Page 57 of Say it Ain’t So

Maybe. Maybe life could get just a little bit better.

“Do it again,” Kolton said, taking an ax and shoving it my way. “Show me how you did it. This guy can’t teach worth shit.”

“Hey!” Van shoved Kolton’s shoulder. “It’s beginner's luck. Just watch. She won’t be able to hit it again.”

“You sure about that?” Rylan asked, sliding his arm around my shoulder and tugging me close.

Van and Kolton turned their faces toward the target and both their mouths dropped open when they saw the second ax sunk not far from where my first had hit.

Kolton turned his wide eyes my way. “Where’d you say you were from again?”

Over more drinks and more wings, I explained to them that I’d been throwing hatchets and knives at targets since I was a little girl. Cheyenne’s dad had taught her how, and we often threw at the target he’d set up for her and her siblings in their back yard. Though the hatchets were smaller than the axes at Dueling Axes, and it’d been a long time since I’d chopped wood for Peter’s fire pit, handling them felt like second nature. Like riding a bike, this was something I hadn’t forgotten over the years.

As the guys drank, they got louder and even worse at hitting the target. Even Rylan, who’d barely drank any of his second beer, couldn’t quite get the ax in the center ring. It got to the point where even Van was begging me for pointers, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

When our time was up, both Van and Kolton were drunk, and neither should have been handling the axes, let alone driving home. That was a problem, considering I’d come with Van and had planned on him taking me back to my apartment.

“We’ll call a car,” Van slurred as his hand slipped off the back of the high-top chair and he almost fell. “We can split the fare. We’ll drop you off, then circle back to this side of town to get Kolton and I home.”

“You two live over here?” Rylan asked from where he stood a good six feet away. When they both nodded, he swung his gaze to me. His teeth grazed his bottom lip before he offered me a smile. “Let me take you. I’m safe to drive and then these two don’t have to worry about getting you home.”

Van’s brow furrowed and he blinked at me. “You okay with that, Joss?”

Ever the protector.

I tugged my hair off my neck, trying to keep from overheating at the thought of Rylan taking me home.

What would he do? Would he try to kiss me the way I was so certain he was going to earlier today? Would he ask to come up? Would he ask to stay?

There was no way I had the ability to tell him no. Not with the amount of alcohol I’d drank. Not with the way I was already dying to close the gap between us.

“Yeah, sure.” I fingered my hair. “That’d be great.”

Did my voice go up a notch when I responded? If so, no one acted like they noticed. I grabbed the axes while Rylan walked between Kolton and Van, occasionally correcting their course and heading them toward the door. Once they were in their car and had pulled away, Rylan turned to me, stretching his hand out between us in an offer to take mine.

“Come on, gorgeous. Let’s get you home.”

Tomorrow morning, I’d deal with my embarrassment at how quickly I rushed to his side. With my hand in his, I let Rylan led me to his truck. It wasn’t quite as high as Van’s, but that didn’t mean Rylan didn’t guide me inside the same way. He even helped me buckle in, making sure the seat belt was secure around me before closing me in and walking around to the driver’s side.

The whole way to my apartment, Rylan kept his eyes on the road. I loved it and I hated it. I loved that he wasn’t distracted, that I could trust him to see any obstacles or oncoming cars. But I hated it, because I missed his gaze raking over my body. I missed the warmth of his palm against mine and the pressure of his fingers as they wound around my own.

At the curb outside my apartment, Rylan put his truck in park and turned my way. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to drag me to him and steal my breath away.

He did, just not the way I imagined.

“Can I walk you up?”

Thank goodness for the darkness of the night, or Rylan would have seen my cheeks flame red. “Yes.” Yes, I wanted him to come up. I wanted it so much. “That’d be great.”

Rylan rushed around the truck, helping me out and onto the crooked sidewalk. He held my hand as we went inside and didn’t let go until I needed it to unlock my door.

“This is it,” I told him, tossing my purse to the table against the wall. I closed it behind him, then watched as he took in all my stuff. My second-hand couch. The coffee table I’d salvaged from the front stoop on garbage day. He even eyed the prints of flowers and plants I’d framed and hung where a TV should have gone.

Inevitably, his gaze landed on my fish tank. It was hard not to, considering it was the second biggest thing in the room.

His face lit up as he moved toward the tank, eyes wide as he bent at the waist to peer in through the glass. “I didn’t expect it to be so big.”

I went to his side, aching to touch him but unsure if I should. “They need a lot of space. It makes them happy and helps them grow.” I watched him watch my fish. Watched as he got just as lost as I did. Then Gary had to go and fall to the floor of the tank, ruining the mood.