“Am I not allowed to abuse the free food at my brother’s restaurant?”
Hunter just takes a seat, steeples his fingers, and assesses me. “You’re allowed to abuse the free food policy. Of course. But there is one condition.”
I sigh. The waiter from before leans in front of us, depositing two ice cold Cokes on the table.
“Dare I ask?”
“You have to go on a date.” Hunter grins.
I just pull the end off my straw wrapper, ball it up, and chuck it at his face. It nestles in his bushy beard, and Hunter expertly picks it out and steeples his fingers once more.
“You’ve got it bad. This is high school all over again.”
“I donothave it bad,” I hiss. I realize then that my voice is a notch too loud, and I glance around at the other customers to make sure no one has paid me any mind. I clear my throat. “So I had a little crush on Gray Smith back in high school. Now is not… well, we’re just…”
Hunter knocks back half his Coke before flashing me a self-satisfied smirk. “So, did you come to Dirty John’s for my good company? A little sibling game of catch up?”
“Exactly.” I nod a little too enthusiastically. “You don’t leave work and I don’t leave the inn. I want to hear about your life.”
“Mhmm.” Hunter snorts, his grin widening. “Is it my hunting hobby you’re wanting to learn more about? Or my night-time exploits? Maybe it’s business.”
“Hunter, you know—”
“I went hunting just this morning with Todd Reed. Took down this massive boar and you would not believe what it looked like when we gutted it at Todd’s place after, just anobsceneamount of—”
“Oh God. Hunter, please. You know I just—”
He raises an eyebrow. “You’d rather hear about my dating life then? Well, a bachelorette party from Hidden Creek came in here last night and got real cozy with me. Now you know I’m not the marryin’ type, but when that bridesmaid was down between my knees, begging me to make her my wife, I considered—”
“Hunter.” I shoot my brother alookand hold the cool Coke to my sweating brow. “Fine, okay? You called my bluff. I came to Dirty John’s so I wouldn’t find myself alone at the inn with Gray.”
My brother’s eyes sparkle. “Have you confessed to him about the time I found you drawing a heart around his yearbook photo?”
I scowl and slam down my Coke. “I’m not—look. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now with the inn and this party I’m planning. Gray is still cute and I’m still a woman. I’d be stupid to spend any more time alone with him than I already need to in order to get the inn ready. I want to keep my eyes on the prize.”
“Or maybe you could just kiss him and get it out of your system.”
“Hunter.”
My brother just cackles, his big shoulders shaking.
“Can we just order something?” I ask. “Or are you too committed to harassing me to eat?”
“Oh, I’m a man of many talents, multitasking among them,” my brother says as he waves the boy to come back to our table. “Just ask the bridesmaid from last night.”
“God.”
***
The lights in the barn are already on when I approach. Shit.
I push through the barn doors, bracing myself to face Gray yet again. When I find him up at the top of his ladder, he’s tying off a piece of rope around the end of a long, smooth beam.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at basketball practice?”
He looks up, dropping the board and swearing as it crashes to the ground with a heavythud. When he looks back up at me, his face has lost an ounce of color. “One more hour until school lets out. Aren’t you supposed to be at a late lunch?”
“Hunter ushered me out of the restaurant kind of quick,” I tell him. “Guess he didn’t have as much to say as usual.”