Chapter 5
SHELBY
For a long moment, blessed numbness and denial were all I could feel. But the soft moaning of the body partially beneath me told me that he probably felt a lot more than that. I gently rolled off of Briggs and sat up.
The entire group stared at us. Stared at me.
Their eyes wide. Cade’s mouth was open like he had been in mid-sentence before the crash.
The noise from the playground was absent.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. So many seconds.
Lots of blinking. No noise. The moment frozen in time.
Somebody, for the love, needed to say something.
“She’s better on the court, Briggs,” Jake interjected slowly, his voice a welcoming break into the stunned silence. “Maybe play with her there.”
I shot him a look of death, but that only caused his lips to curl, which was fair, since I was literally buried under a pile of hot dogs and paper plates.
But Jake’s comment did as he probably intended—lightened the mood.
I was able to breathe an awkward sigh of relief when Briggs began laughing, rubbing his forehead gingerly.
The rest of the shocked group of onlookers spurred quickly into action, helping put the table back to rights.
Jake was by my side before I could move, pulling me up. Not able to deal with his teasing just yet, I sent an apologetic look toward my unintended victim.
“Don’t think a little assault and battery is going to scare me off, Shelby,” Briggs teased, wiping hot dog juice off his arm. “We’ll have to settle this tomorrow night on the courts? 8:00?”
He looked at me hopefully. I couldn’t help but be grateful that he was being so kind about it all, even teasing me to take the sting out of everything. For that, I’d give him one basketball game.
“Deal. I’m so sorry.”
“Do I have any hot dog in my hair?”
“You look great, buddy,” Jake supplied cheerfully while I buried my head in shame, making both guys laugh.
Finally, Briggs waved me off while taking another seat.
Across the fire from me.
Actions definitely spoke louder than words. I became grateful when Tessa and Kelsey drew me into their conversation, easing my embarrassment—if that were even possible.
The night grew late, and soon enough, most of the group gathered their kids, said their goodbyes, and meandered back to their homes. Briggs, obviously too scared to get too close to me again, only waved while attempting to stifle a slight limp as he walked away.
Eventually, it was only Jake and me seated around the waning campfire.
The path of the smoke had pushed Jake to take a seat next to me on a log.
Sophie seemed content for the moment on the swings, singing softly to herself.
My eyes remained fixated on the fire, which had slowly dissipated into white ash and embers.
I could feel his eyes on me, but I refused to look over at the lanky cowboy.
I didn’t need his laughing eyes burning into mine. I refused to acknowledge—
“What in the hell was that?”
A gurgle of mortified laughter sprang from my lips. My hands covered my face, attempting to block him out. Only Jake and his low, country-boy drawl could get that reaction from me when I felt this self-conscious.
“Why did you take out Briggs? He’s not that bad.”
“That was a flirt. That was my flirting.”
A low whistle hummed through the air, above the crackle of the fire. “Wow.”
“Yeah.”
I picked at the shorts and cute striped t-shirt I’d picked for tonight’s outfit and tried to drown out the dejection I felt.
Arriving at the bonfire, I felt so good in the clothes I’d chosen.
I had been sure that they would project onto me all the confident, good vibes I needed.
Though, I had imagined myself talking more with Jake.
Briggs had surprised me by attaching himself to my side, and I hadn’t fully prepared for him to be so flirtatious in front of everyone.
“I gotta say…that tackle,” Jake began. “Great form. I didn’t know you played football for Montana too.”
I bumped my shoulder into his until his husky laughter brought another smile to my lips.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Kelsey’s voice called out softly. We turned to find her smiling at us while making her way around the logs surrounding the waning fire. She grabbed a blue jacket sitting in the dirt, caked in a layer of dust.
“Luke forgot this.”
“That looks too clean to be Luke’s,” Jake said.
She gave the coat a good shake, a cloud of dust falling off as she did so, and laughed. “You’re right. It’s probably Wyatt’s, and he’s just blaming it on his brother.”
“Anyway…” She lingered, throwing us each a smile as she backed away, heading in the direction of her white farmhouse situated on the far side of the dude ranch, tucked down a small, private lane. “I’ll let you two catch up. What time should I plan on Sophie tomorrow?” she called out to Jake.
“I’m going to have her help me feed a few cows first thing, and then I’ll bring her to you around eight.”
