Chapter 8
EIGHT
CHLOE
“Make a wish.”
At Savanna’s direction to him, Archer hesitated for a beat before he blew out the candles on the cake I’d baked and brought with me tonight.
This was supposed to be a happy occasion. And for the most part, it was. Everyone else was having a wonderful time. To some degree, I was as well.
I mean, I was with my closest friends, and we were out at Big Lou’s Restaurant and Saloon, celebrating Archer’s birthday. Any time all of us were together, it was a blast.
But I’d have been lying if I said there wasn’t something weighing on my mind. For now, I was merely glad for any opportunity to be distracted.
After the candles were out, the server took the cake to slice it up for us to share. And that’s when the guys decided it was necessary to give Archer a hard time.
“You better step up your game, man,” Taj said.
“In what way? We’re in the off season now,” Archer returned.
“This isn’t about snowboarding,” my brother Kingston informed him.
Though all the guys were close, Kingston, Archer, and Taj had a special relationship because of snowboarding.
Each of us—guys and girls—had grown up around the sport, but with Taj as the new CEO of Blackman Boards and Kingston and Archer as professional riders for the company’s team, they spent a substantial amount of time together.
Archer lived for the sport, so it was no surprise he thought this conversation was about it, too.
“What else would I need to step my game up for?” he asked.
Seated directly across from me, Ace answered, “I think this is about you not having found a woman yet.”
Archer’s brow furrowed. “I’m not looking to settle down yet.”
“Yeah, big bro, we know.” Phoenix laughed. “And that’s the problem. You’re getting old now. Don’t you think it’s time? Aren’t you worried about the lack of prospects on the horizon?”
Shaking his head, Archer said, “I’m not worried at all. It’ll come in due time. I’m focused on snowboarding now, especially with the Olympics next winter.”
I didn’t get the nonchalance. Archer had always been such a well-liked guy.
It didn’t appear there was any shortage of women interested in him.
And I guess he had enough fun when he wasn’t focused on snowboarding, but I found it strange he wasn’t interested in making one of those women the one he decided to get serious with.
Archer wasn’t the least bit bothered that he was the oldest of the group and hadn’t found what Taj had found with Olivia. Then again, it seemed that none of the guys were in a huge hurry to get there.
And with the exception of Tessa, who’d recently started dating a guy, nobody else had been so lucky.
“But it’s something you eventually want, right?” Mia asked him.
Feigning indifference, he shrugged. “Sure. I guess so.”
“Maybe he’ll feel differently when the right girl stumbles into his life,” his sister Harper reasoned.
“Yeah, as long as he hasn’t already met her and passed over her,” Lark mumbled.
Archer had enough. “Do I need to remind all of you that it’s my birthday? You’re supposed to be nice to me, not spending your time complaining about my love life. Except for Taj, and maybe Tessa, which I’m not exactly thrilled about, none of you have any room to speak.”
“It’s not for lack of trying, though,” I blurted, my thoughts drifting to Hawk.
Everyone’s eyes came in my direction, but it was my brother who asked, “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
I snapped my lips together.
“Ooh, yes. Tell us what we missed,” Lark demanded.
“Yeah, have you met someone?” Savanna questioned me.
Great.
Just great.
The last thing I needed was to talk about my guy troubles with my overprotective brother around.
I waved my hand in the air dismissively, sending a look Mia’s way that I hoped indicated she needed to keep quiet.
“It doesn’t mean anything. I’m just saying that some of us are willing to try to find what Taj and Olivia have.
I mean, look at them. Why would you not want to find the person that makes you as happy as they make each other? ”
“Aw, thanks, babe,” Olivia said, smiling at me.
I winked at her.
The server came back with the cake, passed it out to everyone, and we dove in. That was the point at which the conversation shifted away from Archer’s romantic life. We enjoyed dessert together, and afterward, the whole gang took off upstairs to the saloon to continue the celebration.
The girls and I went to find a couple of tables while the guys made their way to the bar to grab drinks. Once I was seated with only the women around, Tessa asked, “So, what’s really going on with you, Chloe?”
“What?”
“Downstairs. You said enough to make us all think there’s something you’re not telling us,” she clarified.
My shoulders rounded. “I met a guy.”
“Really?” Olivia said. “That’s great news.”
Nodding, I agreed, “Yeah, it is.”
“So, tell us about him.”
“Well, I met this great guy. He’s honestly the hottest man I’ve ever laid my eyes on. And while he was a bit standoffish in the beginning, I was persistent, and we became friendly. It was nice.”
Curiosity in her tone, Harper said, “This sounds great. Why do you seem like you’re so upset?”
I released a heavy sigh. “Because with each encounter, I misinterpreted everything. I thought the way he’d look at me, or get shy, or offer to help was his way of showing interest in me. My mistake was believing there was a mutual attraction between us.”
Mia gasped. “What did you do?”
Heat crept over my cheeks at the mortification I still felt at the memory of what had happened that day. But this wasn’t the time to be embarrassed. It’d help me feel better if I got this off my chest.
So, I told the girls everything from the moment I first met him until now. Or, until roughly two and a half weeks ago.
I shared how Joyce had gotten involved, helping where she could, and how I’d taken the steps to put myself in Hawk’s space as often as I could without it seeming so obvious.
Once I’d started sharing, I didn’t hold back.
They learned about how Hawk had helped me the day it rained and how he sat and had lunch with me the last day we spoke.
And finally, I told them about how our last encounter had gone. How I foolishly misread everything he’d been doing as attraction and assumed he was just so shy that I had to be the one to make a move.
“I can’t believe he turned you down,” Tessa said.
