Caisey Quinn - Storm Warning

“Weird? As in bad?” he asked, pulling a can out of the cooler.

“Just weird as in different,” she informed him, baiting her own hook like the champ that she was.

“He should be home anytime, right?” It was Sunday. Coop knew the answer to the question. Kyle was his best friend so he knew that he had OSU training camp during the week and came home at different times on the weekend. He just really hoped that he’d be late this particular day.

She smiled back at him, her perfect mouth curving in a way that made his mind go blank. “Yeah. He worked today. Some house where the family is out of town. He should be back any minute now.”

“Ah. You know, sometimes different can be a good thing.” Coop gave her shoulder a slight nudge and left his arm resting close to hers. Either he was imagining things or she was holding her breath. “Seriously. You okay?”

She nodded and bit her lip. He watched as she fidgeted with her reel. “Yeah. I am. Just lots of things changing this summer.”

“Like your dad moving out?” He knew Brad Mason had ditched his family a few weeks ago, leaving her and her mom to deal with everything alone. Dude needed a swift kick in the nuts as far as he was concerned. “Heard anything from him?”

When her eyes met his, they were shining with the promise of tears.

“Shit, Ellie May.” He reached for her, resting his hand on her arm. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Now he kind of wanted to kick himself in the nuts.

“It’s fine. You’re fine. I’m…” She waved a hand between them before she lied one more time about being fine . He raised his hand to wipe away a tear she’d let slip with his thumb and then palmed her cheek gently.

The way she was looking up at him, like she needed him, gutted him, and it didn’t help matters that she’d leaned her face into his hand. He’d held back for so long. Want and need twisted inside of him, demanding that he pull her closer.

He wanted nothing more than to claim her sweet mouth as his. He was pretty sure she’d only been kissed by one guy. Actually, he knew it. He’d been there when Kyle gave Seth Milner a black eye two years ago.

It might not have been Seth’s fault that the bottle landed on Ella Jane, but he was the one who had spun the damn thing. Personally, he was going to wear whatever wounds her brother gave him with pride. Because he knew it was going to be so worth it.

His other hand found her cheek, and for the first time, Coop felt a sense of confidence. She wasn’t pushing him away or pulling back. No. Her blue eyes were inviting him to continue. Her lips parted as he slowly inched his way closer.

“Coop,” she said softly, the ache in her voice bringing him to the present and stopping his forward motion dead in its tracks. He didn’t want to take advantage of her, but he’d held out as long as he could.

The roar of an ATV behind them cut off whatever else she was about to say.

Coop closed his eyes and swore. “What the—”

“Kyle! You’re back!” Ella Jane scrambled to her feet as her brother exploded out of the timber behind them.

Coop leaned back and cast his line out, as if the only thing Kyle Mason had disturbed was the fish.

“I am.” He chuckled as his sister jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Damn, EJ,” he managed to get out despite the fact that she was cutting off his air supply. “You miss me or what?”

Ella Jane stepped back, releasing her brother and shrugging. “Eh, maybe a little.”

“Mom is looking for you back at the house. Something about the Rogers’s account.” Kyle handed her the keys to the four-wheeler and stepped over toward Coop. “Y’all fishin’ without me now?”

Cooper propped his pole in the dirt and stood. “You snooze you lose. What, no hug for me?”

“Get over here.” Kyle reached for Coop, pretending to go in for a hug before landing a backhand right between his legs. “Still want a hug?”

“Naw, man,” Coop grunted out, trying to avoid the indignity of bending over in pain. “I’m good. So glad you’re back.”

“So, um, I’ll see y’all back at the house?” Ella Jane asked, ignoring the boys’ obnoxious antics. “Coop, you coming over for dinner?”

“Yeah, Coop,” Kyle chimed in with raised eyebrows. “You coming over for dinner?”

“Er, probably not tonight. Lots of work to do at the farm. Matter of fact, I should probably be heading back about—”

“Stay a minute. I need to talk to you about something,” Kyle said as he cracked open a beer.

Coop swallowed hard and his eyes shot to Ella Jane. He knows. He must have seen us. He was tempted to ask her to stay so there’d be someone to witness the murder. Once she was out of sight, he turned to his best friend. “What the hell, man? That shit hurt.”

“Oh, did it? My bad, dude.” Kyle took a long pull on his beer and let his eyes rake over his friend. “You know I trust you, right, Coop?”

Before he could answer, Ella Jane barreled right through the middle of them and gave Kyle one last hug. “I’m so glad you’re home,” she whispered, barely loud enough for Coop to hear. “Okay, now I’m going for real. Behave yourselves, boys.” A quick smile in Coop’s direction and she was gone.

“Jesus. What’s up with her?” Kyle set his beer down and stared intently at Coop.

“What do you mean?” Coop blurted out. “Nothing’s up with her, that I know of. Why would something be up with her?”

Kyle arched a brow. “She usually just greets me with a list of shit I need to do around the house. Suddenly it’s all tackle hugs and she’s so glad I’m home? I was gone four days, not four years.”

Coop cleared his throat and glanced over his friend’s shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess she’s having some issues with all the changes. First your dad, then you, and that crazy-ass friend of hers left town today. So, it’s a lot for her to deal with I guess.”

“That’s one hell of an analysis, Dr. Phil. How long were y’all down here before I came?”

“Like five minutes,” Coop lied, before changing the subject. “Where the hell have you been? I know it doesn’t take you five hours to check one lawn.”

“No it doesn’t.” Kyle gave him a smug grin before taking another swig from the silver can. “That part only took about twenty minutes.”

Coop knew the look in his buddy’s eyes. He could tell when Kyle Mason was smitten. “How’d you manage to meet a girl at college already? You’ve been there for like three seconds.”

“Didn’t meet her there.”

Coop wondered if the love-drunk look on Kyle’s face as he shook his head was the same one he tried to hide around Ella Jane. And if he did as shitty of a job of hiding it as his buddy did.

“Don’t tell me some bored, rich housewife threw herself at you again.” Coop laughed.

“That happened one time, and if her face hadn’t been full of Botox, I might have taken a crack at her,” Kyle joked, sitting down and leaning back to rest his forearms on the ground. He glanced up and then let out a sigh of contentment. “This girl was not some bored housewife. Not even close.”

“No? So no pissed off husband will be hunting you down anytime soon?”

“Nope.” Kyle smirked. “No boyfriend either. She made that perfectly clear.”

Coop grinned. “Was this before or after you bagged her?”

Kyle sat up straighter and turned to face Coop. “Before, considering that hasn’t happened…yet.”

“Aw man, you like this one? What happened to living it up at OSU? And what about all those college girls you and I were gonna—”

“Hey, jackass, just because you bag ’em and tag ’em doesn’t mean I have to. I can’t help it if you haven’t found one worth getting to know.” Kyle shrugged and polished off his beer.