Storm Warning

12 Cameron

THE summer hadn’t started out exactly the way Cami had planned it, but by the first Sunday in July, things were looking up. Way up. After her first run-in with Kyle Mason, she’d actually made an effort to be poolside when he arrived to do the lawn maintenance every week.

She enjoyed watching him work. She’d position her lounge chair in the best angle for watching him bob his head along with the music he was listening to as he mowed, trimmed, raked, and sprayed his way around the yard.

She looked forward to seeing him work up a sweat—seeing it bead on his sun-kissed skin and roll down each and every muscle—but her favorite part of the day was when he’d come over and sit down on the end of her chair. She always had a water bottle waiting for him and he always had some compliment ready to go that made her feel like the giddy teenage girl she tried to hide.

The bone-deep chill of loneliness she’d felt when her parents had deserted her was quickly being replaced with the warm tingles of anticipation she felt every weekend while waiting for him to arrive.

“How are you today, Belle?” Kyle asked, taking a drink from the ice cold bottle she had handed him before he pulled his shirt over his head and wiped the perspiration from his face. Her eyes settled in on his chest and she felt the butterflies in her stomach take flight.

“Belle?” She raised an eyebrow once she managed to stop herself from drooling. She batted her lashes at him and reminded herself that he was eighteen and just graduated high school. He wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a man and judging by the way he was drinking her in, he was a man that was interested in her. Kyle looked at her like she was the best thing he’d ever laid eyes on. The fact that she was still in high school didn’t seem to matter to him so she pushed it far from her mind.

“Just a pretty nickname for a pretty girl.” He smirked. “One of the few things I remember from that year of French I was forced to take when I was a sophomore.”

She grinned at the thoughtfulness he’d put into the nickname he had just given her. He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and tossed it on the chair. “Anymore questions, Belle?”

“Well, what am I supposed to call you?” She sat up in her chair closing the distance between them. As she made her way inch by inch closer to him, he bent forward to mess with the laces on his boots. “Beau?”

“Beau as in your boyfriend? Cameron Nickelson, are you asking me to go steady?” he teased.

Cami felt her cheeks blush red. Had she meant it that way? She wasn't sure what the status of their arrangement was, but she felt strangely calm about it all.

“Maybe I did,” she teased, before adding, “Je suppose que vous ne le saurez jamais.”

He lifted the shoulder her mouth was closest to, apparently ignoring the fact that she was practically hovering over him. Freeing his feet from his boots and socks, he said, “What did you just say?” He turned swiftly, with a questioning smile, but before she had time to answer he looped his arm under her knees and pulled her up into his arms bride over the threshold style.

“Maybe you should have paid better attention in French class, Beau.” She let out a startled laugh. He neared the edge of the pool and she realized exactly why he had ditched his shirt, shoes, and cellphone. “Don’t even think about it!” She slapped his chest playfully. “Put me down!”

“Oh, I’ll put you down.” He chuckled right before he jumped into the water with her in tow.

She wiggled free of his arms and popped up out of the water taking in a breath. The cool water was a welcomed relief from the July heat, but now her hair was wet and the chlorine did nothing but dry it out. She’d have to send Sophie out for a conditioning treatment ASAP.

Pushing the hair from her face as the ripples in the water smoothed out, she looked around for Kyle. She knew he was lurking under the surface, waiting to pull her under or splash her. She still jumped and let out a little shriek when she felt his arms wrap around her from behind.

“You got my hair wet,” she pouted, turning in his arms to face him. Effortlessly, her arms moved around his neck and she let him pull her body to his.

“You’ll be fine, Belle.” He laughed, brushing his nose against hers. “It will dry.” This was the third week in a row that Kyle had been to her house, but it was the first time she actually thought he was going to kiss her. They’d spent the past two Sundays casually talking about nothing in particular and everything all at the same time. She knew that he spent the majority of the week at football training, and as she felt his hard chest press against her, she was thankful for all his dedication to the sport.

She had given him a tutorial on how to be a pageant girl and spilled her secret about despising it—well, all except the talent portion. That was the only thing Cameron liked about the tedious glitz and glam of it all. It was when she, against her mother’s wishes, performed a contemporary dance routine she had choreographed herself.

She really felt like she knew him and in a way that was completely different than the way she’d ever known anyone else. Kyle was sweet and thoughtful, and as far as she could tell, he was honest.

Not that her currently-on-a-break boyfriend wasn’t honest with her. She and Hayden didn’t have any trust issues because they’d been completely truthful about their dating arrangement. Which was just that—an arrangement.

She didn’t get the same butterflies she got with Kyle when Hayden’s hand accidentally brushed against hers, and she sure wouldn’t have let Hayden get away with throwing her in the pool. He would have got slapped right upside the head for that. Whatever was happening with Kyle Mason was not an arrangement. It was something else altogether.

“I know,” she agreed, inching her lips closer to his. “I look like a drowned rat though.”

“Hardly.” He shook his head. “You look beautiful.”

Soaking wet and wrapped up in the arms of a guy she just met, she realized what it felt like to finally be the center of someone’s attention for the right reasons.

“You shouldn’t say things like that,” she cautioned him, letting the heat from her lips graze his. She could have leaned in and kissed him herself, but she wanted to be kissed by him, not the other way around.

“And why is that?” His arms tightened around her.

“You just might make a girl fall in love with you,” she admitted. She’d always been the kind of girl who told people what she thought they wanted to hear, but today she was being completely honest with him and herself. “Beau,” she added, needing to cut the tension she could feel building between them.

“That might not be a bad thing.” The slight smile that crossed his lips faded to something more serious as he crashed his lips to hers. Despite her inability to breathe, she parted her lips and let him taste every inch of her. Her heart felt like it was going to beat clean out of her chest, but she took comfort in the fact that she could feel his beating equally as hard.

She felt his strong, calloused hands slide down the backs of her thighs and moved her legs to wrap around his waist as he carried her to the side of the pool, their mouths never parting. Cameron wasn’t about to end the kiss. In fact, she was fairly certain that if he’d let her they could stay in that exact same position forever.

As she tangled her fingers in the hair at the base of his neck, her hopes of continuing their poolside make-out session were cut short.

“We should slow down,” Kyle breathed with reluctance in his eyes as he pulled his lips from hers. The face she pulled in response must have told him exactly what she was thinking, because he added, “It’s not that I don’t want to keep kissing you, Belle.” He slid a piece of wet hair from her cheek and pressed his lips back to hers. “There’s just so much more I want to know about you.”

“Okay,” she agreed hesitantly. There were still plenty of things she wanted to know about Kyle, but there were also plenty of things she didn’t want him to know about her.

He laced his fingers between hers and pulled her over to the steps of the pool. As he sat down, he eased her onto his lap and rested his head on her shoulder.

“So tell me…” He looked up at her with inquisitive eyes. “I’m assuming you don’t live in this massive house all by yourself. Tell me about your parents.”

“I’d rather not,” she confessed, letting her gaze drift toward the house. “They aren’t worth mentioning. Long story short—they both had places they’d rather be this summer than with me. Tell me about yours.”

“Well,” he started. “My mom is just about the nicest person on the planet and my dad is not worth mentioning either.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “I think that’s enough about our parents then.” Cameron let out a soft laugh and ran her fingers through his damp hair. “I’m an only child. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“I’ve got a baby sister. Ella Jane.”

“What a cute name.” She grinned, imagining a sweet little girl with Kyle’s blue eyes and blond pigtails following her big brother around.

“She’s cute, all right,” he huffed out. “A cute little pain in the ass. That girl’s going to be the death of me.”

“I think it’s sweet that you’re the overprotective big brother.”

“You should try telling her that,” he mumbled into the crook of Cami’s neck, heating her sensitive skin with his breath.

“She’ll see you were just looking out for her one day,” Cami offered as her body began to tingle. “I wish sometimes that I had a big brother to look out for me.” It would have been a good time to come clean with any and all transgressions Cami may have been hiding from Kyle, but his hands started to move across the bare skin of her stomach, effectively derailing her train of thought. “I thought you wanted to talk?” A sigh escaped her lips as he peppered kisses up and down her neck.

Before she could move herself to face him, Kyle took matters into his own hands, lifting her up and pulling one knee onto each side of his lap. With their lips only inches apart, a wicked grin danced across his face.

“I think we’ve shared enough to earn a break.”

“Me too,” she agreed as their mouths found one another’s once again.

