I arched an eyebrow at her, both of us knowing that wasn’t entirely true. She’d done more than just stroke me that night a year ago. Another flush spread upward from her neck to her face as she tipped back her beer, swallowing a large gulp. She set the empty bottle back on the table, abruptly standing from her seat.
I caught her wrist, halting her, lowering my head and voice to speak to her. “Hannah, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
She gave me a pained smile. “It’s not what you said, Billy.”
No. It’s what I did. We both knew that. Our pending talk was long overdue.
She plastered on a smile and wiggled her wrist. “Excuse me. Need the ladies’ room.”
I released her, watching her until she was out of sight. Turning back to the table I was pelted with more looks that could kill, all coming from my sister.
“What?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer, trying to act indifferent to what just went down.
“You’re screwing this up already.”
“I don’t need your commentary, Leighton.”
I was well aware I was a screw up when it came to Hannah. Drawing her attention to that night, the one she was dead set on forgetting, was a stupid move. I knew what happened early that morning was nothing more than an alcohol-induced slip of the tongue. And I knew between that and the vomiting she was embarrassed as all get out. But neither one of those things sent me running for the reasons she thought they did.
“Well, from where I’m sitting, you need all the commentary and advice you can get. What’s wrong with you? You aren’t usually this bad with women.”
My brow pinched in a frown as I glared right back at Leighton. Maybe because Hannah wasn’t just any woman.
“You like her.”
“Wow. Observant, lil’ sis.” I didn’t bother dialing back any of my sarcasm with my snort of dismissive laughter.
“No. I mean you really like her.”
Leaning my elbows on the table, I angled my body, scanning the room for nobody in particular. I couldn’t look her straight in the face, afraid she’d see what I was hiding. The fear.
“You’re scared.”
Shit. So much for that. I fixed my stare back on her, my mouth hot and dry despite the cold beer I was drinking. “What are you talking about?”
She sighed, leaning in closer, dropping her voice. “I know you. You’re afraid to go after her. Afraid you’re gonna lose everything again.”
I shook my head, refusing to admit that’s what it was. It didn’t matter. She and Aaron knew me better than anyone.
“Leighton, babe. Let it be,” Aaron tried to bridle his meddling wife.
She gave him the stink eye and he sat back, throwing his palms up in surrender, giving me the look that said he tried.
Pussy.
“Not everything is gonna end the same way,” she continued, determined to speak her mind whether I wanted her to or not.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yeah, maybe not. But this will. She has her own life thousands of miles away.”
“Just because life didn’t turn out how you originally planned, doesn’t mean you have to give up on everything. Your life didn’t end that day on the field. Only your baseball career did.”
“All right, Leighton, that’s enough,” Aaron massaged at her shoulder, pulling her backwards, putting in more of an effort this time at shutting her down.
Not needing him to come to my defense, I glared right back at her. “I’m sorry if you feel I’m not living up to your expectations for me, sis, but I don’t need your fucking lecture. Maybe you need to learn to mind your own damn business and remember it’s my life.”
“It may be your life, but we’re family, which means it’s my responsibility to kick your ass when I see you acting like a damn fool. Especially when I know you’re smarter than that.”
I pushed back from the table, the stool scraping as I stood.
“Come on, man,” Aaron tried calling after me as I walked away. Unfortunately for him, he’d assumed the role of mediator between us more often than not.
I stomped toward the back hall where the restrooms were located with only one thing on my mind: get the hell out of there. I wasn’t leaving without Hannah, though. We had some unfinished business that was gonna get taken care of. Come hell or high water, she was gonna hear me out. From there, only God knew. But if that woman chose to give me the time of day for the little time she had left in Billingsley, I was gonna take it. I’d deal with the fallout another day.
Intercepting her just as she came out of the restroom, I pulled her to the side, pinning her to the hallway wall with my forearm pressed over her head.
“Let’s get out of here.”
A little shell-shocked, she glanced up at me and then toward the crowded bar. Leighton and Aaron looked to be in a heated discussion where I’d left them sitting at the table.
“You just got here.”
“I don’t care. I only came for you.”
Eyeing the table once again and then the exit, the tip of her tongue licked at her bottom lip before she bit down on it. “Okay.”
“Yeah?” I asked, feeling the need to grab her hand and run before she changed her mind.
Looking back at me, she nodded with a nervous smile. “Yeah.”
Chapter 8
HANNAH
This was bad. A terrible idea. Yet, here I was, trapped alone in a truck, sitting only a few feet away from the one man who could break my heart into a million pieces at any moment. And I was a willing participant. No matter how much I knew this was a very, very, bad idea, I wouldn’t have changed my answer for anything.
“Awfully quiet over there.” His deep, masculine voice filled with amusement broke through my train of thought.
“Just wondering where you’re taking me.”
With a lopsided grin, Billy glanced over at me. “You’re nervous.”
“No,” I lied. “Are you not gonna tell me?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
He smirked. “You’ll like this one. Trust me.”
“I’m trying…” I whispered to myself, staring at the dashboard. He reached his hand across the console, giving my leg a squeeze. I tried to ignore the tingles his touch brought to my body—an impossible feat.
The truck rolled through the dark, abandoned streets of town. The light posts overhead shone down on us, giving me glimpses of his sharp profile. He turned the truck into a parking lot, maneuvering into a space before shifting it into park. My eyebrows squished together as I took in the scene: the local supermarket.
I looked over at him with what I was sure was a blank expression. I wasn’t sure what to think of his choice of venue.
“Sit tight.” He smiled. “I’ll be right back.” He opened the driver’s door, stepping out of the truck.
“Where are you going?”
He stood outside the cab in the opened doorframe, hands propped on the rim of the roof as he leaned in, pulling his already snug tee tighter across his firm chest and arms. “Need a few things for where we’re going.”
“You mean this isn’t our final destination?”