5. Clint
FIVE
CLINT
Being back on the sales floor at Ramsey Outfitters, my family’s sporting goods store, felt more than a little surreal after a year on deployment. I half expected to wake up for patrol any minute, with sand in places sand had no business being. It had happened before. Many times.
Instead, I spotted Merideth Williams prowling the men’s shoe section, probably looking for a fresh pair of something for her teenaged son, Britt, who’d been growing like a weed even before I left town. There were some out-of-towners browsing the fishing gear. I could still spot them easily.
Though all three of us had done every job in the store, the retail area wasn’t my usual job. I skewed toward being a guide for fishing excursions, hiking, and camping trips, since the actual outdoors was my happy place. But Mom and Dad wanted to give me a week or two to settle back into civilian life before they dumped any regular duties back on me. I appreciated the consideration and the latitude to ease back in at my own pace.
Paige eyed me over the stack of summer-weight athletic wear she was marking down with a price gun. “You okay? You seem a little out of it this morning.”
“Didn’t sleep great.” It would be awhile before I fully settled back into deep sleep, without the anticipation of needing to leap up for action in a second.
“Something on your mind?”
At her clear tongue-in-cheek tone, I went brows up. “Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Like a certain bookstore owner who gave you a very enthusiastic greeting when you got off the bus.”
Damn if that didn’t put my brain back on how it had felt to have Austen wrapped around me, the weight of her in my hands, her mouth inches from mine…
Shut that shit down, Ramsey.
“Austen and I are just friends. She’s given monkey hugs since she was little.”
“She’s not little now.”
No, she definitely is not. But I really had to redirect my sister onto another topic before I popped a boner in the middle of the store.
“There something happening in your own dating life that’s got you seeing something where there’s nothing?”
“The topic of my love life is off limits. And I don’t think I’m seeing nothing. You immediately disappeared to talk to her at the party last night. I’m just saying, you two seem close.”
I’d circle back to the topic of her love life at some point. Right now, I was more concerned with getting her off mine.
“We’re friends. And she wanted updates on Rhett, since the ass couldn’t be bothered to fill his own family in about his situation.”
“Uh huh. And was that why she was sneaking up the stairs to your place last night?” Her pursed lips and eyebrow waggle made is 1000% clear she believed Austen had come for a welcome-home booty call.
“First of all, she didn’t sneak. She walked. Her mom sent leftovers. You know how Mrs. MacAvoy is always trying to feed us.”
“She stayed a while for somebody dropping off leftovers.”
I stared at Paige. “Are you spying on me, little sister?”
“Not as such. It happens I was out walking Luna and her SUV was still parked there when we headed back. There’s nothing wrong with you getting a more personal welcome home.”
With a quick, hunting look around the store to check for prying eyes and ears, I grabbed my sister’s arm and towed her into the storeroom.
“Let me be completely clear: I am not sleeping with Austen. She was there for a while because she was upset about something.”
“And she came to you to talk about it?”
Skepticism dripped from her tone. And, okay, I was the guy people came to for help moving furniture or planning a surprise party, not the one sought out for emotional support. But it wasn’t like I was some idiot completely lacking in emotional intelligence.
“Well, she’s hardly going to ask Rhett to be her date to her cousin’s wedding, even if he was here.”
“Explain.”
No getting around it now. She wouldn’t let this go until I gave her something .
“Austen just found out that her ex is going to be a groomsman at her cousin’s wedding and is bringing his new girlfriend. She’s got a bunch of nosy matchmaking relatives to boot and doesn’t want to show up solo. I’m doing her a favor.”
Now Paige was the who’d gone brows up. “Honestly, I know y’all are friends, but I’m kind of surprised she asked you.”
“Well, she didn’t exactly ask. I volunteered to help because she just looked so fucking uncomfortable at having to face the whole situation. So she just accepted my offer. And why wouldn’t she have asked?”
“Because you’re one of her brother’s best friends. I’d think she’d be weird about that.”
“It’s not weird.” If I kept telling myself that, maybe I’d start to believe it. Though I was definitely not thinking about how Rhett would react to this whole situation. That was a problem for Future Me.
Paige searched my face. “This is more than a favor. You like her.”
I could deny it. But maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have someone else’s opinion. I certainly couldn’t talk to Rhett, and Gabe wasn’t the sort of person to talk to about this. He had his own issues. Maybe Kellan, but he seemed to have his hands full with… honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure what. He and Tate had been joined at the hip at the party last night. If he was going full-steam ahead on his part of the pact, he didn’t have time for my shit.
I scrubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “I am kind of hoping this might become more than a favor, yes.”
When my sister only stared at me, I got twitchy.
“You disapprove. You think this is a terrible idea.”
“On the contrary, I think this is a fantastic idea. You and Austen make sense.”
“Really?”
“Sure. You’ve got lots of history. Lots in common. She’s got the right level of energy for you, and you have the right level of crazy for her. But those matchmaking relatives need to see you as a boyfriend, not just a wedding date. If you want this to work, you need to be seen together before the wedding, so it’s not out of the blue that you two could be dating. That means you need to take her out, start shifting both her and everyone else’s expectations of who you are and how you are together.”
She was right. If we just showed up together, locals would know we were friends and might just assume it was the pity date Austen had initially believed I’d been offering. To make the asswipe ex jealous, I needed to look like her boyfriend for real.
I wrapped an arm around Paige’s shoulders. “There’s a reason that you’re the smart one.”
She tipped her head to my shoulder and patted my chest. “Well, obviously. So, what are you going to do?”
“I have an idea.”