CAMI couldn’t wipe the love-struck grin off her face as she watched him walk out the gate that night. She could honestly say that this was the first time since her freshman year she’d stopped at second base with a guy. While she would have happily let Kyle hit a homerun, they’d agreed to take it slow.

“We’ve got nothing but time, baby,” he’d whispered. A shiver of excitement, of promises of what was yet to come, was enough to quiet the nagging voice in her head that had always pushed her to be a pleaser. She’d always thought that guys only wanted one thing from her, so she always just obliged. But Kyle was different.

He wanted her—all of her. The real her. And that was the one thing she’d never given anyone.

13 Kyle

“SO what’s the deal for the Fourth? Same old?” Coop asked while they stacked up bags of pea gravel in the Masons’ barn.

“Yeah,” Kyle said as he tossed one of the bags from his shoulder to the ground. “About that… I kind of have other plans.”

“Of course you do,” Coop smirked as he moved the final bag off the pallet. “Should have known you’d blow me and EJ off for you new lady friend.”

“Hmm…let’s see,” Kyle said, holding up his hands. “Hanging out with your ugly mug, doing the same thing we’ve done for the past thirteen years, or making a few fireworks of my own with a pretty girl?” He moved his hands up and down, weighing his options.

“Point taken.” Coop chuckled.

“Oh, and I’m sure you’re really pissed that you’ll get to hang out with my little sister all by yourself.”

“What are you talking about?” Coop’s eyes went as wide as a doe’s in headlights.

Kyle fought back a smile. He wasn’t stupid. Anyone with eyes could see that Brantley Cooper had a thing for his sister. That didn’t mean he was going to come right out with his official big brother blessing of their relationship. Coop was going to have to work for that.

Not to mention, Coop had yet to man up and tell him the truth. He denied each and every time Kyle brought it up. As long as Coop was too chicken to tell him, he could squirm. Their friendship aside, Ella Jane was his little sister, and as far as he was concerned no one was really and truly good enough for her—even his best friend.

“I’ve been gone most of the summer. The two of you don’t seem to miss me.”

“That’s not true.” Coop shook his head. “All your sister talks about is how much she misses you.”

“Yeah, I miss you because I have to pick up the slack around here.” Ella Jane’s voice rang out from above them. Coop and Kyle looked up to see her legs dangling from the hayloft as she rested her arms on the center railing and leaned out to glare down at them.

The two boys watched as she skillfully slipped through the railings and dropped down to the barn floor, the same way she’d done since she was six and had watched her brother do it.

“Who’s this girl you’re making fireworks with?” she asked her brother as soon as her feet hit the ground. “Better not be that skank Mackenzie. I can’t stand that girl, and if you think I’m going to sit across the dinner table from—”

“Easy, girl,” Kyle cut her off. “It’s not Mackenzie. Not that it’s any of your business who I date.”

“Sure it is,” she informed him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You always butt your nose in my business, so I’m just repaying the favor.” Kyle waited for the glance she usually snuck at his best friend, but it didn’t come.

Something had seemed a little off with her lately. Usually it was all batted eyelashes and sly smiles in Coop’s direction, but she seemed to be purposely ignoring him. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he was fairly certain his little sister was pissed at his best friend.

“Not that there is anything going on with me that you need to worry about,” she added. Kyle could practically see the heat flying off her words. Maybe he didn’t need to worry about Coop and EJ hooking up. Looked to him like that flame had extinguished itself.

“There’s a difference between being protective and being nosy, EJ.”

“Overprotective,” Ella Jane corrected him. “And I’m not being nosy. I was in here doing inventory when y’all came in. And I happen to know what kind of trash you try to pass off as acceptable company.”

“Get lost, brat.” Kyle pulled a leather work glove from his hand and tossed in her direction.

“My pleasure,” she sassed. “You two clowns are boring me anyway.” She made her way out of the barn without a second look.

“She’s in a mood today,” Kyle joked.

“Yeah,” Coop agreed. A few seconds passed as Coop stared at the barn door as if he were waiting for EJ to reappear. Slowly he slid his attention back to his friend. “Hey, I need to ask you something.”

“Ask away.”

“You still picking up shifts every now and then down at that shipping place?”

“Sometimes,” Kyle answered, surprised at the turn of direction the conversation was taking. “Why?”

“Just wondering if there was any way you could get me a job?”

“A job?” Kyle’s eyebrows shot up. “You already work from sunup to sundown. When would you have time to work there?”

“Graveyard shift maybe?” Coop shrugged. “I’ll make it work. Money’s a little tight right now. We could use the extra income.”

Kyle saw the desperation in Coop’s eyes. As close as they were, they never really talked about the super serious stuff. They were guys, after all.

As much as Kyle wanted to help his buddy out, he didn’t really want Coop involved with the crew that ran the loading dock. They were pretty sketchy. The only reason Kyle kept picking up shifts there was because he had no other option. Not since his dad had bailed.

The job paid quick cash and the Masons needed it. Kyle turned a blind eye to whatever it was he was helping transport. Drugs, guns, fake handbags, he didn’t care. It was strictly about the money.

“I’ll see if there are any openings,” he lied, giving Coop a pat on the back. There was no way he was getting his best friend involved with that crowd. Besides that, as soon as he started college, Kyle was out too.

“Thanks, man.” Coop smiled, looking relieved.

“No problem. I’m sure everything will work out.”

“Hope you’re right.”

“Me too.” Kyle forced a smile of his own. He wasn’t about to tell his friend that things didn’t always work out the way you hoped.

“HEY, Mason! You gonna stick around this weekend and find out what college is really about or you gotta run back home?” Fletcher Collins, OSU’s second string quarterback, asked in the locker room after Thursday training camp. “School’s not back in session, but there are still a few hot stragglers spending the summer on campus.”

“Plus we need a rookie to pay for our beer,” one of the linebackers added.

Kyle’s teammates had been asking him to stay for the weekend since the beginning of camp. He’d resorted to blaming it on his family business. Sure, there was plenty of work for him to do, but he really just wanted to get home and see Cami. That girl had him all twisted up. At first he thought she’d be a fun summer distraction, but the more time he spent with her the more entranced he became.

“I don’t think so, guys,” Kyle said. “My mama would skin my ass if I didn’t get home and keep up on my work. Summer’s the busiest time of year for landscaping.”

“You work too hard,” Fletcher told him. “You’ve got a full ride. Have you even celebrated the fact yet?”

Kyle sighed behind the door of his locker. He hadn’t celebrated. Not one bit. The same day his acceptance letter came his mom had dropped the bomb about his dad leaving. His sister had given his neck a good squeeze and his mom baked him a cake, but it wasn’t the kind of celebration he’d expected. Couldn’t be with the looming cloud his dad had left hanging over them.

“We had a big bash back home the day I got my letter,” he lied. “I’m still recovering.” He forced out a harsh laugh. “Once I’m here full time, I promise to spring for drinks.”

Kyle had dreamt about leaving Hope’s Grove behind and playing college football his entire life, but now, with everything that had happened, the idea was starting to fade from his mind. His future didn’t seem nearly as promising and exciting as it once had. How could he leave his sister and mom with all that responsibility? Someone had to be the man of the house now that his dad was gone.

“Deal,” Fletcher said as he slapped him on the back.

Kyle closed his locker, sat his bag and phone down on the bench next to him, and started to tie up the running shoes he’d been given the first day of camp. His phone chimed and his screen lit up with bright brown eyes. He tried to fight back the dopey smile he got every time she called.

“Belle?” Fletcher pulled a face, looking down at the name flashing above the picture. “Day-um, Mason. Well, no wonder you want to go back home. If that was calling me, I’d be hauling ass too.”

Kyle just smiled and nodded as he excused himself to answer his phone.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said quietly, not wanting his teammates to hear. There was nothing a bunch of big dumb jocks liked more than teasing a buddy about being whipped. Kyle knew he was well on his way to becoming a prime example of just that.

“Hi,” she replied. He could practically see the blush rising in her cheeks from ninety miles away. It still blew his mind that, for whatever reason, this sure and confident girl blushed when he told her she was pretty. She was a beauty queen for Christ’s sake.

Something had changed in her since that first day. She’d let her guard down a little with him. Every time they talked or touched, she became more vulnerable. She’d told him about her mother forcing her to be in pageants and about how her dad was absent most of the time.

