“Hey,” I whisper, tucking some of my hair behind my ear.
“This is my husband, Rylan and his cousin, Wyatt,” she introduces. Both men hold out their hands for me to shake.
My trembling hand slips in theirs and I whisper a very quiet hello to each of them. Rylan grins, giving me a wink. Wyatt smiles warmly and I just want to crawl into a hole and die.
“Did y’all hear about the secret concert?” I blurt, trying to come up with something to say so that I don’t just stand in front of them like a complete weirdo.
Rylan lifts his gaze to Wyatt’s and I watch as they share a knowing smile with one another, then they turn toward me.
“Yeah, we’re fixin’ to go, you?” Rylan asks.
I shrug a shoulder. “I don’t even know how to get tickets, but it just sounds so fun and I haven’t been to a show in forever,” I admit.
“You guys can get a couple extra tickets, can’t you?” Channing asks, her eyes widening as she looks between her husband and Wyatt.
Wyatt clears his throat, shaking his head once then turns toward me. “You really want to go?” he asks.
“Laurie, my co-worker, and I just found out about it this morning. But the town is just abuzz with the news.”
Wyatt nods then lifts his chin toward Rylan who clears his throat and turns toward me. “I got a couple of extra tickets, you want them, they’re yours,” he offers with a grin.
“Seriously?” I breathe. “Free cut and color next time you come in, Channing,” I offer.
She blinks then shakes her head. “I couldn’t…” Her words trail off, but Wyatt lifts his hand to stop her from continuing.
It’s weird and it makes me a little more nervous than I already am, which means my hands are now trembling because I’m a social mess.
“She’d love that, Hutton, thanks,” Wyatt smiles.
I blink. “How’d you know my name?” I breathe, since Channing didn’t say it, and neither did I.
Wyatt’s lips turn up into a grin. “I remember you from high school, babe.”
My foot takes a step back as I feel a blow of surprise slam against my chest. “You do?” I whisper.
Wyatt chuckles. “Pretty, shy, quiet. Yeah, I remember you…” His phone rings and I watch a different kind of smile, a warm one, cross his face. “My wife, I need to take this,” he says as he slips out of the booth.
“Anyway, please say you’ll take the tickets. We’re all going, it’ll be fun, you girls can hang with us,” Channing offers, bouncing slightly in her chair.
“Okay,” I agree without thinking about it.
“Yay,” she says, her smile widening. “I’ll call you, or come by, when it gets closer and set everything up?”
“Sure.” I nod just as Marie appears with my bag of food. I thank Marie and take another step back. “I’ll see you soon, and I’m serious about the free cut and color, or style for the show.”
She sits up a little higher. “Yes, how about me and Wyatt’s wife, Exeter, come by before the show and we can all get ready together? The guys can just meet us there?” She looks between me and Rylan and he smiles as if she’s the most adorable creature he’s ever seen in his entire life.
“Sounds good to me, sweetheart,” he murmurs.
“I’ll call you and set up the date and time,” she offers.
“Okay.” I smile, giving her a small wave.
I walk out of the diner, feeling weird, but good. Wyatt wasn’t wrong when he said I was shy, I am, extremely. My only bold thing that I’ve ever done, personally, was to let Beaumont in ten years ago and that did nothing but bite me in the ass.
This is different, this feels good. I’ve never been one to make friends easily, it’s really just been me and Laurie over the years. But I like Channing and I hope that we can be friends. She seems like a lot of fun. Maybe this is the beginning of widening my circle of friends.
BEAUMONT
The plane lands in the small Burnet airport. There is zero fanfare, the only person that I see on the tarmac is Louis. He’s leaning against his truck, his mirrored shades pointed in my direction. He looked like the mean badass motherfucker that he is.
Stepping down the plane’s small stairs, I make my way toward him. I don’t have any luggage. I don’t need any. My house has everything that I need already stocked, except food. Making my way toward Louis, I watch as he pushes off of the car as his lips turn up into a smirk.
“Brother,” he rumbles as he throws his arm around me and pats my back a couple of times.
“Fuck, feels good to be back in Texas,” I admit, slapping his shoulder as well.
He takes a step back, taking his shades off and stares down at me. He’s a behemoth of a man, but deep down he’s one of the best guys that I know, kindest with the biggest heart, too.
“Glad to have you back, missed the shit out of you. Channing had her baby, Wyatt got married, it’s been busy as fuck around here, you missed all the action as we’ve been missin’ you,” he murmurs.
I dip my chin. “Can’t wait to officially meet Exeter and baby Reese.”
“They want to do a dinner tonight, figured you needed a couple hours to settle in first,” he explains as we climb into his pickup.
I tug my seatbelt on, inhaling a deep breath, then let it out. I need to get the initial meeting over with. I know that it’s going to be awkward, it’s going to be uncomfortable, but it needs to be done. I’ve been avoiding everyone for far too long at this point.
“What about you, Louis? You good?” I ask. “What’s new?”
He clears his throat, his fingers tightening on his steering wheel. “Nothin’ now,” he grunts.
“What’s that mean?” I ask, thankful that the conversation has shifted from me to him.
He lets out a heavy sigh. “Started seein’ someone in town. Didn’t work out, she went back to her ex.” He shrugs, but it’s too late, I can tell that he’s affected.
“Who?”
“You know Tulip?”
I let the name roll around in my head. It’s not one that someone would easily forget, but I can’t seem to recall anyone with that name in town.
“She works at the grocery store. Anyway, Exeter and Channing befriended her. We all went to a movie one night and then…”
“You had a one-night stand, and you caught feelings?” I ask, arching a brow.
He reaches out, lightly punching me in the arm, except his light is fucking hard. I wince, reaching up to rub my bicep. He chuckles at my expense as he turns down the dirt road that leads to my home.
“I did. But she went back to her ex the next week. I felt so fucking stupid, still do.”
“But you like her?” I ask.
He nods. “Yeah, I mean she’s a cute little thing, but I liked that she didn’t even know who I was and when she found out, she didn’t give a fuck. I mean, obviously since she went back to some shitbag of an ex.”
“How do you know he’s a shitbag?” I ask as I use my phone to find my gate opening app.
Louis snorts. “He is. I know his type. Lives in her place for free, doesn’t work while she busts her ass to pay their bills. Reminds me of my mom,” he rumbles as I touch the button on my phone and watch as my gate begins to slowly open.