Kelly

I STUFF THE REMAINDER OF THE PIZZA crust into my mouth, watching as Jensen throws darts in the dimly lit corner of Townies, one of the three bars in Lake Hope. We met here after work, something we do every so often when we find the time. It's either here or The Drinking Hole, reserving the only other bar, Roxy's, for Friday nights with the whole gang.

Jensen prefers Townies, and I have to admit the dingy bar has grown on me. I had to get over the stale popcorn smell and the loud country music booming out of the vintage juke box. But the regulars mostly keep to themselves, some sort of unwritten rule that the town gossip isn't welcome here.

An old Budweiser sign buzzes on the wall above our table, the neon light that outlines the perimeter of it flickering every so many minutes. The sign pretty much sums up the whole place. Old and falling apart. But Jensen's right, the small bar has a certain vibe that suits our meet ups.

When it's my turn to shoot, I chase the pizza down with a swig of beer and then I take my friend's place in front of the dart board. After my turn, I return to my seat, circling my hand around the beer bottle without taking a drink. I don't realize I've zoned out until Jensen plops onto the chair across from me at the table.

"Ok, I'll bite. What's going on?" he asks, his beer bottle raised partway to his mouth. He takes a long pull before setting it back onto the table, his eyes never leaving my face.

"What are you talking about?" I pick at the label on the bottle, avoiding his questioning gaze.

Jensen and I are close, but I can probably count on one hand, maybe throw in a few fingers off the other hand, the number of times we've gotten deep into our feelings, though. It's not something either of us are real good at.

"You've been acting weird lately." He picks up a piece of pizza, stuffing a huge bite into his mouth. He studies me as he chews. "Is it your dad? Has he been bugging you more than usual?"

I grunt. "He's the same old jackass."

He takes another bite. "Is it one of your houses? The super secret special one?"

I glance at him, abandoning the beer label. "The what?" I ask, lifting my brow in question.

"You've been extra quiet about whatever your latest project is. Usually you spill every annoying detail about your houses, but this one I don't know shit about. Only that it's a house you've had your eye on for a while. What's so special about this one?"

I resume fiddling with the label on the bottle. "It's just a house, J. Same as the others."

The lie feels gross as it crosses my lips. I don't like it. I don't even completely understand my reasons for keeping this house a secret. My team has barely stepped foot inside. The only person who's even breached the perimeter is Sutton.

Shit, don't go there right now. Not with her brother right in front of me. I clear my throat and take a long pull of my beer.

"Is it a girl then?" he asks with a smirk. It must have been a joke, a throwaway idea, but in the space between his question and my lack of denial, his face changes. The smirk slowly falls away, replaced by raised brows.

"Oh shit, it's a girl," he exhales. Then he laughs. He fucking laughs. I want to punch the fucker. If only he knew, he wouldn't be laughing. I can't very well tell him either. What am I supposed to say? You know how you've been telling me for decades that your sister is off limits? Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I'm too far gone to stop it at this point. And isn't that just the shit end of the stick, since I'll just spend all of eternity pining away in quiet desperation?

"Kell?" He knocks his beer lightly into mine.

I chance a glance at him and grimace, my head falling back. "Yeah," I admit begrudgingly, "there might be someone, but it's probably nobody." I groan, running a hand over my face. "It's complicated."

"You like her?" It's phrased as a question, but the presentation tells me it's a statement.

I rub the back of my neck, averting my eyes. "Yeah," I finally admit after a few minutes, returning my gaze to my friend, looking him in the eyes. "Yeah, I like her."

Jensen nods. "Then uncomplicate it." He says this so matter-of-factly, the statement almost tricking me into believing it is that simple.

I shake my head. Nope, I remind myself. It's not even a little bit that simple, it's far from it.

Before I can deep dive into that line of thought, my phone buzzes in my pocket. Retrieving it, I see an incoming text from Vivi. Since I rarely talk to this particular Anderson sibling, I quickly swipe to the message, instantly curious.

VIVI: "Heads up. Our girl is looking to do something stupid.

I throw my head back and groan. What the hell am I going to do with that girl? And why after all these years can't I stay away from her? It's like a fast-spreading disease after years of dormancy. I'm afraid amputation is imminent if I can't get things under control soon.

I down the remainder of my beer, rising to my feet. "Another?" I ask my friend, and when he nods, I cross the room to the bar, leaning against it while I wait to get the bartender's attention. He's currently counting out a stack of pull-tabs in front of an older lady, one I recognize from all our other visits here. There's already a mound of pulled gambling tickets on the surface in front of her. After he hands the thick pile of pull-tabs to the woman, his attention slides to me.

"Another?" he asks, running a damp cloth across the sticky surface of the bar top.

I nod, and he turns to the cooler behind him to extract two beer bottles, popping off the tops and then plunking them in front of me. I toss some bills on the bar before grabbing both bottles in one hand. "Thanks, Hal." A nod is his only response, and I add that to the tally of reasons why this bar is growing on me. No BS small talk.

Back at the table I notice Jensen's phone in his hand, his thumbs slowly pecking out a message. I sink into my chair, sliding a beer to him. "Teddy?" I ask, pointing my bottle at his phone.

After taking a long pull of the beer, he nods. "Yeah. Apparently 'my dog' as she likes to refer to him when he pisses her off, is being a little shit again."

I laugh. The fact that Jensen has a dog is funny since he's always been wary of them, but Teddy somehow convinced him to rescue a mutt they found one night, and the furry thing burrowed his way into their little family.

"So things are good with you guys then?"

He glances at me while still fiddling with his phone. Then he cusses. "Fuck it." With the phone raised to his mouth, he dictates a voice text. I grin while listening. "Baby, just hose the little fucker down before bringing him inside. And he's your dog, not mine. He's more trouble than he's worth. We should consider rehoming him somewhere else."

