2. Scarlett
scarlett
. . .
It’s him.
I knew it the minute I saw his broad back stretching the material of the black tee to its limit. He turned, and my heart started to pound so hard I wondered if my sisters, who were standing so close to me their shoulders brushed against mine, could hear it. Maybe they could feel it?
Light blue, almost gray eyes connected with mine, and I forgot my name. He was so much better looking than I remembered him to be. But it was more than his looks. It was like something inside me knew him.
“Hey!” Coral waved at the guys, and I tore my eyes from the stranger’s light blue gaze and glanced at my sisters.
They were looking at the guys, not paying any attention to the seriously drop-dead gorgeous stranger in front of them.
“You guys still serving lunch?” Raven asked, and I didn’t miss the way Bash looked at her before his jaw twitched. Hmm, that is interesting. I’d been wondering about that since the party. There had been something about his reaction about her not coming that made me wonder if one of my brother’s best friends had his eye on her.
Not that Onyx noticed.
“For you brats, no,” Onyx joked. I didn’t have to look at my sisters to know the four of us probably rolled our eyes at the same time.
“Yeah, we are,” Bash spoke up, I glanced at Raven, who was looking around the brewery like it was the first time she had seen it. It wasn’t like we had been coming to eat there about every other day for the last week. Interesting!
“We’ll take a table.” Olive pointed at the ones behind us.
For some reason, I couldn’t get my feet to move. I looked at the sexy stranger who had been plaguing my thoughts and dreams since I left the party. He was openly watching me without an expression on his face. Almost like he didn’t remember bumping into me. I opened my mouth, not sure of what to say, and winced. What can I say? He probably didn’t even remember me. I shook my head and followed my sisters, taking a seat next to Olive.
“So… what happened with Trip?” Coral asked like the big sis she was.
“Nothing, it just… you know, it was one of those things.” Oli shrugged like it was no big deal, and I had to clear my throat so I wouldn’t laugh.
“One of those things?” Raven repeated and looked at me as her lips twitched. “Like an itch to get scratched?” she teased me, and I giggled. Olive scoffed and shook her head.
“No, but maybe,” she finally admitted, and the four of us giggled. “It’s okay, though; it’s all over now.”
“Just like that?” Coral asked suspiciously.
“Yup, just like that. He was not the one, more like the one for the night. It was just a hookup.”
I had no idea how Olive did it. She was two years younger than me and a lifetime braver.
One the other hand, I was a twenty-five-year-old virgin afraid of everything. I subtly glanced over my shoulder, sad to see the big hot stranger had turned around and was talking to my brother. At least I got to check out and appreciate the view of his back. And my, oh my, what a back it was. I didn’t have X-ray vision, but it seemed like his back muscles strained and flexed beneath his shirt. My hands itched to touch his skin.
Would he be tatted?
Hairy?
Or smooth skin all over.
“Hey! Earth to Scar!” Olive called, and Rave snickered. I turned and frowned at her.
“What is it?”
“Why are you checking out the old dude?” my rude baby sister asked.
“He’s not old,” I defended and watched Coral’s lips twitch.
“Babe,” she called, her eyes wide like come on !
“What? He isn’t! I mean, yes, he’s older than me, but the guy’s probably like––“
“Forty,” Olive answered, and my brows bunched while my spine straightened.
“What?”
“He’s forty.” She shrugged, and an ugly feeling washed over me. I had never thought of myself as the jealous kind. Having four sisters and a brother, we all learned to share pretty quickly. Olive being the way she was, I didn’t like the idea of her having hooked up with him. Please don’t tell me they hooked up, I prayed silently to a greater power.
“Don’t give me that look!” She laughed. “I didn’t go there. But don’t you know who that is?” she asked quietly, leaning closer to the table. As if being called towards her, Coral, Raven, and I leaned in, too, so we could hear her speak a little lower.
“Who is he?” Raven asked curiously, and again, I didn’t like the idea of them checking him out. What is wrong with me?
“Quien es?” Who is it? Coral asked, and I tried not to show exactly how anxious I was to find out.
“That’s the oldest Hart brother.”
“He’s Austins brother?” I blurted, unable to hide the shock in my voice.
“Geez, smooth, nerd. Relax! He’s just a guy.” Raven bumped my shoulder, and I rolled my eyes. I knew she was right, but I had a feeling she wasn’t at the same time.
There was something about him. My body had never reacted to anyone like it did to him. I couldn’t stop thinking about him and coming up with scenarios that could never possibly happen. “I just mean, they don’t really look like each other.”
“It is, I promise. I saw him when the guys graduated from college.”
“You sure that’s him?” I asked again, showing way too much interest.
“Oh yeah.” She nodded with enthusiasm. “I don’t remember his name, but that’s him,” Olive shared.
“Did you know they all think they’re cursed?” Coral brought up, and my sisters kept talking, but I ignored the rest of the conversation. I couldn’t focus on what they had to say after that. Not through the buzzing in my ears that felt like it was flowing right through every nerve ending from head to toe.
I wanted nothing more than to turn around and ask if I could buy him a drink. But I was too much of a chicken shit to do that. Especially with my sisters there. Not to mention my brother still behind the bar.
Instead, I kept subtly looking over my shoulder throughout lunch. There were even a couple of times when our gazes connected, but again, I couldn’t read him. He’d look away before I could try.
And when he walked out just before we did? I could have sworn he took my heart with him.