“Sounds great. Good night.”
“Are those guys going to act like that around us all summer?” I asked once Kelsey had moved out of earshot.
Jake poked at a log in the fire with a stick. “Oh, you noticed? I thought they were all being extremely subtle.”
I laughed. “Is that why you didn’t sit by me?”
“Hard to get over there with Briggs fawning all over you.”
“He wasn’t fawning.” He shot me a look that only made me laugh. “I’m just his only option.”
His brow furrowed. “Why do you say that?”
I looked at him, startled by the intensity in his voice. “Say what?”
“Why do you act like it’s crazy that he’s into you?”
“Because that’s not normal for me.”
“Why not?”
To his credit, he genuinely looked baffled, which caused my heart to flutter appreciatively.
I shrugged. “I can talk to guys when it’s casual. It’s when stuff gets flirty or when we’re in a situation that doesn’t require me to do a chest bump or a high five for a goodnight…that’s when things go haywire for me.”
“To be fair, most guys are fine with chest bumps.”
I pushed him off the log, but not before I saw the grin on his face.
I thought our conversation would move on. But I should have known Jake would much rather talk about me than all the questions I had ready to fling at him.
“Why do you think he didn’t want to sit by you?”
“Well, not to sound cliché, but I’ve always been more of a hangout friend, you know?”
When he gave me the side-eye, I just grinned.
“I told people that so they’d stop trying to set us up on dates in high school. You used to think it was annoying too,” Jake said.
My mouth dropped open in mock excitement. “You’re a pretty strong man to resist making out with all this back in the day.” I pointed to my body—yes, that same body that just took down one poor flirtatious soul ten minutes earlier.
“What’s the drool situation like these days? Do you still wear headgear?”
“Plastic retainers at night. But they’re incredibly sexy.”
He laughed, straightening his legs. “Too bad for me. And you, I guess. Because I’m living out the rest of my days as a bachelor.”
I sobered at this and looked over at him, but he only stared into the fire. In an instant, we were back in his treehouse. I missed this. I missed being close to him and knowing him so well. Like old times, I could feel his walls going up around him. So I fought to tear them back down.
In the absolute worst way possible.
“What happened with Miranda?”
Jake’s face tightened, and I inwardly blanched at my thoughtless question. For a second, it had felt so easy being with him again that I forgot what we really were—old friends who hadn’t been a part of each other’s lives for a long time.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I just—”
“You haven’t changed a bit,” Jake said.
“What do you mean?”
“Always got your dang nose in my business.”
My lips lifted in a halfhearted smile. “And you’re still as stubborn as ever, so I think we’re even.”
He shook his head. “You can shave your legs and do your hair all fancy now, but you can’t fool me.”
Insulted, I pushed at his laughing side. “I shaved my legs in high school!”
“When?”
“Before every basketball game. And before every date you and Dusty set me up on.”
He grinned and took a drink of his pop sitting on the ground next to him. There was a beat of silence between us before I soldiered on.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to—”
“Thanks, I don’t,” he interjected pleasantly.
“But,” I went on, “if you ever do want to talk, I’m here.”
Jake took another drink, drawing out the moment by sipping slowly until he drained the entire can, making me laugh and putting me in my place at the same time.
My eyes drifted toward Sophie, now chattering softly by herself, twirling in the grass in front of the swings.
“She plays by herself really well,” I commented.
“She just doesn’t want to go to bed,” Jake said, a hint of a smile on his face as he watched his daughter. “She knows if she’s being cute and quiet, it might get her a pass to stay up later.”
“Does it work?”
“Usually.”
“Smart girl.”
“She’s the best.”
“I think she’s said two words to me so far,” I said.
Jake nodded but didn’t seem too concerned. “Yeah, she’s still getting her feet under her.”
We sat in silence for a moment, watching her, before Jake spoke once more. “I didn’t say that stuff about you being the hangout friend to have you make it your life mantra. You didn’t, did you?”
“No,” I said the word, almost too quickly. But he looked so concerned at the thought, I could only deny it. Though, the slightest feeling of doubt began creeping in as I briefly considered my life’s experiences over the past ten years. No. It wasn’t that. At least, it wasn’t just that.
“What happened on your date the other night with Briggs?”
“You just shut down my question, but now you want me to tell you my stuff?”
“Yeah.”