Every word out of her mouth made him want to kiss her that much more. Their first kiss in the pool the other day had almost destroyed all the willpower he had left for taking it slow. He didn’t know if he’d ever get enough of her perfect little mouth.

“So you missing me or what?” he asked with a deep laugh.

“A little,” she confessed. He felt warmth spread in his chest from her confession. She wasn’t the type to admit to missing people, to needing them. “I actually had to water the rose bushes yesterday. Someone forgot to set the sprinklers last time he was here. Middle of an Oklahoma heat wave and he forgot. Can you believe that?” She might have been letting her guard down with him, but she still kept him on his toes with her sharp tongue.

“My guess is that he was probably too distracted the last time he was there. Probably because you were flouncing around in that pitiful excuse for a bikini. Give the guy a break.”

“I don’t flounce,” she informed him. “I sashay. And it’s not my fault if the guy is easily distracted.” He knew exactly what she meant. He fondly recalled watching her hips and ass sashay around the pool. It was quickly replacing football as his favorite pastime.

“I seem to recall you drooling over me a time or two.” He imagined she was shaking her head and trying not to smile.

“I’m thinking if I’m going to be doing all the gardening around this place I might have to fire the landscaper,” she teased.

“You wouldn’t dream of it.”

“It’s not that hard of a job. I’m starting to think we overpay you.”

“You’re really funny today,” he told her. “I think you’re covering up how much you actually miss me with jokes.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she admitted.

“I’m always right.” He let her giggle ring in his ear before he added, “Since you got all my work done I guess I don’t need to come by on Sunday.”

“No. I think you still need to come by. There are still a few jobs around here that require a professional’s touch.”

“You know that I’m turning everything you say into an innuendo, right?” he asked.

“I’m counting on it.”

He bit his lip and shook his head, not wanting to be the one to break down and blurt out just how much he wanted her. Cameron Nickelson had perfected the art of toying with him.

“Not to mention, I just got a package in the mail containing a brand new piss-poor excuse of a bikini. I think you’ll be thoroughly distracted with it.”

“I’ll see you Sunday,” he added without hesitation, gripping the locker closest for support as the mental image assaulted him.

He might as well have T-shirts printed. He was officially whipped and he didn’t mind it one bit.

14 Ella Jane

“SO what passes for fun around here?”

“Oh, you know, cow tippin’, square dancin’, and cousin kissin’. The usual.” She purposely thickened her accent as she tried to keep a straight face. But Hayden’s eyebrows rose so high they nearly hit the rim of his backwards ball cap. Laughter escaped at his reaction. “I’m kidding. Don’t have an aneurysm, City Boy.”

“Very funny,” he deadpanned as he dug the hole for the peonies she held. “But I’ve been to what you people call downtown and I’d be willing to bet you just named the three favorite activities of most of the townsfolk.”

“Ha-ha.” EJ lowered the roots into the hole he’d dug. “Actually on the Fourth there will be a carnival and huge fireworks display. Me and Kyle and…” She interrupted herself to swallow the pain saying his name still caused. “Coop. The three of us, we watch the fireworks from The Ridge. But Kyle said he has other plans and I’m sure Coop’s going to be with one of his many racing groupies. So it’ll just be me this year.” She tried not to think about how much she hated the undeniable proof that everything was changing this summer. And none of it for the better.

Together they shoved dirt into the hole, patting the ground around the plant once they were done. “Yeah? Maybe I’ll join you. When I get done cow tipping, that is.” Hayden winked and the smile on his lips flipped her stomach right over.

She had to remind herself she wasn’t really interested in him. This was just to make Coop jealous. Except…sometimes she forgot about that part. Especially when it was just her and Hayden sitting up on The Ridge, watching the night train pass through.

“Hey, what happened here?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts. She watched him place his long masculine fingers gently against a blackened spot on the trunk of the old elm they were planting the flowers around.

“Lightning. It was struck a few years ago.”

He turned his confused face to hers. “And it lived?”

She nodded. “The roots were really strong. So no matter what happens to the outside, it can still thrive. If the really important parts are buried deep enough, isn’t really much that can destroy them.”

“Huh.” He actually looked impressed. Mr. I’m-So-Cool-Nothing-Fazes-Me.

Ella Jane took a deep breath before she spoke. “Um, I think I might head down to The Ridge tonight actually. I’m going to take a run first, since my track coach is going to kill me if I lose time this summer. But then I was going to watch the trains for a while. If you’re not doing anything…”

“I’m not doing anything,” Hayden answered, causing her to grin like an idiot.

“Okay. I’ll grab some sandwiches or something after my run and bring ’em up.”

“Whoa. If there’s food, I’m pretty sure it’s a date.”

“You wish.” EJ bit her lip to keep from admitting that maybe she wished too.

“Oh I do wish. I’m not like your friend Joe. I say what I want. And usually I get it.” His words made her mouth feel funny, dried out, and like her tongue was suddenly thicker.

EJ licked her lips in an attempt to wet her mouth. “Um, Joe?”

Hayden smirked. “Yeah, Joe Dirt, your brother’s buddy. He’s watching us right now. And if looks could kill, it’d be me you were digging a hole for instead of these flowers. But you already know that, don’t you?”

“Um.” EJ busied herself burying the roots of the next plant. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do. You like it that he’s jealous. If I’m being honest, which I try not to do if I can help it, I like it too. Let the poor bastard look.”

“You’re so full of yourself.” EJ went to swat him in the chest but he caught her wrist.

“This is true. Funny thing is, half the time you forget to check if he’s watching before you flirt with me. Wonder why that is?”

Her blood burned hot, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he was calling her out or if because what he said was true. “I swear, Hayden Prescott. Just when I think you’re a decent guy, you go and act like such an ass. Wonder why that is?” EJ stood, yanking her wrist from his grip as she spoke. “And by the way, you can keep wishing all you want. It’s not a date whether there’s food or not. It’s a date when I say it’s a date. And if I’m being honest, which I always am, you probably couldn’t handle me anyways.”

He mumbled something that sounded a lot like “I’d sure like to try” before she stormed out of earshot.

The nerve. Ugh. That boy had zero brain-to-mouth filter. And he was so freaking cocky.

She was still lost in thought when she heard the unmistakable sound of gravel flying in the driveway. She glanced up just in time to see Coop’s truck disappearing. It was the first time he’d ever come by and not even said so much as hello to her.

Whatever. They were all the same. City boys, country boys, overprotective brother boys, disappearing dads. They all gave her a headache and made her feel like her every move was somehow wrong.

She couldn’t think straight for the rest of the day. Every time she looked up, Hayden seemed to be purposely ignoring her. Well, two could play at that game. And if he didn’t show at The Ridge tonight, then screw him. She’d already had her heart broken once this summer. The last thing she needed was some I-get-what-I-want city boy twisting her all up inside.

BY the time she’d finished her evening run, she had sworn off whatever attraction she felt to Hayden Prescott. Sure, he was good looking. And he got her sense of humor. And he didn’t mind letting her use him to make Coop jealous. He dang sure didn’t treat her like a sister. And he was good-looking. Okay, extremely good-looking. With those mischievous green eyes and dark hair and that boyish and simultaneously devilish grin of his.

Wait…why am I swearing off my feelings for him? She walked up her front porch, lost in thought. It barely registered that she was being greeted by the cricket symphony. She glanced over at the peonies they’d planted earlier. Oh yeah. Hayden. He was ridiculously full of himself. And the way he just said whatever he wanted, like he didn’t care if it affected her or not.

After a quick shower, she threw together ham and cheese sandwiches on sub rolls. She grabbed a bag of chips and two bottles of water, telling herself she was hungry enough to eat all of it so it was no big deal if he didn’t show. When Kyle wasn’t home, her mother didn’t fool with big dinners. They usually heated up one of the many frozen casseroles or ordered pizza and ate in the living room. It was too depressing to sit at the dining room table, just the two of them, both of them pretending not to notice the two chairs that remained painfully empty.

She’d spent more time at The Ridge this summer than she ever had. And the past few times, Hayden had been there right along with her. They talked. It felt…real. Like they were becoming friends. Then he’d pulled that cocky crap on her. She huffed out a breath as she headed to her truck. She was going to drive over in case he didn’t show. She didn’t like to walk back home in the dark.

In fact, she reassured herself, it’s probably better if he doesn’t show. Maybe he got the hint today. She wasn’t at all impressed with the whole spoiled brat persona. Or with the dual personality thing. Her father had done that—pretended to be a loving father and devoted husband, then bam. Turned out he’d had a slut on the side.

