35. Hear Me Out
HEAR ME OUT
Ivy
For such a large SUV, the tension was higher than I was willing to acknowledge.
I’d shoved myself into the third row with Theo and Payton, because if I had to sit next to him, everyone would surely know we’d had sex.
As far as everyone else was concerned, Oliver and I were simply employee and employer. Exactly the way I wanted it.
Did they all know about the kiss? Maybe. Probably.
Was I embarrassed, having jumped directly into his bed the moment opportunity arose? Fuck no.
But I’d also just officially ended a long-term relationship. This was his first relationship since his wife passed away. We were in uncharted territory for the both of us, and I worried if it didn’t go well, if something happened and we crashed and burned, it would hurt our entire friend group.
My best friend and his brother were getting married in three months. My other best friend and his brother were engaged. And my final friend was his baby sister. That didn’t even bring up the topic of him being my boss.
I could find another job—I couldn’t find new friends and make social gatherings with the both of us less awkward.
So no. When I kissed him this morning and told him I wanted to wait to give this thing between us a name, I meant it. And while we were here, I had full intentions of keeping my space from the cowboy who’d single-handedly stolen my heart in a matter of months.
Easy. Simple.
Payton reached over, her hand on my leg. “Just me and you this weekend, boo.”
I smiled. “I thought it was supposed to be the girls together and the boys together. I don’t recall this being a couples-ditch-us weekend.”
Payton nodded, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “That’s true. I think you’re right. You two love birds hear that?” She shot a look at Ember and Aspen.
Aspen turned around from the front seat, her eyes wide in a mock surprise. “Excuse me? I don’t want to hang out with that guy, anyway. I’m about to be bound to him in holy matrimony or whatever. I’m here to drink margaritas with you three and build sandcastles.”
Rowan shot her a look from the driver’s seat, his hand snaking over to her thigh. “You’ve been bound to me since before I knew your name, but I’ll remember that when you try something later.”
“Yuck!” Theo hollered from next to us. “Keep it PG, my man.”
“Oh yeah, I guess we could hang out with Theo, too,” I mumbled jokingly to Payton.
She shrugged. “I’ve spent plenty of time with him. He can amuse himself this weekend.”
Theo let out a groan. “Of all the weekends for Damien to be busy, he picks this weekend. Ridiculous.”
Payton turned to look out the window, and something told me that her making a point to stick by my side wasn’t an accident or a spur-of-the-moment idea.
Rowan finally pulled into a driveway. The two-story home that overlooked the ocean was absolutely perfect. If Oliver’s house was my dream home, this was my dream vacation home.
We all piled out of the SUV, grabbing bags while Rowan ran up with the code to get the key out and opened the front door. He let out a low whistle before he came back down the steps and grabbed Aspen’s bags for her.
“Ivy, it’s perfect. Seriously. Best maid of honor my angel could’ve picked,” he relayed with a smile as his eyes turned back to my best friend.
“Damn, even better than your baby sister?” Payton shot back.
He rolled his eyes. “You stay so damn busy anymore, we would’ve ended up in a motel if left up to you.”
I bit back my laugh and threw an arm around my friend. “Don’t listen to him. You would’ve done amazing. Let’s go pick our bunks so we can make Theo sleep on the floor.”
“Or! Hear me out.” Her voice turned to a whisper. “We grab the pull-out couch together and leave the boys on the bunk bed.”
“I love the way you think.”
“Bunk beds?” Theo questioned as he grabbed the last of the bags.
Payton and I ignored him, running up the stairs after Ember and Aspen. The house was even more stunning than the photos. White walls with dark stained wooden beams, vaulted ceilings, and panoramic windows that showed off a view of the Pacific Ocean.
“Okay, so there should be two bedrooms upstairs with queen beds. A pull-out couch in the living room, and then another bedroom on this level with a set of bunk beds,” I explained.
Payton dropped her bag on the couch with a smile. “Ivy and I call the couch!”
A brush of a hand caught my attention as Oliver walked past me, bag in hand as he went to find the third bedroom. Payton walked over, her eyes wide.
“Unless there’s someone you’d rather share with.” Her voice was low as she gave me a knowing look. One I shrugged off.
“Nope. You’re everything I want and more. The blondes stick together, after all.”
She shook her head, though she was still smiling. “That they do, Ivy. That they do.”
“When was the last vacation you had?” Aspen asked from next to me.
