Chapter 7 #2
Levi had walked up to Free, handing over one of the highballs of bourbon.
Freeman stood facing the fire, wearing a black Carhartt vest that had been left unzipped over a black button-down shirt.
The cuffs were buttoned at his wrists, and a black ball cap covered his dark brown hair, though the brim had been turned backward.
The lower portion of his face was shadowed with a dark beard as usual, but it was trimmed short and well-groomed.
Well-worn, well-fitted jeans encased his legs down to the black cowboy boots on his feet.
Shaun recognized Roxsanna Roberts’ vibrant red hair where she stood next to Freeman, her backside close to the fire, and she was bundled up in what looked like several layers of jackets. Roxy was one of Free’s best friends and was standing with Free as a ‘grooms-maid’ in their wedding in December.
Shaun stumbled slightly when she realized the man standing next to Roxy was Kasey, his back to the fire, facing Free.
His back was to her and Jodi as they approached, and she took just a moment to admire the way the dark jeans he wore fit his long thighs and cupped his ass.
His black leather jacket covered his back, but made his broad, hard shoulders look even broader.
He turned his head slightly, and she watched him in profile as he took a drink from a clear plastic cup in one of his hands.
His fingers were long and held the cup loosely.
She swallowed hard and hated that she started to imagine what those fingers could do to her, how they would feel against her skin, fisting in her hair—
Shaun skidded to a halt, snapping to herself, dammit woman, pull yourself together! Just because you haven’t gotten any action in seven months doesn’t mean you need to jump on that bandwagon!
Jodi stumbled to a stop, too, her arm still linked with Shaun’s. She saw Jodi glance up at her before twisting her head back to where Kasey stood.
“Are you going to be okay?” Jodi asked.
Taking a drink of her cocktail, she nodded. “Yep.”
“There’s my beautiful bride,” Free said then, and Shaun’s throat closed at the apparent adoration in his voice.
Roxy and Kasey turned, and though she steeled herself, she was not fully prepared for when Kasey’s eyes met hers from across the flames.
The temperature had dropped into the mid-sixties as the sun went down, and although she only had on jeans and a sweater, she suddenly felt like it was ninety degrees inside her clothing.
Jodi disengaged her arm from Shaun’s and walked around the fire to her fiancé, who held out one arm to let her slide beneath it.
Free leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Jodi’s head.
A light breeze rustled her hair, and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear.
She watched as Kasey lifted his cup to his lips again, his eyes never leaving hers.
Pulling her cell phone out of her back pocket when she felt it vibrate, she sighed heavily and let her shoulders drop.
It was a text from Zoey, apologizing that she and her husband Chase wouldn’t be able to make it to the party after all, as their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter had developed a fever.
She tucked the phone back into her pocket and lifted her eyes to the crowd once more.
Roxy waved from across the fire and Shaun lifted her free hand to wave back. “Hiya, Shaun,” the redhead said, coming around the fire to stand next to her. Roxy was tall, but still stood several inches shorter than her. Kasey’s eyes never left her as Roxy made her way toward her.
“Hey,” Shaun said, lifting her glass to her lips again, willing the alcohol to calm her frazzled nerves. Why did he have to affect her so! Turning to look at Roxy, she asked, “How was your flight?”
“It was fine,” she said, her Texas accent heavy as she spoke. “Layover in Chicago wasn’t too long, thankfully. And the little puddle jumper flight to Traverse City was a breeze.”
Shaun nodded and took a drink of her cocktail, turning slightly so that she wasn’t looking directly at Kasey, who still stood across the fire from her.
He was talking with Jodi, Free, and Levi, and over the music and the sound of the crackling of the fire, she could hear that low drawl that made her knees weak.
“How are things down south?” Shaun asked Roxy.
The redhead shrugged her shoulders, taking a drink of her own cocktail. “They’re alright. Calmed down some, finally.”
“No more trouble from the ex?” she asked, her brows drawing together.
Jodi had confided in her the harrowing story of how Roxy’s ex-boyfriend had gotten physically abusive at the end of their relationship.
Roxy had left him, moved in with Free down in Texas, and had gotten a restraining order, but while Free was in Michigan for his brother Shane’s wedding last fall, her ex had accosted her one night on her way home and beat her into a bloody mess.
“He hasn’t shown his face in over a year,” Roxy said, shifting from one foot to the other, and Shaun saw the way her mouth tightened just the slightest. “Good riddance, if you ask me.”
Shaun motioned awkwardly to her face and said, “Looks like everything healed.”
Roxy snorted and took another drink of her cocktail before saying sourly, “For the most part, yes. I still have this scar—” she said and pointed to the left side of her bottom lip, where Shaun could see a jagged white scar that bisected her lip and down below the pink fullness of it to her chin, “—and the vision in my left eye is still a little blurry. He rocked my shit pretty hard.”
“Don’t you get nervous being alone?” Tessa asked from where she sat in the chairs to their right.
“Nah,” Roxy said and lifted one shoulder. She motioned toward Kasey, and Shaun’s eyes found his again. “Kasey checks in pretty regularly, when he’s not on the road, anyway. And Bobby, the landlord, checks in a lot, too.”
“It would be a helluva lot easier to check in on you if you ever answered your damn cell phone,” Kasey grumbled over the fire. The redhead stuck her tongue out at him.
“You know our offer still stands, too,” Free said then and Jodi nodded.
“What offer?” Shaun asked, pulling her gaze away from Kasey. He had hunkered down, pouring a hefty portion of what looked like expensive bourbon into his empty cup before standing.
“They’re trying to get me to move up here,” Roxy said and laughed while shaking her head. “I’m not made for the cold.”
“You’re also not made for a body bag,” Free muttered, but it was good natured. The friendship between the three of them was obvious. “Kasey is gone most of the year and I’m up here full time now.”
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Roxy snapped, and Shaun almost laughed. She liked Roxy. She seemed to keep Free and Kasey on their toes.
Levi’s deep voice rumbled over the fire from where he stood beside Jodi and Free, addressing Roxy, “As a native Texan myself, I can assure you that you will get used to the cold. I back Free and Jodi’s offer.
If you ever feel unsafe, please don’t hesitate to take them up on it.
As a father, I’d rather see you have to bundle up in extra layers than the alternative.
” Gesturing around them to the gathering crowd, he rumbled, “This here is family. You’re a part of that, now. We take care of our own.”
Shaun’s nose tingled slightly with emotion, and she smiled over at her dad at his heartfelt words.
Jodi cleared her throat and wrapped her arm around Freeman’s waist and said to them all earnestly, “We are so glad that you all were able to make it this weekend for our engagement party, and we cannot wait to have you all standing with us in a month and a half when we say ‘I do’. It means the world to us, you guys.”
Kasey winked over at Jodi and said, “I’ll have the getaway car on standby if you need it, doll.”
“Fuck off,” Free laughed then, reaching out and shoving Kasey hard on the shoulder. “Get your own Kendall woman. This one is mine.”
Shaun’s breath hitched in her throat when Kasey’s gray-blue eyes found hers across the fire, and she could read the message in them loud and clear; Don’t mind if I do.