And he hadn’t even called to say hello or ask about seeing her or anything. Nothing. One apologetic phone call after he’d left and then nothing.

Well, she was done with two-faced liars. Coop had nearly kissed her then called the idea of being attracted to her incestuous. Hayden chatted easily about how funny his grandparents were and then acted like an ass.

Done. I’m done, she told herself. She’d just live vicariously through Lynlee’s hot surfer boy stories. A summer romance of her own was out of the question.

Until she pulled up at The Ridge and her headlights caught the silhouette of a tall brooding boy she’d just sworn she was done with.

15 Hayden

HER headlights nearly blinded him. Hayden raised a hand to his eyes to shield them from the glare. But as soon as they shut off, he lowered it so he could fully appreciate how gorgeous she was as she got out of the truck.

Never in all his seventeen years had he seen anything like her.

She was bold, sassy, and smart-mouthed as hell. And she didn’t take any shit, not even from him.

His grandfather had warned him about her. But all the warnings in the world wouldn’t have kept him away.

In Summit Bluffs, she’d have been laughed at for her cut-off shorts and flannel, plaid button-up shirt. And those boots. Cami and her friends would have a field day calling EJ a hillbilly ho. But damn if she didn’t make his mouth water. She approached him with a swagger in her hips that made his dick twitch. Tilting her head to the side, she handed him a bag.

“It’s still not a date.”

Pull it together, Prescott. He nodded, eyeing her toned backside as she lowered the tailgate of her old-as-dirt truck. She hopped up on it and ignored him.

“Permission to come aboard?”

There, that got a tiny smile out of her.

“Permission granted,” she answered with an eye roll. Even her eye rolls are adorable. Hayden wanted to slap himself. He never thought of girls as adorable. He never even thought the word adorable. Girls were hot. Or sexy. Or do-able. Or none of the above. Period.

But Ella Jane Mason was all of those. Adorable. Intimidating. Sexy.

And one he didn’t want to think about. Innocent.

She practically had virgin stamped on her forehead. And he had a hard rule about virgins. They were a no-fly zone. As in, his fly did not go anywhere near them. Virgins got attached. Virgins expected their first time to mean something. If there was one thing he didn’t do, it was meaningful sex.

He’d seen enough of his friends get stalked by psycho freshmen they’d nailed to know he wanted no part of that. He and Cami had a good thing going. They did it when they felt like it. Whenever it was convenient. The few girls he messed around with on the side were just that—a few girls who’d made their interest in him obvious. And okay, a few who were older than girls.

His cousin Brett was a junior at OSU, and he’d tagged along to a few frat parties. He’d always been offered what he wanted on a silver platter.

And he’d never felt bad about taking what he wanted.

Until now. Until bright blue eyes regarded him warily. Like she had him all figured out already and she wasn’t amused.

“So you were kind of a dick today,” Ella Jane informed him.

He nearly choked on the bite of sandwich he’d been about to swallow. “And yet, you cooked for me.”

“Um, no. I threw some cold cuts on bread. Which I totally would have inhaled myself if you hadn’t shown up.”

He couldn’t help but smile. Ella Jane Mason didn’t play games. She didn’t beat around the bush or go out of her way to be cute. She didn’t play coy or worry about what anyone would think about her. She told it like it was. He loved that about her. Almost as much as he loved those smooth, tan legs swinging off the tailgate. “Why would you think I wasn’t going to show up?”

She shrugged in response. “I guess I don’t know what to expect from people anymore. Sometimes people say one thing and do another. Or they do one thing and say another.”

He chewed and tried to work out what she was talking about. He had a feeling she was talking about her brother’s buddy. God, he was really hating Joe. Dude came and went, mostly when her brother was in town. But when he came around, Ella Jane stood up and took notice. Even when she was trying to pretend she didn’t, he could tell that she did. They had a history or something. Even if the guy was too chicken to admit it to her brother.

He could almost respect that the guy was putting bros before hos and all that, but Ella Jane was no ho. Not that he himself was going to be giving her big-ass brother the four-one-one on how interested he was in her. Kyle Mason was good and ripped, and he had that I’ll-beat-your-ass-for-breathing look down to an art form. Getting into it with him would probably suck for the other guy. And no girl was worth a busted face.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to be all Whiny McWhinerson about it. Just been a weird summer.”

Hayden grinned as he reached for his water bottle. “Naw, I get it. People are shady.” He took a swig of water and watched her watching him. “But I can promise you this, angel face. If I say I’ll show, then I’ll show. I’m a lot of things, but an outright liar isn’t one of them.”

“Good to know,” she said with a small nod. “I’m kind of over liars at the moment.”

“So does that mean you’re under me?” He smirked, anticipating the solid arm smack she gave. He had to watch himself with her. Had to play it just right so things stayed light. Last thing he needed was to be spilling his guts about his parents, the pressure, and the crap his dad had him involved in to her. He had to pull back and piss her off so she wouldn’t give him that look she sometimes did. That ‘I will let you kiss me if you do it right now’ look.

“Only in your dreams, City Boy.” She threw a chip at him, which turned into him trying to catch them in his mouth. After they wasted half the bag, he heard the low rumble. Or more, he felt it.

“It’s coming,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down off the tailgate. “We better hurry.”

She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t ask any questions. Didn’t squeal about getting her hair messed up or her shoes dirty. They ran down the hill, wind chafing their faces as they did. The craziest part? She didn’t let go of his hand.

Hayden Prescott had never thought a girl holding his hand would make his heart race. But it was pounding in his chest when the sound of steel and wood slamming together hammered down on them.

She ran ahead of him, almost a foot too close to the boxcars blowing by them. He didn’t know if it was the vibration of the train flying past or if she was trembling when he pulled her back and into his arms. “Careful. Jesus.” He held her close, watching as she closed her eyes and smiled. Her face held a peaceful bliss he’d never known. “Tell me why you come here. Why you do this.”

“Reminds me that I’m alive,” she breathed out in excitement. “That I won’t always be stuck in the same place, won’t be the same person forever.”

Her words sent his world spinning off its axis in overdrive.

That was exactly the same reason he couldn’t stop edging so close to the line when it came to making a move on her.

BY the time the train disappeared from sight and they made it back up to her truck, he’d regained most of his equilibrium. Sort of.

“Did you walk?”

“Huh?” She means here, idiot. “Yeah, yeah I did. My car is in the shop and my grandparents just have the one truck.”

“I can give you a ride home…if you want.”

Typically, this was the part where he acted like an ass, made an inappropriate comment about how he knew she wanted to give him a “ride” all right. But she was still holding his hand. And he just couldn’t bring himself to ruin it yet. So he just said, “Sure. ’Preciate it.”

The tension in the truck cab was so thick it nearly suffocated him. At least she’d finally let go of his hand. Though his palm still felt like he’d grabbed a live wire while soaking wet. He’d actually touched one of the underground lines when he’d dug too close to one at work and it had shocked the shit out of him. Almost literally.

“So, um, thanks for coming tonight.”

He cleared his throat. Again, perfect opening for him to say something dickish. And yet, he didn’t. “Yeah, it was fun. We still on for the Fourth?”

“I’ll be there.” He watched as she shrugged. “Always am.”

“Guess I’ll see you then.”

At that, she laughed. “Hayden, I’ll see you at work on Monday. The Fourth isn’t until Tuesday.”

He shook his head at his own stupidity. This girl did serious damage to his game. As in, he had none around her. The way his name sounded in her mouth made him uneasy. He liked it. Way, way too much.

He’d wanted a lot of things in his life. A new car, the latest cell phone or whatever gadget was better than the ones the other guys had, the hottest girl in the room just because. But he’d never wanted anything as bad as he wanted to kiss that mouth. Her naturally pouty lips practically begged him to. But they were pulling up in his grandparents’ driveway so it was time. Time for him to say something stupid so she wouldn’t go home thinking there was more to this than there actually was.

But when he opened his mouth, all that came out was, “Night, Ella Jane.”

SUNDAY, he thought he wouldn’t see her. His grandparents had dragged him to church on the one day he should’ve been able to sleep in. But it turned out to be worth it.

As he stepped out of the small, white building with his grandma on his arm, Ella Jane Mason slowed to a stop and turned his way.

“Mornin’, City Boy,” she drawled with a wink that made his knees go weak. “You come to repent for using the Lord’s name in vain?”