Olivia nodded her agreement. “Yeah, I’m so sorry, Chloe.”
“It makes no sense,” Mia declared. “If he wasn’t into you, why do any of it? Why be nice like that at all?”
I huffed. “Why look at me like he did and tell me that the cakes, fries, and tots I ate looked good on me? It felt like he was trying to communicate his attraction without coming right out with it. Would any of you have thought differently?”
“Nope.” Lark shook her head. “Commenting on my body like that, eating out of my hands, and being willing to stand in the rain to help me carry things into your shop would’ve been all the proof I needed that the man liked what I had to offer.”
A loud groan of frustration and irritation escaped. “Olivia and Tessa, I hope you both know just how lucky you are right now.”
“Oh, I know it,” Olivia assured me. “Taj is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I don’t take that for granted for even one second. I’ve been on the wrong side of this already, so I know something good when I see it.”
Tessa added, “Ryan and I are still new, as you know, but it’s been great so far. He’s never made me feel like he wasn’t into me. In fact, with the way things have been between us, he’s got me thinking about taking that step with him.”
My eyes rounded, and a few of the girls gasped. “Really?”
In our group, there were a few who hadn’t gone that far with any guy yet. Tessa was one of them. And for her to feel like she might be ready to take that step with Ryan made me think it wouldn’t be long before she was right where Olivia was with Taj.
She beamed at us. “Yes. I still want to give us more time to be sure before I go there with him, but I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Savanna reached out and curled her fingers around Tessa’s forearm. “I’m thrilled for you, Tess. This is so exciting.”
“Thanks.”
My sister felt compelled to return the conversation back to me. “What are you going to do, Chloe?”
It figured. She didn’t like it when any one of us was hurting, but with me, she felt a duty to be even more protective.
Shrugging, I confessed, “I’m not really sure there’s anything I can do, Mia. The guy isn’t interested in me.”
“I don’t think that’s true, though,” she insisted.
Arching a questioning brow, I noted, “He said as much.”
“Yes, but remember what you told us about what Joyce shared with you. That there were some people who had a hard time seeing what they needed. And she said life hadn’t been kind to him.
Maybe he really does feel an attraction, since his actions prove as much, but he’s got some demons he’s fighting. ”
“In case there was any doubt about it, Mia is the romance author in the group,” Harper announced. “Girl, I love the hopeful attitude.”
Mia tucked her chin toward her chest and smiled. “I want my sister to be happy.”
My lips tipped up as my eyes met Mia’s. Maybe I didn’t get what I wanted when it came to Hawk, but at least I couldn’t say I didn’t have people who loved me around me.
The guys finally made it over to the table, so the conversation about Hawk and my nonexistent love life came to a halt. We chatted with them for a while, and eventually the girls got up to head out to dance.
Except for me.
Feeling so bummed about the situation with Hawk, I just wasn’t feeling up to it.
But perhaps I should’ve thought about what I was doing, about the message I was sending. Because the men noticed.
“What’s up with you?” Ace asked, scooting over to sit in the chair beside mine.
“Nothing. Why?”
My brother happened to slide into the chair on my opposite side. “It doesn’t seem like nothing. Just like I don’t believe it was nothing downstairs, either.”
I exaggerated an eye roll. “Oh my gosh, you guys are crazy. I’m fine.”
“We didn’t say you weren’t fine. We can see that you’re fine,” Phoenix chimed in. “But something’s on your mind.”
“What would give you that impression?” I asked, doing anything I could to stall.
“Babe,” Archer said. “You’re sitting here with us instead of dancing out there with the girls.”
Sweeping my hand, palm up, out in front of me, I said, “Well, it’s your birthday, Archer. I think it’s important to celebrate with you.”
Taj chimed in. “If I had to guess, this is about a guy.”
I growled. “I’m fine! There is no guy.”
The guys jerked back at my outburst. Well, all of them besides my brother. Kingston put his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “Was there one?”
Shaking my head, I murmured, “No. Not really.”
“What does that mean?” Ace asked.
Kingston might’ve been my only blood relative sitting at this table, but all of these men were like overprotective brothers to me.
And being such, they weren’t going to just pretend something wasn’t wrong.
I couldn’t fault them for it. It was nice to know they cared.
But where I could talk to the girls about everything, I just couldn’t do the same with them.
Unfortunately, I had to give them something so they’d forget about this and move on. So they’d get back to celebrating Archer.
“It means I liked a guy, and the feelings weren’t mutual.”
“What?!” Phoenix was dumbfounded.
“What?” I countered. “You think that’s an impossibility?”
He shot me a look that said as much as Taj replied, “Yeah. Absolutely.”
“How? You don’t believe people can have preferences?”
Archer explained, “People can have preferences, but I’m not sure what preference someone could possibly have that would mean the feelings weren’t mutual.”
I squinted. “I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means that you’re Chloe Cunningham,” Ace explained.
“And any man should consider himself lucky to have my sister even look in his direction.”
My shoulders fell, and my heart squeezed. “Guys, you’re being sweet.”
“We’re being honest.”
Smiling, I said, “I appreciate it. And I promise I’m going to be alright.
Now, can we please drop this? It was much more fun talking about why Archer hasn’t found a girl.
But since it’s his birthday, why don’t we discuss the rest of you.
” Looking to my right, I pinned my eyes on Ace.
“What’s your deal? Why haven’t you found a girl? ”
The men groaned, Ace laughed, and I let out a sigh of relief.
I wished I could’ve avoided the entire conversation with them, but I had to admit it could’ve been worse. They cared, and that was something I couldn’t feel bad about.