The Vincent Brothers (The Vincent Boys #2)(10)

Ash was adorable when she was confused. “She was eating dinner at Wings when we stopped in to eat. I offered to give her a ride to save her friend the trip.”

Ashton’s frown turned up into a smile again. I liked making her smile—always had. “Thank you! I’m so glad you met up with her.” Ash turned and wrapped her arms around Beau and laid a loud quick kiss on his lips before releasing him and stepping back, “I gotta go see her. I haven’t seen her in months. Call me later.”

Beau grabbed her hand and turned it palm up before kissing it and then licking it. Gross, I did not want to see this. “Yeah, I’ll call you when I crawl in bed,” his voice dropped until it was much deeper than normal and I swear I heard Ashton sigh. I’d seen more than I wanted. I started to climb up in my truck.

“Sawyer, wait,” Beau’s command stopped me. I really just wanted to leave but he was blocking me in so I couldn’t exactly escape.

Ashton ran inside and once she closed the door, Beau turned his gaze toward me.

“About tonight. Don’t do that again. It’s been six months and Ashton goes out of her way to be kind to you. You talk to her that way again and I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Figures it wasn’t an apology but a threat. But he was right, I had been a jerk to Ashton. I didn’t want to push either of them away. They both knew me better than anyone. They’d been my best friends all my life. We shared a secret and we shared memories. It formed a bond so important that I’d given up Ash without much of a fight in order to preserve.

“You’re right. I was a jackass. I’ll apologize to her next time I see her.”

Beau seemed appeased. His eyes shifted back to her now lit bedroom window. She and Lana would be inside talking and I wondered if I’d have something else to apologize for the next time I saw her. Because if Lana told her about that kiss then Ash would be pissed. Not because I kissed Lana but because I’d been a complete dick afterwards.

“Good,” Beau started to get into his truck and stopped. “Hey you, wanna go play some pool?”

“Aunt Honey working?”

“Yep.”

That meant free beer. I nodded, “Lead the way.”

Lana

I’d barely made it inside the door when Ashton had come racing inside squealing. She’d made quick work of getting us past her parents and their questions concerning my parents and up to her room. She closed the door and spun around smiling brightly at me.

“I am so glad you’re here.”

Her long blond hair was hanging loose down her back and her golden tan was already perfect. How did she do that? It had been summer for what now—a week? We shared the same green eyes. That was it. When I was younger, I’d hated her. Not because she was mean but because she looked like a Barbie doll. To retaliate, I’d been the one who was mean.

“Me too,” I replied when she plunked down on the bed beside me. Getting away from my mother and her endless griping about my dad was a major relief. They’d been officially divorced now for three months but she still ranted about him daily.

“We’re going to have so much fun. Kayla Jenkins’ birthday is tomorrow night and she’s having a huge party at her house. She throws one every year. You’ll love it and get to meet everyone. Then Beau and I have been talking about a camping trip. Maybe for a week up at Cheaha. We’re going to invite Sawyer, since hiking is his thing, and some other people. You, of course, are coming too. Then Leann is at the beach all summer at her grandmother’s beach house. So, I told her we’d come visit her one week.” Forcing a smile was hard but I somehow managed.

Pushing Sawyer’s reaction to our kiss as far away from my mind as I could, I put all my focus into talking to Ashton.

“That all sounds like fun. I’m game for whatever,” I assured her.

Leaning forward she touched my hair and studied my face. Then her face broke into a huge grin, “You’re wearing makeup and your hair is darker and...,” she studied my skirt and top. “You have stylish clothes.”

“I decided it was time for a change,” I replied, unable to suppress my smile.

“Well, you look hot.”

Ashton stood up and started pulling off the cowboy boots she’d been wearing with a black sundress that barely made it halfway to her knees. It was like God had decided to try his hand at making someone perfect and chose Ashton as his experiment.

“Sawyer said he brought you home. How was he? I mean, was he in a good mood?”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Ashton still worrying about Sawyer. I hadn’t expected this when I’d planned to spend the summer here. It had been six months since the breakup. Normal people moved on in six months, didn’t they? I mean, she was with Beau now. Shouldn’t everything be water under the bridge at this point?

“He, uh, was fine.” Okay, so that was a lie but I wanted to protect him from her. He wouldn’t want Ashton to know he was still affected by her and Beau.

She let out a sigh and plopped back down on the bed folding her legs up underneath her and facing me. “Good. He and Beau kind of had some words at the field tonight. I had to jump in Beau’s arms to keep them from tearing it up. That’s why he left and ended up at Wings.”

I hadn’t seen them fight since we were kids. Surely, they weren’t fighting over Ashton still. “What happened?” I asked, knowing I probably didn’t want to hear this.