He took in her short, flowery dress and the fact that she even wore her cowgirl boots to church, and the images assaulting his mind gave him a whole other list of things to ask forgiveness for.

“Hayden Tanner Prescott, have you been using foul language around my sweet little EJ?” his grandma asked as she tightened her grip on his arm.

He grinned, considering telling his grandmother her EJ was neither sweet nor little. And if he got his way, which he typically did, she’d be his EJ by the end of the summer. “No, ma’am. I have no idea what she’s referring to.” He winked at Ella Jane and jerked his chin up slightly as Joe Dirt appeared beside her.

“Hope the Good Lord doesn’t strike you down for lyin’,” Ella Jane said quietly to him.

Joe ignored his greeting but gave a curt nod to his grandma. “Come on, Ellie May. Mama’s makin’ your favorite lunch. She’s expectin’ us.”

Hayden cut his eyes coolly to Brantley Cooper. So Joe wanted to play this game? Tough. He’d seen the way he wussed out on her and made her cry. Missed your shot, buddy. Hate that for ya.

He opened his mouth to invite her to have lunch with him and his grandparents instead, but his grandma beat him to it. “EJ, I see you have lunch plans already. Won’t you join us for dinner tonight? Hayden and his grandfather are firing up the grill. And I’ll make that caramel apple pie you love so much.”

Hayden raised a brow and waited for her response. Joe Dirt was breathing a little more heavily, but what could he do? They were at church, and no one argued with his grandma. Not even him.

“Yes, ma’am, I’d like that. Can I come early and help with the pie?”

With her cat-ate-the-canary grin, his grandma nodded. “Of course. Tell your mama she’s welcome to join us.”

“Yes, ma’am. Um, see y’all this evenin’, I guess.” Her voice was soft, sweeter than he was used to, and it did something to him. Something he couldn’t understand fully. He tried to figure it out as she walked away. Yeah, he wanted her. As in, wanted to get her naked or just get under that dress with every body part she’d allow. He’d even let her leave the boots on. But this feeling, this was…something else.

The clear blue in her eyes was brighter in the sun. He wanted to kiss that sweet Sunday girl with eyes shining in the sunlight. He wanted to hold hands with the wild, free version of her as she ran alongside the night trains she loved.

But she made him hungry in a way he’d never felt. He wanted to claim her, punch Joe Dirt in the face, and grab her up, sling her over his shoulder, and carry her away to their own private island where no one would ever interrupt.

Most girls, even the hot ones, bored him. Or maybe who he pretended to be around them bored him. Ella Jane Mason electrified every nerve ending in his body until he felt raw and exposed. Just her very presence sent his heart pounding, pumping testosterone and adrenaline through him so hard he couldn’t think straight. He could spend every day with her and never get bored, never feel like he knew everything about her there was to know.

He wanted to know what she looked like when she first woke up, what movies she liked, what made her laugh, what made her cry. Well…he already knew what made her cry. But the rest of it, he was determined to find out. Joe Dirt could deal with it.

“You’re welcome,” his grandma said as he opened the truck door for her. “Don’t make me regret being your wingman.”

A hard jet stream of freezing cold water on his back snapped him out of the fantasy he’d been having about kissing Ella Jane Mason. Whirling around, he saw her feigning innocence as she watered the flowers up near the front porch.

Since dinner with his grandparents Sunday night, things had been different between them. He’d walked in the house and found her bare legs swinging from his grandma’s countertop as the two women made pie.

Hit with an image he hadn’t been prepared for, he’d nearly lost his breath. She and her mother had chatted easily with his grandparents all through dinner. He’d answered questions when asked, but he couldn’t even concentrate on the food or the conversation with Ella Jane’s knee brushing against his under the table. He’d spent most of the night trying to figure out if she was doing it on purpose.

When she left, she’d given him a shy smile and a hug goodnight. A hug. If any other girl he was interested in had tried to hug him, he’d have been checking his text messages behind her back. But the subject of her dad had been briefly mentioned, and he knew from his grandfather that he’d run out on them earlier that summer.

She needed that hug, and the fact that she wanted it from him instead of Joe? Well that pretty much made his whole life. So he’d wrapped his arms around her, inhaled her sweet honeysuckle and clean, girly scent, and squeezed as hard as he could without hurting her.

“I’m glad you came, angel face,” he said low in her ear. He didn’t miss the fact that she looked a little dazed when she stepped back.

“Um, me too. See you at work tomorrow?”

He didn’t know why it was a question. There wasn’t anything that could keep him away. “Not if I see you first.” He gave her a wink, stepping back so he didn’t pull her into his arms and give into the urge to press his mouth to hers. Not with her mom getting in the truck four feet away, anyways.

He’d spent the rest of the evening thinking about kissing her. Judging from the way she’d watched his mouth as he told her goodnight, he was willing to bet she’d done the same.

The past four days they’d both been edging around doing something about it. He was going in-freaking-sane. She consumed his every thought, something no other girl had ever done.

On Monday, he’d been sent out with the crew to help with a mowing job, and when he came back, she had been waiting on the porch with a glass of sweet tea. Tea never tasted so good.

Tonight was the Fourth of July celebration in Hope’s Grove, and they were going to watch fireworks on The Ridge. Well, she was going to watch fireworks and he was going to watch her. Until she turned his way and they made some fireworks of their very own.

16 Cooper

“OF course it would be Bitch Boy’s granddad who holds our fate in his hands,” Cooper mumbled to himself. He was still burning over the fact that his Sunday lunch with Ellie May had been tainted by the knowledge that she’d be having dinner with him later that night. She’d seemed distracted and just…different somehow ever since.

He and his dad were headed over to the Prescotts’ to discuss getting an advance on the crops this year. Last year’s crop hadn’t paid out very well, and according to Coop’s dad, they were running short on money already this year.

As his dad pulled in front of the old farmhouse the Prescotts called home, it was no surprise to find Edwin and Netta sitting in the two white rockers on the front porch.

If he wasn’t at Harwell’s drinking coffee or out driving by the fields the Coopers farmed for him, you could bet your paycheck the man the whole town called Pops was sitting on the porch with his wife. And it was the Fourth of July—Harwell’s was closed, along with every other business in town.

They’d sit there all day and wave at the cars, trucks, and tractors that drove by. Coop often imagined him and Ellie May doing the same thing one day—reflecting on the life they’d built together. Of course, a future with her would mean he’d actually have to make a move and fess up to his feelings.

“Mornin’, Edwin,” Jim called out as he and Coop made their way up to the porch. “Netta,” he added with a nod and a smile.

“Hope you’re coming to tell me the crops are looking good,” Edwin asked in his down to business fashion as his wife gave a quiet smile and wave.

“Absolutely,” Jim confirmed. “We’re looking at a solid haul this year. Weather’s cooperated and harvest should come early.”

“Good to hear.” Edwin nodded before leaning back. “Something on your mind, Jim?”

Coop could tell his dad was nervous about asking for the advance. He watched him dig his hands into his pockets and rock on his heels the same way Coop did when he thought about confessing his feelings for EJ. Netta Prescott must have had the same observations, because before Jim could say a word, she excused herself to the house.

“I’ll let y’all talk business,” she smiled sweetly, letting the screen door fall shut behind her.

Jim leaned up against the porch railing and took in a deep breath. Coop looked up as the screen door creaked and the one person he was hoping like hell wasn’t around stepped out.

“Gran asked if I’d bring this tea out,” Hayden said as he set the tray down on the small table between the rockers.

“Thanks, kid.” Edwin grabbed a glass of tea and took a drink.

Coop couldn’t help but roll his eyes when Hayden sat down in the empty chair beside his grandfather. This was just freaking perfect. It was bad enough that his dad had to ask for a handout, but now Hayden was going to witness the entire thing. The two Prescotts sitting on their high and mighty thrones.

“Out with it,” Edwin said to Jim.

“I was wondering if there was any way we could get an advance on the crops this year. Like I said before, we’re looking at a solid profit, and it seems I’ve hit a bit of a rough patch. I wouldn’t be asking if I had another option.”

Edwin rocked in his chair and nodded, letting Jim’s proposal sink in. Coop held his breath, right along with his dad. The cocky little smirk that crossed Hayden’s face when he looked from his granddad to Jim made Coop want to put his fist through a wall. Or at least bust up that pretty little face of his.

