Chapter 5 Dolly
DOLLY
Irub my eyes, still blurry from sleep. I pull my glasses on, wincing at the sunlight pouring through my window, and climb out of bed.
The shorts and tank top I’m sleeping in have cute little bunnies on them.
The only people who still stay in the big house are me, Pops, and Duke—when he’s home.
It seems like he’s out at Sam’s or a girl’s house most nights.
I patter toward my bathroom, twisting the knob to open it. My glasses immediately fog up from the steam pouring out of the shower. A grumble boils up from my throat.
“Duke! Why are you using my bathroom?” I fold my arms over my chest. “I need to pee!”
The water cuts off. I roll my eyes, turning to leave. I hear the shower curtain scrape open.
“You have your own bathroom.”
I’m met with silence. I step out into the hall, prepared to leave the door open so the cold air ruins the warm, steamy room for him.
“I hope your balls shrink up while you’re sleeping!” I hiss over my shoulder.
A deep voice sends chills over my exposed skin. “Good morning to you too, sis.”
Sam.
My legs feel wobbly. The towel rack creaks behind me. I stammer over my words, not finding a single thing to throw back at him. My tongue is tied, and my skin is on fire.
Sam is naked. In my shower.
“Nice PJs,” he says.
I run, like a total coward. Once I reach the kitchen, I’m panting from more than just physical exertion. My glasses are clear now, and Duke is fiddling with the coffee machine. He turns around, eyes narrowing on my pajamas. His hair is wet like he just showered.
“Go change into something appropriate. Sam is here. I don’t want him seeing you in that.”
I roll my eyes at him. He turns back to the coffee machine.
“Why is he here?”
“He needed to let off some steam. Holden picked us up from Old Harry’s last night, but he wouldn’t let us bring the girls we’d met home.” He shakes his head. “Now go change. He’s in your shower.”
Girls. They met girls.
I turn around, marching back to my room with my head down. The bathroom door is closed, thankfully. I slam my room door shut. I’m tempted to bury my head in my covers and rot in bed the entire day, but then Sam would leave.
That’s good. Screw him. He should leave.
I pull on a simple cotton summer dress with blue ruffles around the hem.
It’s short, hitting my mid-thigh. I quickly swipe on some mascara, lip gloss, brow gel, and blush before running a brush through my long, straight ebony hair.
It’s thick, and it reaches down to the middle of my back, so I usually do something to keep it off my neck.
Today, I decide to leave it loose and braid a few small pieces in the front. I leave my glasses on my vanity.
I stop by my empty bathroom, making sure it’s empty, before I go in to pee and brush my teeth. Male voices from the kitchen travel down the hallway as I’m gargling mouthwash. I struggle with my contacts, eventually getting them into my eyes.
“We should definitely go this weekend. Let’s invite a few people,” Duke says.
I walk out into the hall, casually approaching the kitchen.
“I guess we can. Who do you want to come? I don’t want people destroying the place.
” Sam is leaning back against the kitchen island.
He’s dressed in a plain white T-shirt and a pair of Duke’s gray sweatpants.
His wavy copper-brown hair is still wet.
His big hand is holding a mug of coffee up to his chest.
His ocean-colored eyes inch up over me, starting at my toes and traveling up my legs and torso until finally reaching my face.
Chills run down my spine at his perusal.
His expression is steady, but unreadable.
He’s been letting his facial hair grow out recently, and the desire I feel to scratch my fingernails through his short reddish-brown beard is making me feral.
“I was just thinking Madi, Shayley, and a few of the guys.” Duke pulls a mug out of the cabinet and pours coffee in it. “It’s so damn hot. What else are we going to do all weekend?”
“Where are y’all going?” I ask.
Duke holds the new mug out toward me. “Sam’s lake house.”
I take the coffee and move to open the fridge door.
I need to secure an invitation.
The caramel creamer is on the first shelf. I grab it, pouring a generous amount into my coffee before pulling a spoon from the drawer to stir it.
“Let’s just bring people who are chill,” Sam suggests.
“Like who?”
I lift my cup to my lips, sipping slowly.
Cook! I can cook!
Duke genuinely looks perplexed, like this is a really important decision.
“Who’s going to cook all weekend?” I cross my legs at the ankles, attempting to appear casual and indifferent. It’s not that I want to spend time with Sam. I don’t. At all.
I just don’t want to sit at home all weekend and read romantasy books, or help Rosie with the twins, or watch Survivor with my dad. I want to get out, to live a little. I haven’t had a weekend away with young people in ages.
It’s not that I don’t love my life and my routine—because I do. I’m just beginning to feel … stuck. I’m a painfully single virgin at twenty-three years old. At this rate, my brothers will get their wish, and I’ll die an old maid, slumped over a lump of dough right here in this kitchen.
“We’ll eat hot dogs and steak,” Sam says.
Duke nods like it’s a no-brainer. “We need plenty of beer. And tequila.”
“And limes,” I add. “Also probably ice, salt, maybe a couple bottles of water. Sunscreen.”
Duke pulls out his phone. “Okay, so a list. Let’s make one.”
Sam is smirking and shaking his head while looking down at his feet. He knows I’m desperate to secure an invitation, but he’s not going to offer me one.
“Are you really going to eat just meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?”
Sam lifts his head, the corner of his mouth turning up. “Do you have a better suggestion, sis?”
