asked and held up her curling wand and straightener in opposite hands.
I chuckled and pointed to the wand. “Make me pretty, darling.”