“I wish there was something I could do to help you out, Jim, I really do, but my funds are pretty tied up,” he finally said.

“Yeah,” Jim sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Recession’s hit us all hard. Thanks anyway.” He started to walk away with the first answer he was given.

Thanks anyway? He couldn’t believe his dad was just going to let it go that easily. Coop stepped forward and words started coming out his mouth before he even had a chance to think it through. His dad might have been okay with Edwin’s answer, but Coop sure wasn’t.

“Excuse me, sir.” He addressed Edwin as politely as he could, considering he was steaming mad. “But my family has worked your land for how many years now? Thirty? Forty? We’ve never once asked you for an advance. Isn’t there something you could do to help us out?”

Coop knew the old man was sitting on a fortune. Anyone who looked at Calumet County plat book knew that Edwin Prescott owned more than his fair share of the land. Probably had bundles of cash and bars of gold buried out on his property somewhere. He’d seen the desperation in his father’s eyes, heard it in his voice when he’d asked the question, and it pissed him off that Edwin had brushed him off without a second thought. Barely even blinked an eye. It wasn’t fair.

“Brantley.” Jim tugged on his son’s arm, warning him not to say another word with his stare.

“I’m sorry, Dad, but it’s not like we’re not good to repay him. You said it yourself that the crops will be profitable this year.” He tried to reason his outburst to his father, but he could tell it wasn’t working.

“Boy, you better get in that truck,” he gritted between his teeth.

“You might want to listen to your old man,” Hayden added as he stood from the chair and took a step forward, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked like an idiot. Trying to show off for Edwin. Oh, look at me, Grandpa. I’m defending you. Dumbass.

It took every ounce of self-control Coop had not to bum-rush City Boy right then and there. Let’s see how impressed your grandpa is when I’m pummeling your ass.

“I apologize, Edwin. Damn kids.”

“I know how ya feel,” Edwin nodded. “This one’s been giving me hell this summer, too.”

Coop pulled his arm free of his father’s clutch and, with one last death stare at Hayden, stomped back to the truck. Edwin and his grandson could kiss his country ass.

By the time his dad joined him in the cab, Coop was cracking his knuckles and thinking about how good it would have felt to just knock that rich little bastard out.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Jim asked as he turned down the lane and on to the road.

“Me? What the hell is the matter with you? You didn’t try very hard to convince that stingy old bastard to help us out.”

Jim let out a sigh of frustration and anger hardened his voice. “There’s a couple things you need to learn, boy. Namely, how to read people. I could tell what Edwin’s answer was going to be as soon as I asked the question. No use beating a dead horse.” He rested his arm out the open window and looked over at his son. “Bottom line is we work for him, and you need to be respectful of that. There’s a hundred other farmers around here that he could rent to and your bad attitude could have cost us that.”

“Sorry.”

“And whatever is going on between you and his grandson better get ironed out quickly. I better not hear about you stirring up trouble with that kid.”

“He’s an asshole.”

“I don’t care what he is. Stay away from him.”

Coop nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Second of all, I’m going to give you a free pass this time, because I know you think you were trying to help, but if you ever speak to me or another adult the way you did back there, you’re going to regret it. You’re not too old to turn over my knee.”

Coop fought back a chuckle as he imagined his dad trying to whip him. He was a head taller than him and probably had a good twenty pounds on him.

“Better wipe that smile off your face,” Jim cautioned.

“Yes, sir,” Coop replied when he saw the seriousness flash in his dad’s eyes. He might have been bigger than his dad, but he knew what was going on between them at that moment was no laughing matter. Besides that, images of his dad tossing hay bales across the barn ran through his mind. Probably wasn’t a good idea to underestimate his dad’s strength.

“I know you think you’re a man, and hell, in some ways you are, but sometimes things aren’t fair, and the sooner you learn when it’s the right time to walk away, the better off you’ll be.”

FULL of angry energy and nowhere to put it, Coop was looking forward to seeing the only friend he felt like he had. Kyle had plans for the Fourth—something with his mystery chick—so this year it would be him and his Ellie May. Just the two of them. He really needed to get his mind off the situation with the farm, and he knew exactly where he wanted his focus to be.

Tonight was the night. He pulled over at Thompson’s Grocery and bought a dozen multicolored wild flowers. The bouquet was a bit more than he could really afford but he wanted to do this right.

It wasn’t every day you told the girl you’d wanted forever that you loved her. He knew from his parents that relationships were about friendship, trust, and compromise. He was ready for that. He and Ellie May already had that. He was even ready for whatever beating Kyle Mason would put on him. The bruises and possible broken bones would heal. He grinned at the image of Kyle being his best man at the wedding one day. They’d laugh about the day he’d got his ass kicked for finally manning up.

He’d sworn to look out for her. What better way to do that than as her boyfriend? After the horrific incident in the barn, he’d vowed never to hurt her like that again. From now on, the only expression he’d be causing to pass across her beautiful face was a smile.

17 Cameron

“DID you have a good week, Miss Cameron?” Sophie’s voice pulled Cami from her daydreaming.

“Yeah,” she beamed, stirring her spoon around in her half-eaten bowl of Cheerios. “It was awesome.”

“So you left the house?” Sophie asked as she wiped down the kitchen counter.

“Nope.” She shook her head, looking up into Sophie’s warm green eyes. “Didn’t have to. Have you met Kyle? The landscaper.” She grinned to herself. He was so much more than that.

“Haven’t met him, but I’ve seen him.” Sophie chuckled, running her fingers through her sandy-colored hair. She had been the Nickelsons’ housekeeper for as long as Cami could remember. She knew everything about Cami. From her favorite food to how she liked her bed made and each and every time she’d snuck out of the house to go meet her girlfriends or Hayden. There was an unspoken agreement between the two. Sophie took care of Cami, and in return, Cami treated her with respect, unlike her parents, who just fired off orders at her day after day.

“What about the Prescott boy?” Sophie rested her arms on the counter and smiled.

The creases around her eyes, which she lovingly referred to as laugh lines, appeared. Cami’s mom had offered to get Sophie an appointment with her plastic surgeon as her Christmas bonus one year, but Sophie wore her age with pride. She may have been on the better side of fifty, but she’d told Cami’s mother that she’d earned her stripes and was grateful for each and every one of them.

Of course, Theresa had laughed her off and couldn’t fathom why Sophie would want to look her age. But Cami knew that Sophie was the proud single mother of two and had worked extremely hard when her husband died suddenly to provide for her children. Both of whom were on their way to becoming successful professionals—a doctor and an architect. In fact, Cami was sure that, once they were out of college and able to support themselves, Sophie would leave her. The only reason she kept the job with her family was to pay for her childrens’ education.

“We’re on a break.” Cami shrugged. “Besides that, I haven’t gotten so much as a text from him, so he obviously isn’t missing me too much.”

“I’m glad you’re having a good summer,” Sophie commented, picking up the cereal bowl in front of Cami. “You deserve to be happy, sweet girl.”

“Thanks, Sophie.” Cami reached out and squeezed Sophie’s hand with hers. “Funny story about how I met him. I thought he’d broken in the gate…” She started to tell her all about how she and Kyle had run into each other—minus the part about her being topless—when her father stepped into the kitchen.

“Who broke in the gate?” He sauntered over to the counter and pointed at the coffee pot. Sophie knew what was expected of her at this point and started to fill a travel mug with coffee—one sugar, one cream—just the way Mr. Nickelson liked it. To-go.

“No one, Daddy.” Cami averted her eyes. “It was just a misunderstanding. I didn’t know you’d hired a landscaper for the summer.”

“Yeah, well, if he doesn’t take care of the mess around the gazebo he’s going to be looking for a new place to work,” he noted, grabbing the coffee from Sophie without so much as a thank you.

Cami held her breath at the thought of not seeing Kyle again. She wanted to confess exactly how she felt about him to her father, but she didn’t because she knew that he’d oppose the idea of her getting involved with the help. Besides that, Derek Nickelson and Kevin Prescott had been friends longer than Cami had been alive. They’d all but betrothed their children to one another. Bottom line: Cami’s father only saw Hayden Prescott as a suitable match for his daughter.

“I’ll let him know.” Sophie held her shoulders back and appealed to Mr. Nickelson with a take-charge attitude. “I’ll make sure he cleans up the gazebo and the rosebushes, too. You’ll get your money’s worth, Mr. Nickelson.”

“That’s what I like to hear, Sophie. I knew there was a reason I hired you to oversee this place.”

