“What are you, twelve?”
“One might even go so far as to say you lurv her.”
“That’s enough,” I barked, losing my cool for no good reason. “Whatever you’ve got goin’ on in that head of yours, just stop. There’s nothing happening between me and Willow and there never will be, so just drop it.”
I felt like a piece of shit as I watched my sister deflate, but I couldn’t let her continue down the road she was currently on.
“You know, you could do a whole hell of a lot worse than Willow Thorne. She’s sweet and thoughtful and kind—”
“She’s not my type,” I grunted, turning back to the Chevelle and burying my head back under the hood.
“Yes, because all those skanky biker bitches are so much better.”
“Drop it, Shane,” I clipped.
She pushed off the Knucklehead and started toward me, coming to a stop on the other side of the car and slamming her hands down on the rusted metal. “No, I’m not gonna drop it. Why are you acting like it’s such a terrible thing if you like someone? Your views on relationships are seriously fucking warped, big brother, and you need to get over your shit or you’re going to be alone for the rest of your life.”
I stood up so I could glare at her across the raised hood. “The fact you can say that to me, living with the shitty excuse of a mom we both had, not to mention the worthless pricks that were our fathers, seriously blows my mind.”
“You aren’t Carley,” Shane snapped so loud Chief let out a low whine. “You aren’t her, and you aren’t your father. You’re a good man, Stone. You deserve happiness.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not in the cards for everybody.”
“It could be for you if you’d just get your head out of your ass and go for it.”
“Well, that’s not gonna happen, so let it the fuck go.”
Knowing we both shared the same unflinching stubborn streak, she must have sensed that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with this conversation, because she sighed and dropped her head in defeat. “Fine. But when you’re old and gray and hunched over from arthritis in every bone, don’t come crying to me that you don’t have anyone to help you wipe your ass or lift you off the toilet. I’ll be busy with my family while you’re getting old and crusty all alone.”
“Thanks so much for the imagery,” I grunted.
“You’re welcome,” she snapped back, spinning on her heel and starting for her car, calling over her shoulder as she walked away, “I still love you, even though you’re a freaking idiot.”
I fought back the smile that wanted to pull at my lips and grumbled, “Love you too.”
“And you better not bail on family dinner or I’m gonna kick your ass!”
With those loving parting words, she climbed into her car and backed out.
I looked down at Chief, quirking a brow and lifting my arms. “Where the hell were you, man? I said to get rid of her if she started to annoy me.”
He let out a dog groan as he slid to the floor, falling over onto his side and promptly passing out.
“So much for man’s best friend.”
Chapter Thirteen
Willow
Today was the day. It was my time. I’d woken up this morning with a sense of determination. I was thirty years old. My twenties were officially behind me, and it was time to start living.
Taking risks. Putting myself out there. New Willow’s life started today, and as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, a sense of confidence washed over that, until today, had been completely foreign to me.
Sure, things with Stone had gone absolutely nowhere. It had been three weeks since I’d crashed into him at the grocery store, and after a promising start of . . . well, I wasn’t quite sure what . . . friendship maybe? I’d certainly been hoping for more, that was for damn sure. Anyway, all I’d gotten was radio silence.
But that was okay. Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.
It was probably—okay, definitely—delusional, but I couldn’t help but think there was still time to build that foundation of friendship Lark had talked about that could hopefully lead to something more.
For now, I was going to celebrate this day with a nice dinner at the Cattleman, a fancy steakhouse, with my sisters and their families.
I wore the soft, fitted jersey knit dress I’d gotten with the girls during our shopping trip a few weeks ago. I’d gotten a bit better at wearing heels lately, so I’d decided to go a little more daring and attempted a pair of strappy gold stilettos that I thought looked good with the navy dress.
After an unsuccessful YouTube tutorial and subsequent call to Aurora to have her talk me through it on FaceTime, I’d successfully curled my hair into long, fat curls. My makeup was still soft and subtle since I wasn’t a fan of my face feeling cakey, but all in all, I thought I looked pretty damn good. After a quick selfie to Lark, she agreed.
My car was still in the shop, so I hopped in the loaner truck and drove to the restaurant.
“Hi,” I said to the hostess as I stopped in front of her stand. “Reservation under Thorne?”
She scanned through the iPad resting in front of her. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but there’s no reservation under that name.”
“Oh, um . . . well, my sister was the one who was supposed to make it, so maybe look under Harrison?”
She did another scan. “No, I’m sorry.”
I felt some of that excitement from earlier deflate. “Okay, uh . . . I’ll just call her and get this squared away.”
The hostess gave me a placating smile as I stepped away from her stand and moved out of the way for the couple waiting behind me.
The front of the restaurant was starting to get crowded, so I headed outside as I pulled my phone from my purse and called Elaina.
It took five rings before she finally answered, “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me. I’m at the restaurant right now. What name did you make the reservation under?”
There was a long pause before she spoke again. “What reservation?”
My heart leaped up and lodged itself in my throat. “The reservation at the Cattleman,” I told her. “For my birthday dinner? You were supposed to call and make one, remember? Are you guys on your way?”
I knew what was coming next before she even said anything. “Oh my God, Will, I completely forgot. I’m so sorry.”
“You forgot to make the reservation or you forgot my birthday?”
There was another pause, and this one was like a punch to the stomach. “I’m so sorry, honey. I don’t know how this slipped my mind.”
I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath, willing the tears that were burning the backs of my eyes to disappear. “So you guys aren’t coming.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’ll make this up to you, I swear. I’m really sorry. But you guys have fun okay? Enjoy dinner, and we’ll celebrate another night. How’s that sound?”
“Yeah,” I croaked. “Whatever. That’s fine.”
I wanted to scream at her that it wasn’t fine, that her forgetting something as big as my thirtieth birthday really hurt my feelings, but there was no point. She’d think I was overreacting and give me a hard time for being upset, so instead of getting in a fight with her, I hung up and tucked my phone away, deep breathing to keep my emotions at bay before heading back into the restaurant. There wasn’t time for me to throw myself a pity party. Crissy and her family would be here any minute now, and we didn’t have a table.