"Shit. She's got a boyfriend?"
"Yeah. At least that's what I've heard."
"Then it's a good thing I'm leaving town today."
Nash shakes his head. "This is why you should get to know a girl before you sleep with her. Does she know we're brothers?"
"Yeah. I told her when she asked why I was here in town."
"And what did she say when you told her?"
"She said she'd met you, then she invited me back to her place."
"Hoping to make Nash pissed," Bryce says. "A revenge fuck."
Jake shrugs. "Whatever. I'll never see her again."
"But I will," Nash says. "Now she'll keep bothering me, asking me about you."
"So who'd you think I was with last night?" Jake asks Nash.
"The blonde you met when we first got there."
"She was hot, but she had an annoying laugh. Really high-pitched and it got worse when she drank. And when we kissed, she kept biting my lip, and not in a good way, but in a painful way. I tasted blood and that's when we parted ways. But she hooked up with someone else. I saw her leaving with a guy."
"Should we finish up?" Austin asks, yawning. "After that big lunch I'm gonna fall asleep if I sit here too long."
"Yeah, get back to work," Nash says. "I'll help Callie clean up."
The other guys leave as Nash and I pile up the plates.
"I don't need help," I tell him. "I got it."
"Nash," Bryce calls out, "Can you get the level?"
"Yeah. Just a minute." He looks at me. "You sure you don't want some help?"
"I'm good. Go ahead and finish up. I'm sure these guys want to get home."
A few hours later, the new walkway is done. It looks really good. Smooth and level, like it should be, but it can't be walked on until it cures.
Nash's brothers are now on their way home, but before they left, they each gave me a hug goodbye and told me to have Nash bring me to Chicago some weekend so we could all go out. That'll never happen, but I just went along with it and said that I would.
Now it's five-fifteen and Nash is over at his house, cleaning up. We haven't made plans for dinner, but if he invites me over I'll turn him down. I don't want him asking about what happened earlier. I'm hoping in a few days he'll have forgotten about it.
As expected, he shows up at my door just after six with the assumption that we're having dinner.
"I'm not hungry," I tell him as I stand at the door.
"You will be after you try this." He holds up a paper sack.
"What is it?"
"A burger from the place down the street. I had one for lunch last Friday. They're really good."
"I've been to that place. Their burgers aren't that good."
"It has new owners as of three weeks ago. That's why they added breakfast." He holds up another paper sack, a smaller one. "I also got you a chocolate milkshake."
"Thanks, but I'm really not hungry."
"Will you at least try it?"
Knowing him, he'll stay at my door until I say yes, so I agree to it. "Okay. I'll try it."
"Here." He hands me the sacks. "This is yours. Mine's over at the house. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night." He turns and walks off.
"Wait. You're not staying?"
He turns back. "I made you eat dinner with me every night last week. I figured you could use a break from me."
Is he saying that because he wants to end whatever this is going on between us? Or is he mad at me for yelling at him earlier?
"But you don't like to eat alone."
"That's true." He laughs a little. "You know I only told you that because I needed an excuse to spend time with you, right? I haven't exactly been subtle about how much I like you."
"Still?" I look down at the ground. "Even after..." I'm too embarrassed to say it.
"Everyone has issues, Callie. I've got plenty of them." He pauses. "Anyway, I should go. Have a good night."
As he's walking away, I get this desperate urge to follow after him. I don't want him to go.
"Nash?" I call out when he's halfway to his house.
"Yeah?" he calls back.
I hesitate, but then just say it. "I don't like to eat alone either."
He smiles. "Then get your ass over here. We're eating at my place tonight."
I smile back. "I'll grab some pop and be right over."
This is not what I planned. I was going to spend the evening alone. But when I saw Nash leaving, I felt like that sliver of hope I've had since the day he arrived was slipping away. And I want it back. I need it. I need to have hope. And I think I've found it with Nash.
Chapter Eighteen
Nash
"Ready to get to work?" I ask Callie.
We just finished dinner. I thought I'd be eating alone tonight, but then she invited herself over, which surprised me. After she yelled at me earlier, I thought maybe she needed a break from me. We've been spending a lot of time together and I thought maybe it was getting to be too much for her.