Cami felt the air return to her lungs as Sophie smiled a silent “You’re welcome” in her direction.

“Ladies.” He raised his coffee in one hand and tugged a suitcase behind him with the other. “I’m headed to Tulsa for a conference. Take care of my girl, Sophie,” he added as he walked out the door.

Cami didn't waste time being hurt that he was leaving without so much as pretending to miss her. She didn’t need to beg for his attention anymore. She had the attention of someone much more worthy.

18 Ella Jane

“CAREFUL, City Boy,” Ella Jane teased as Hayden shoulder-bumped her on his way by. The little touches they’d shared since Sunday night were getting more and more deliberate.

She smiled at his back as he went inside the house to clock out. Only a few more hours until dark. Then they’d meet at The Ridge. Her stomach tensed in anticipation. There was still one factor she hadn’t taken into consideration.

Coop.

She contemplated whether or not she should just call and ask him if he was coming tonight or not. She’d seen the stare downs. She knew he and Hayden weren’t exactly fond of each other. But the word incest burned in the back of her brain, and she told herself that if Kyle wasn’t coming, then surely Coop wasn’t either. Relief tinged with sadness confused her.

Yes, Coop seemed jealous of Hayden. But she was starting to wonder if it was more about money than her. Coop’s family worked hard to make ends meet and Hayden’s was loaded. So maybe the glaring matches had nothing to do with her. Maybe it was time to take her attraction to Hayden seriously and finally let go of her fantasy relationship with Coop. Who was she kidding, anyways? Even if he didn’t like Hayden flirting with her, it was only for the same reasons Kyle wouldn’t like it. Brotherly reasons.

Finishing up with the Epson salt on the rosebushes, she pulled off her gloves and stood. The crunch of gravel alerted her to a truck pulling into the drive. She expected it to be Kyle, but a quick look told it was her wannabe brother instead.

She sighed as he got out of the truck. But for the first time in as long as she could remember, the butterflies didn’t slam around like boulders in her stomach. Her heart only sped a tiny bit and her breathing remained even. Maybe his declaration in the barn had finally gotten through to her.

“Hey, Coop. What brings you out here?”

“Hey, Ellie May. Just passing through. Mama wanted me to bring these tomatoes and peppers by. Said your mom might want to use them for the salsa for the farmers market at the festival.”

He handed her a plastic shopping bag heavy with vegetables and she took it. “Tell your mama thanks.”

He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“So—” they both began, almost in unison.

“Go ahead,” Coop said, grinning at her. Okay, her heart was beginning to flutter slightly at his grin. EJ could admit that to herself at least.

“Um, I was just going to ask what your plans were tonight.” Ella Jane shrugged as if she didn’t care. “I know Kyle has plans with…” She waited for Coop to insert the mystery girl’s name.

“Don’t ask me.” Coop raised his brow and then shook his head. “He hasn’t told me much about her.” His low laugh twisted EJ’s stomach into a knot. And woke up the butterflies.

She swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe normally. “Well, whatever her name is, I’m just glad he found someone. Maybe now he’ll have someone else to drive crazy instead of me.”

“He just acts like that because he loves you, Ellie May.” Coop cleared his throat and looked into her eyes. She felt her grip on her composure slipping. He’d always be the same guy she’d imagined marrying all those years. She searched his face for any inclination that maybe, just maybe, there was more than brotherly feelings under the surface.

“So what about you, Coop? You got a secret girl stashed somewhere too?” The words had escaped her mouth without her permission. She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, hoping it came out playful and not desperate.

The answering grin he gave caused the bottom of her stomach to drop out. Oh God. He does.

EJ scanned her memory for which of his racing groupies had seemed to be around the most lately. But she couldn’t discern any one of them from another.

Coop maintained her gaze, tilting his head as he answered. “Actually, there is this one girl. She’s kind of my favorite one.” He winked, and she bit her lip so her mouth wouldn’t turn down.

“Really? Anyone I know?”

Coop glanced to the side and shrugged. “You’re probably somewhat familiar with her.” She wanted to slap him. To throw herself at him. To crumple to the ground and cry. The only thing she didn’t want to do was hear anymore about this stupid faceless girl.

She forced a smile anyways. “Well I can’t wait to meet her. I need to get these inside to Mama,” she said, lifting the bag he’d brought as a reminder. Grateful for her own ability to think so fast on her feet, she took a step back. “I’m guessing I won’t see you tonight since you’ll probably be with your favorite girl and all.”

“Yep. Big plans tonight.” He grinned wider and she died a little inside. Or it felt like it anyways. “I know it was always the three of us on the Fourth. But remember what I said. Sometimes different is good, Ellie May. Not all changes are bad.”

He reached out to touch her underneath the chin but she backed up. She couldn’t handle any of his brotherly affection right that minute. Not now that she knew that was all it would ever be.

She swallowed hard and gave him the best nod she could manage. “Right. Well, you have fun. Later, Coop.” And with that, she turned and bolted up the porch and into the safety of her house. She didn’t even acknowledge Hayden as she shoved past him in the doorway.

19 Hayden

“WHAT’D you do to her?” Hayden felt his temper flare as Ella Jane blew past him with tears in her eyes.

“What the hell are you talking about? And since when is she any of your business?” Joe Dirt eyed him from head to toe and back up again, sizing him up. Hayden stepped down off the porch, unwilling and unable to back down.

“I’m talking about how every time you come around she ends up in tears. You got a real way with the ladies, Joe.”

“Name’s Cooper, not Joe.”

“I know. I just don’t give a shit.”

Both boys stood there, toe to toe, shoulders squared, gazes even. It was Cooper who broke the intense silence.

“Maybe you should be a little more worried about your job as the Masons’ Bitch Boy and less about what’s going on between me and Ellie May.”

Hayden smirked. “Last I checked, her name was Ella Jane and there wasn’t much of anything going on between the two of you. Unless you count you wussing out in front of her brother. Which I am counting on. Very much.”

Coop responded through gritted teeth. “You don’t know a damn thing about her.”

“I know she’s had enough of your bullshit. You probably remind her of her sorry-ass dad, unable to man up when it really matters. Pardon me if I don’t ask for your advice where she’s concerned. You’re two for two far as I can tell.” Hayden sighed. In his head, he’d already won. All Joe Dirt did was upset her. And if good old Joe was all this worked up by him, this threatened, then what more proof did he need?

“You lay a hand on her and I swear to God I’ll—”

“You’ll what, farm boy? Go cry to daddy? What’s he going to do about it? My granddad owns your whole family.” Joe was resorting to idle threats. Victory was his.

Cooper’s eyes widened. Hayden rolled his. Speaking of the old devil, his grandfather had just arrived to pick him up from work. Perfect timing, Pops.

“Kyle Mason will tear you apart with his bare hands.”

Yeah, Hayden knew that was a possibility. But he could hold his own when that obstacle presented itself. Taking a deep breath, he started to walk past Coop then turned back at the last second. “That’s the difference between you and me, Joe. I don’t decide how I feel about her based on what anyone else may or may not do. And when I get a shot at what I want, I don’t let it pass me by.” Just because he was still riled a little by Coop’s bowing up on him, Hayden took a parting shot. “Well, that, and I don’t go begging for handouts either.”

“WHAT was that all about?” his grandpa asked when he climbed in the cab of the truck. “You and the Cooper boy having a disagreement?”

“Naw. Just a friendly discussion.” Truth was, Hayden wasn’t proud of the last words he’d said. Not that he’d take them back. Joe was a thorn in his side and he wanted to rip it out and crush it to dust. But something was nagging at the back of his mind. He knew if Ella Jane had heard him say that, she would’ve been disgusted by him. Jesus. He actually cared what a girl thought about him. What the hell was the world coming to?

“Oh yeah? What about?” His grandpa cut his sharp gaze from the back window to him.

“Nothing, Pops. Guy stuff.”

“I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, Pretty Boy. Guy stuff my old ass. I’d bet my life savings that was about girl stuff.”

Hayden couldn’t help but laugh. “You still got it, Old Timer. I don’t know. I guess Joe Dirt back there is jealous because Ella Jane pays more attention to me than him. Who can blame her?”

“Damn straight I still got it.” His grandpa’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he continued. “You listen to me, Hayden Tanner. The Coopers are good people. They’re hardworking and they know the meaning of family, of loyalty. More than I can say for your folks half the time, and one of them’s my own blood. And I like you, son. I do. But I’d give two of you for one Brantley Cooper any day.”

