Bishop let out another round of laughter. “Dude, where in the hell did you serve?”
With a grin, I slapped his back a bit too hard. “It’s good to be home, and the last thing I want to talk about is my time served. It’s about Willa tonight.”
They all nodded, and Adam shot me a concerned look, one I had seen one too many times.
“Hell yes, it is about Willa! Free and on the market again! Yee-haw!” Bishop said as Hunter smacked him on the back of his head.
“You take two steps toward my baby sister and I’ll arrest your ass,” he warned.
Bishop held up his hand. “Dude, I’m a simple farmer looking to find my bride.”
We all rolled our eyes.
Kyle snorted. “If my memory serves me right, you were married, Bishop, and she left you.”
Bishop slapped his hand over his heart. “Ouch. That hurts, Kyle. Some friend you are.”
Kyle grinned and gave Bishop a tap on the side of his arm. “Keeping it real, dude. Keeping it real.”
Hunter, Kyle, and Bishop started for the inside of Brew’s when Adam took my arm and brought me to a stop. “Aiden, it’s really good to have you home, but if you ever want to talk…”
I closed my eyes and shook my head before I pierced Adam with a cold look. “You’re my friend, Adam. Not my therapist. And I really fucking wish everyone would stop asking if I’m okay. I haven’t even been back in town for two full days. I got shot, my knee is messed up, and I’m home. End of story.”
His brows furrowed. “It’s just, I’ve spent some time at the VA hospital in Boston and—”
I held up my hand. “I. Am. Fine.”
With a smile, he motioned for me to walk into the bar. “Great, then let’s celebrate you coming home.”
Before I could say anything, he added, “And Willa divorcing that douchebag.”
“You guys coming or what?” Kyle called back to us.
I gave Adam a nod and then followed him into the bar, all the while trying desperately to ignore the way my body seemed to tense up and go into overdrive at the thought of seeing Willa again. The last time I’d seen her, she’d had another man’s ring on her finger and a baby in her stomach. And I had never wanted to kill another person as much as I’d wanted to kill the man who had put them both there.
Willa
I knew the moment Bree’s face lit up that my brother was already here. I never could have dreamed it was because of her little surprise for me though.
I turned and smiled as I saw Hunter approaching with one of his best friends, Kyle Graham, walking next to him. Anywhere my brother was, his three best friends were close by. Hunter, Kyle, Adam Smith, and Bishop Harris had never had a problem picking up women when they were all together—which was rare these days. I turned my attention back to Hunter and Kyle, not bothering to look for the other two because I knew they’d be close by.
Hunter stopped in front of me and smiled. “Congratulations, little sis. I prayed this day would come the moment I saw that dickhead get down on one knee.”
Grinning, I reached up to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek. “Wish you would have warned me.”
“Yeah, so do I. The problem was that the bastard knew the game he was playing. The only reason Dad even let you marry him was because you went and got yourself knocked up.”
I scowled at my brother. “Gee, thanks.”
All he did was shrug and say, “It’s the truth.”
And it was. My father hadn’t liked Brian from the moment he’d stepped into our house the first time I’d brought him home. I should have listened to my father when he warned me off of Brian. He’d told me I needed to find a nice boy. His words fluttered back into my memory.
“Willa, he is not the type of boy you need. You need a nice boy. One like Aiden O’Hara.”
The fact that my father had brought up Aiden had pushed me even closer to Brian. Aiden was nowhere in sight. No promises, no hope. And by the time Brian had come around, I was so lonely that I’d craved his attention. And the fact that my father didn’t like him only made me decide I needed to move on from Aiden all the more.
Aiden. How I had missed him. He had sent me so many mixed signals over the years, and I couldn’t help but think of one of them. Aiden had called me on the phone on my birthday, and I’d told him I was dating Brian. I could hear that he was upset in his voice, but he wouldn’t admit it. It wasn’t a secret that Brian and Aiden didn’t get along.
“You deserve to have a man fall to his knees each time you walk into a room. A man who thinks about you and only you. You deserve more than him, Willa.”
I felt my eyes tear up. “Someone like you?”
The silence on the other end of the line was almost too much to take. Then Aiden spoke and his words only made me realize I had been waiting in vain. “No, not someone like me.”
I shook the memory away. Aiden had been right, though, I did deserve more. And so did my son.
Hunter’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “What are you wearing, Willa?”
I glanced down at my dress and smiled. “A dress, Hunter.”
“Are you trying to get my friends’ asses beat tonight? Because if they so much as look at you wrong, I will punch them.”
I laughed and shook my head as Bree made her way over to me. Hunter gave Bree a double take before focusing back on me.
“Seriously, though, you look beautiful. Just don’t leave with any strangers, okay?” he warned like a father figure.
“What am I, fourteen?” I asked as I kissed him on the cheek again. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave with any strangers.”
“You look like you want to hook up with someone tonight,” Hunter stated, a crease between his brows.
“How do you know she won’t?” Bree purred from next to me. She was wearing pretty much the same thing I was, but her black dress showed more boob. My hair had been pulled up into a somewhat elegant bun on the top of my head, with strands of curls framing my face and neck, whereas Bree’s hair was half up and half down. She had on a pair of Jimmy Choos that made her legs look like they went on for days; I wore a pair of red heels we had bought at Annie’s. Her makeup was a bit heavier than mine, but not by much. She looked stunning, and the moment Hunter focused back on her, I knew he had forgotten how to speak.
I lifted my finger and pushed his mouth shut. “Careful there, Hunter. You’re drooling.”
Bree looked pleased as a kitten at my brother’s reaction. She could have any guy in this bar, and her sights were set on my brother, as were most of the women’s in Brew’s. He was a looker, with dark hair, eyes the color of a green meadow, and a nice body, thanks to his daily workout schedule and being a police officer. Hunter had broken a few hearts in his time, and he was the first person to tell you marriage was in no way on the table for him.
“Who is this?” Hunter asked, pushing me playfully out of the way.
“Hey!” I said, placing my hands on my hips. “Hunter, you remember Brighton Rogers. Bree, my brother Hunter.”
Hunter took a few steps back. “Brighton? Black-glasses-and-baggy-sweatpants Brighton?”
She frowned as she stared up at him. Even with her heels on, my brother towered over her at six-foot-two. “The one and the same.”