He tosses his phone on the table, but it immediately lights up. Apparently, his girlfriend can text faster than him. With a groan, he picks up the phone and does another voice text. This time I chuckle. "Fine, he can stay. Don't you fucking dare pack that stupid bag to 'rehome' yourself."

Jensen directs his glare at me. "It's not fucking funny, man. That dog is a pest. He makes messes and runs off and eats my underwear and don't get me started on how often he cockblocks me."

I laugh again. "Fuck, J. I never thought I'd see the day. You all domesticated."

"Fuck off, Kelly."

"I'm just waiting for the day you ask me to be your best man because we all know that's coming soon. We have bets, you know? If you could wait a few more months, I'd be happy. The pot is quite large, and I'd like to win it."

He grunts before taking a drink of the beer. "I would have asked her already, but there's something I've been dragging my heels about." He drums his fingers over the table while he thinks. Then he directs his gaze at me, his expression serious. "Should I ask her dad, Kell? I'd like to follow tradition, do it right, but she's basically cut him out of her life after that last time I had to help her drag his drunk ass out of this place."

He looks away, as if his eyes return to the scene of the crime inadvertently, remembering the moment from months ago.

"I don't know, J. Teddy is pretty sentimental about shit, and she did spend far too many years taking care of her dad, so she obviously has a soft spot for him despite his shitty parenting her whole life. You might want to talk to him just to be safe. Just tell him you plan on marrying his daughter and taking care of her the way she deserves. Leave out the permission part of the whole thing. You don't need that asshole's permission."

He looks back at me with a sigh. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll cover my bases just to make her happy. But, fuck, what if she wants him to walk her down the aisle and he just disappoints her again by drinking too much the night before or some bullshit?"

"When the time comes, talk to Teddy about that. Have a plan in place. Help her set realistic expectations."

"Look at you with the good advice," he teases with a smirk. "I feel like I should up my game and give you better advice than to uncomplicate shit with your girl."

My eyes widen with the renewed topic, but I'm saved by his phone. It lights up on the table in front of him. Before he snatches it up, I see a text with a thumbnail of a picture appear on the lockscreen.

"Jesus," he cusses, closing his eyes. "I gotta go." Shoving the chair back, he pockets his phone and takes another swig of his beer.

"What was the picture?" I ask out of curiosity. "What did she send you that has you running out of here like there's a fire?"

"She hosed down the dog like I said, but I guess she must have fallen into the spray because she's soaked too."

When I only blink at him in confusion, he adds, "She's wearing a white tank top, Kelly. It's after work hours. She rips her bra off the minute she's home from work. She sent me a picture of her and the drenched dog. In a fucking white tank top. With no bra."

I bark out a laugh and shout after his retreating form, "Hopefully the dog doesn't cockblock you tonight!"

He throws his middle finger at me over his shoulder, his strides never slowing, and I laugh again.

After I finish my beer, I drive through the dark town, making a detour past the house I'm fixing up for myself on my way home. I idle in front of it for a few seconds and then continue down the road, noticing the houses Sutton made up random stories about on our walk a few weeks ago.

I pull into my garage once I arrive home and enter my dark house, not bothering with the lights. I make it partway through the main living area when I'm greeted by a cool, wet nose on my hand. "Hey, Lexi," I say softly, ruffling the fur on top of her head. After I let her outside, I stand at the open door watching her in the backyard, my thoughts wandering to a very different scene that Jensen went home to. I swallow down the bitter feelings of jealousy and whistle for my dog.

Once she's back inside, I fill her food and water bowls and retreat upstairs to my bedroom. I switch on the bedside lamp, the warm glow like a spotlight on my sour mood. The room feels too big, too lifeless. It's a ridiculous thought considering I'm fixing up an even bigger house for myself, one that has even more rooms to highlight the fact that it's just me and my dog.

For the first time ever, I consider downloading one of the dating apps I harp on Sutton about. Jensen says I should uncomplicate things. Maybe I just need to get over this little infatuation with my best friend's sister and move on, find a girl that isn't off limits.

I plop down onto my bed with a groan, covering my face with my arm. Lexi ambles over to me, resting her head onto the bed next to me. I absently reach over to pet her, my eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"I know, girl," I tell my dog. "If only it were that simple. We like the off limits one too much, huh?" Lexi licks my hand as if in agreement. She hops onto the bed, settling her big body at the foot of the bed, her head resting over my legs. With a loud, breathy sigh, she closes her eyes and is asleep within minutes, her light snores filling the otherwise quiet room.

I pull my phone from my pocket and notice the earlier text from Vivi. "What are you up to now, baby girl?" The question lingers in the air as I send a quick text.

ME: Hey, baby girl. You behaving?
SUTTON: I take it my sister opened her big fat mouth.
ME: Don't do anything stupid, Sutton.

While I wait for her reply, I scroll through our text exchange, pausing on a photo she sent of herself wearing only my button down shirt. I zoom in on her face, my thumb running over yhe screen. It would be easier if she wasn't so damn pretty.

After a long silence, I text her again. I have a pretty good idea what she's up to if our conversation as we stood outside the law firm in Maybury the other day is any indication.

ME: Sutton, just promise me you'll think it through first.
SUTTON: Don't worry about me, Kelly. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself.
ME: I know you can. I can still worry though.
SUTTON: You don't need to. I'm fine.
ME: Promise me you'll call me if you're ever not fine then.

After another long silence with no response from Sutton, I try again.

ME:Please, Sutton.
SUTTON: Fine.
ME:Thank you.
SUTTON: Now leave me alone. I'm trying to sleep.
ME:Sleep tight, baby girl.