I clench my teeth before smiling sweetly at him. “I just think after a long day of drinking beer on the water, you might crave, like—I don’t know—a watermelon, some ice cream, something other than fermented liquid barley.”
Duke is tapping away on his phone, intent on making a list for the trip. “Hey, Dolls, how do you make those big-ass breakfast burritos? The ones with steak and eggs and the white cheese. What’s that stuff called?”
Here’s my chance.
I shrug, lifting my mug to my lips. “I’d have to look at my recipe book. It’s a little complicated.”
He sighs. “Maybe we can just order pizza.”
“For three days?” I lift a brow.
Duke throws up his hands. “Then why don’t you come with us and you can help me make it? Are you busy this weekend?”
Gotcha.
I twist my hair around my finger, pausing to pretend to think it over. “I guess I could make time for a little lake trip. But I’m not doing all the cooking. You have to help me, and someone has to clean up afterward.”
He nods, grinning. “We will, of course. Sam can be on cleanup duty.”
Sam is squinting at me, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Sure, I’ll help with whatever you need, sis.”
I glare at him. Duke is oblivious to the fact that I actually would happily do all the cooking and cleanup to secure an invitation—because I’m just that pathetic and desperate for something to do this weekend.
And for the opportunity to watch Sam drive his boat with no shirt on and a backward hat?
I’d scrub all the toilets in his lake house too.
“So, can you write up a grocery list? I need to make calls to find out who’s in.
And don’t take forever to pack. I want to leave soon.
” Duke grins at Sam, clapping him on the shoulder as he dials a number and puts his phone up to his ear.
“Hey, Jesse. What are you up to, man? You in the mood to go wakeboarding?” His voice fades out as he walks down the hallway to his bedroom.
I lift my coffee mug to my lips, sipping the java goodness from the rim. Sam mimics the action, but doesn’t look directly at me.
“I really want you to stop calling me that.”
“Stop calling you what?”
“Sis.”
He finally looks at me, his eyes blazing with intensity. “But you’re like a sister to me.” His voice is void of emotion.
“If you had a sister, would you ask her to feed you cake and lick her fingers?” I lower my voice, afraid Duke will come back and hear me.
He shrugs. “I was shit-faced. I forgot who you were.”
“Ahh, okay. So, sober Sam thinks I’m his sister, but shit-faced Sam thinks I’m …”
He lasers his heady, intense gaze on my lips. “Shit-faced Sam will never go anywhere near you again, sis.” He sets his mug on the counter and follows Duke down the hallway.
I’m writing out each item on the paper notebook. My handwriting looks sloppy because Duke is driving like a maniac.
“Do you have to hit every single pothole?”
“Add watermelon. I want some cold watermelon. And popcorn, for movie night.” Duke has his hand on the steering wheel of his truck.
I’m in the passenger seat, my feet tucked under me, crisscross-applesauce style. Sam is in the back, silently brooding. He hasn’t said a word to me since vowing to never be around me drunk ever again.
I scribble watermelon and popcorn onto the growing grocery list.
“Ooh, and condoms. Safety first. Don’t want to end up like Holden.” He chuckles.
I roll my eyes. “Holden and Rosie are so happy that it’s almost annoying. You’d be lucky to end up like them.”
“I’m sure they are, Dolls, but the one-woman family life isn’t for me. Look at us, heading out to the lake for the weekend on a whim to wakeboard in front of cute girls. They’d have to find a babysitter, plan it all out.” He shakes his head. “Happy for them, obviously. Just glad it’s not me.”
Sam is silent in the back seat. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him what his opinion is on the whole ball-and-chain thing, but two can play the ignoring game.
“Are there any cute guys meeting us there?”
“No one you’re allowed to talk to.”
“You can’t expect me to stay single forever. I’m twenty-three years old.”
“And no one around here is good enough for you. If I find someone who is, I’ll let you know.” His voice is firm.
The ridiculous, over-the-top protective-older-brother routine has gotten really old.
After Cain nearly raped me at eighteen, Duke has had a hard time loosening the reins on my dating life. All my brothers have. They’ve never given out their approval to any man. I’ve gone out on a few dates with guys; they just never like it.
Duke especially feels a deep sense of guilt over what happened to me and for Holden going to prison for three and a half years. He knew I liked Cain and didn’t see a problem with it. He hadn’t known the creep had a past of taking advantage of young girls. He’s never forgiven himself.
But it’s been five years since that traumatic night, and my vagina has practically grown cobwebs.
At this point, I’m embarrassed that I’m still a virgin.
The few guys who have dared to take me out despite the Redford brothers’ reputation were scared off before it got further than kissing. I can’t say I blame them.
I also have a heaping amount of trauma from what Cain did. I was innocent and naive, but even now, I don’t trust my own instincts when it comes to dating and men.
I glance up at the rearview mirror, taking in Sam’s profile. He has a cut jawline with a sexy five-o’clock shadow. The waves of his copper-brown hair are overgrown.
I wonder who cuts his hair.
Whoever she is, she’s a lucky bitch. I sigh in despair and look out the window at the passing trees.
I’m determined to have fun this weekend.
I can flirt with a man without it going too far.
Duke can’t watch over me the entire three days.
I set my jaw, committed to getting out of my comfort zone and let loose.
I brought a cute little pink bikini that shows a lot more of my butt than I’m accustomed to showing.
I’m going to wear it with confidence, and I’m going to flirt with some guys who don’t give me the hot-and-cold act.