The four of us were lying on a massive blanket in the sand. The sun was setting in the next hour, but no one had made a move to leave. It was safe to say day one of our trip had been a success in the relaxation department.
I let out a small hum as I thought about it. “Mom and Dad took Tessa and I skiing right before my freshman year of high school. Tessa was getting ready to leave for college, and they wanted one more last hurrah before we all went and did adult shit, I guess. What about you?”
I felt her eyes on me, and I turned to look back. Her hand reached over and took mine. “This is the first. Thank you for this, Ivy. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” Her voice was low, but I knew Ember and Payton heard her.
I shrugged, my eyes back to the sky as I blinked away any tears behind my sunglasses.
“Stop making me weepy,” Ember muttered, resulting in a chuckle from Payton, who had just flipped onto her stomach.
“This is the only time I can lie out in the sun and not panic over being burnt to a crisp. If I come back in burnt? Wyatt will never let me live it down, and if I come back in red-eyed? Even worse.”
“If I need to kill any of my brothers for y’all, just let me know.” I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, but I laughed anyway.
“Well, I don’t have a brother, so—” Their laughter cut me off abruptly. All three of them laughed together as if it was previously planned. “Bitches. All three of you.”
Pushing my sunglasses on top of my head, I pushed myself up into a seated position.
“So, when are we going to commit to the cowboy?” Ember asked. “I mean, I do recall you making jokes about needing a Carragan man. Seems as if you’ve caught one’s eyes.”
“I haven’t caught?—”
“Ivy, he’s been on the deck drinking a beer and watching you for the last hour,” Payton interrupted.
Aspen sat up next to me, stretching her arms above her head and looking back over her shoulder. “It’s true. Seems all of them are up there, but only one has his eyes intent upon a certain blonde, and it sure as fuck isn’t his sister.”
“Ew,” Payton muttered.
Ember chuckled. “Don’t worry, Payton. We’ll be back in the vicinity of your man in a couple days.”
Payton rolled back onto her side, facing the three of us, and pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. “What are you talking about?”
“Certain bartender ring a bell?” Aspen questioned.
“You three are really set on this. There is nothing going on with Damien and me. He’s best friends with my brother, and we hang out at his bar. Sometimes I patch him up after a fight. Nothing more, nothing less. Got it?”
The three of us stared at her, as if none of us were buying the shit she was selling. But we seemed to collectively decide to let it go.
Ember was the first to break the silence. “What’s Theo’s deal?”
“What do you mean?” Payton questioned, clearly relieved we were moving onto someone else’s love life.
“I think she means the fact that you’ve never tried to set Theo up with anyone like you have the rest of your bothers,” Aspen explained.
Payton groaned, pushing herself up into a cross-legged position so she could see all of us. “Okay, listen. Between the four of us, okay? This doesn’t get back to the rest of them.”
I looked around before my gaze returned to Payton’s. “Deal.”
“Theo’s been in love one time. Back when we were teenagers. Her family was uber rich. Old money vibes. She lived here maybe a full year before her family up and moved her one night. Claimed she was being shipped off to some private school for girls. Broke Theo’s heart into a billion pieces.”
“So, what? You just leave him alone because he was sad?” Ember asked.
Payton sighed. “No. I just…Theo and I are a lot closer, because we’re only a year and some change apart in age.
When Dad died and the rest of the guys were worried about Mom, I had Theo.
Which is no failing of my brothers, of course, but Theo’s always been my rock.
When Violet left, he absolutely fell apart.
Dad had only been gone two years, and it was as if her leaving without even a goodbye ripped him apart all over again.
Seeing him like that?” She shook her head.
“I’ve never had the heart to push shit. And now he has this job with Julian.
It keeps him busy and home with us. I don’t want to push him. ”
“He’s never tried to find her?” Aspen asked. “Social media or anything?”
Payton nodded. “I have. I’m not sure if he has. But I’ve never been able to find her. I have Wyatt keeping tabs for anything popping up with her name, but it’s like she left Raven Creek and just…disappeared.”
“That is incredibly sad,” I found myself mumbling, lying back down, my eyes back to the now darkening sky.
Payton chuckled. “Now you see why we have to focus on you and my oldest brother instead of Theo and me.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I need a drink. I vote we all go get dressed and scope out the taco scene.” I sat back up, pushing to my feet and dusting any sand off my butt before tossing back on my baggy black T-shirt.
All while I tried to ignore the cowboy’s eyes intent upon me while I threw on the T-shirt I’d stolen from his dresser.