Hayden felt like he’d been slapped across the face. The high he was on from telling Joe off evaporated instantly. He swallowed his wounded pride, but it didn’t go down easily. “Wow, Pops. That’s nice to hear.”

“Just shootin’ straight. Now, you stop worrying about which one of you is getting more grins from little EJ Mason and buckle your ass down and work? Then I might change my position. We clear?”

“Yes sir,” Hayden choked out.

20 Cameron

“COME on, Belle. We aren’t on house arrest. Or wait…are you?” He smirked at the girl sitting with her feet in the pool. He wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight. Not for work anyways.

“Maybe I am. What’s the matter?” Cami lifted her chin in defiance. “Bored of me already?”

Kyle rolled his eyes and stepped over to her. Crouching down, he stared into her warm gaze. “Never.” He kissed her softly on the mouth while pulling her hand to his. “It’s the Fourth. I finally have a four-day weekend. And I want to show you something. Something special.” Brushing his lips across her knuckles, he gave her his best pleading puppy-dog face. “Please? If anyone deserves special, it’s you.”

“You and your lines. One day they’re going to stop working on me,” she informed him. Leaning a few inches out of reach of his mouth, she took a second to check out what he was wearing. Khaki shorts and a blue button-down. With his sleeves rolled up the way they were, she could see just enough of his forearms to make her want to feel his arms around her. It was a lot different from what she usually saw him in. She didn’t think it was possible for him to be any more appealing to her and yet…Kyle Mason in nice clothes was pretty hot.

“Is today that day?” he asked, jutting out his bottom lip.

Cami had to think for a second to remember what he was asking about. “No, probably not,” she answered, taking his hand as he helped her to stand up. “So where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise. You’ll like it. Promise.”

Her stomach twisted with worry. Where in the world did he want to go? The thought of possibly seeing any one of the dozens of people she’d bragged about going to St. Tropez to made her feel sick.

“Don’t make that face. It’s a date, Cami. It’s the Fourth of July. This is what couples do.” Kyle knocked his forehead gently against hers.

“I can think of something else couples do,” she said softly in her best seductress voice. Letting her hands drop to Kyle’s waist, she let her intense stare bore into his.

“You’re something else, you know that?” He grinned and shook his head. Before she could answer, he kissed her on the mouth. The kind of kiss she was beginning to think only he was capable of. The kind that tingled its way from her lips to her toes.

“You keep doing that and I’m going to show you something else,” she purred against his mouth.

“Come on, Belle. Your chariot awaits,” he said as he pulled her away from the pool and toward his black new-ish looking truck.

Reluctantly, and with a silent prayer that no one who thought she was thirty-five hundred miles away from Summit Bluffs saw her, Cami allowed him to lead her out of the safety of her backyard.

“WOW. Pinkberry. And we’re going through the drive-thru. You must really like me,” she deadpanned as Kyle drove slowly toward the giant order screen.

He turned and gave her his trademark grin. The one she dreamt about when he was away at camp. “I can’t help it that your lame-ass town doesn’t have a regular ice cream place. But this isn’t the date. This is pre-gaming.”

“Pre-gaming?”

Kyle nodded. “Yep. You know, warming up before the real thing.”

Cami tilted her head to the side. “Warming up with frozen yogurt?”

“Geez, Belle. Give a man a break, will you? If you’re disappointed at the end of the night, I’ll—”

“I doubt I could ever be disappointed. Not with you, anyways,” she admitted so he’d stop torturing himself trying to think of a way to make her happy. She’d pretty much spent her whole life being disappointed by people. Her parents let her down like they were trying to gold medal in it. Hayden was so self-involved that he never paid attention to a word she said unless she was naked—and even then he seemed like he was on a schedule and had to be somewhere else. Even Sophie was destined to walk away sooner or later. But Kyle Mason was different. He seemed to know what she needed before she even did. It actually was pretty nice to finally get out of the house.

“Good,” Kyle breathed out from beside her. “Because the last thing I ever want to do is disappoint you, Belle. It’d be off with my head if I did, right?”

She couldn’t help but giggle. “Something like that.”

“What flavor?” he asked, glancing at the glowing menu next to his window. “Looks like they have a whopping five to choose from. Baskin Robbins it ain’t.”

“Yeah. But this is much better for my figure.”

Kyle stopped to let his eyes roam from her face all the way down to her bare legs. Thank God for sundresses. She nearly melted from the heat in his appreciative gaze. “I’m a big fan of your figure. But I definitely wouldn’t have any complaints about there being a whole lot more of you.”

“Oh more lines,” she said, putting her hand to her forehead and pretending to swoon. “If you keep using them up on me, you’ll run out soon.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Nope. Never. And you’d miss them if I did.”

Shaking her head at his crazy self, she leaned over to glance at her menu options and got a whiff of his cologne. Clean, sweet, and sharp all at once. She fought the urge to inhale as hard as she could. Don’t be a weirdo, Cami. “Um, coconut is fine.” Settling back to her side, she enjoyed his lingering scent as he ordered hers and a chocolate banana protein shake for himself.

She twirled a strand of her hair as he paid at the window. “Here you go, Belle,” he said, handing her a cup and a spoon. Just as she turned toward him to take it, she heard a voice that had her blood running colder than the frozen yogurt.

“Oh my god,” a girl’s voice squealed. “Like seriously? Um, you work at a yogurt shop and wear a stupid paper hat. Puh-leeze. I mean, let’s get real.” The over-exaggerated drama queen’s voice grated on Cami’s nerves as it made its way through the open windows.

“That was freaking hilarious. He totally thought you were serious. You are such a biotch, Raquel.”

The three girls walking out of the yogurt shop and in front of the truck broke into a fit of wild laughter.

“Oh shit,” Cami mumbled under her breath. She wanted to hide. To turn invisible instantly or something. If any one of them, Raquel or either of her two stupid minions—Trista and Jen, who were a year younger than them—turned even a quarter of the way to their right, they would see her. Right there in Summit Bluffs. Not in St. Tropez like she’d just been discussing with Raquel on the phone a few hours ago. A cold sweat broke over her skin and she couldn’t swallow.

“Friends of yours?” Kyle asked from beside her, but she could barely hear over the ringing getting louder in her ears.

This was bad. This was ruin-her-life, get-nicknamed-the-girl-who-goes-on-a-fake-vacay, have-to-admit-to-Raquel-that-she’d-lied bad. Raquel was the kind of girl who fed off the pain and misfortune of others. Like a succubus. And that was putting it politely.

The girls took their sweet time crossing the parking lot so Kyle couldn’t drive forward. A horn honked from behind them and Cami didn’t think, she just reacted. Letting the cup of yogurt fall from her hand, she ducked down to retrieve it before it even hit the floormat.

“Oops. Clumsy me. Um, no. Just a girl from school who drives me nuts. If she sees me, she’ll want to know where we’re going and then she’ll invite herself. You know the type.”

“Here, I got it, babe,” Kyle said, reaching down with a handful of napkins to clean up the tiny smidge of yogurt that had actually fallen on his interior. “It’s not a big deal. It needs a good detail anyways.”

“Okay, it’s just…I don’t want it to stain or anything.” She knew she sounded like a complete idiot, and the fact that she was still ducking down made matters worse. “Um, are they gone?”

Kyle cleared his throat. “Yeah, they’re getting into a red convertible.”

Shit. So they were in Raquel’s car. And if the top was down, which she had no doubt it would be, they’d be right there.

“Okay, um, sorry. I know this is lame. They’re just kind of…annoying. And I’ve managed to not have to deal with their immature crap this summer so I’m trying to lie low.” There. That sounded convincing. Didn’t it?

Much better than, My parents abandoned me and I didn’t want everyone to know that I was an unloved loser so I lied my ass off. Kyle was the kind of guy who didn’t care what anyone else thought. She loved that about him, but she also knew it meant he just wouldn’t get it.

“Literally, in this case,” Kyle muttered under his breath as he finally pulled out of the parking lot. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were ashamed to be seen with me. It’s no Mercedes, but this truck is practically brand new, you know. Worked my ass off to pay for it.” She was so distracted she almost missed the hurt in his voice. Almost.

Rising as slowly as she could manage with her half-ruined cup of yogurt melting in her hand, Cami glanced around and saw that Raquel’s car was out of sight.

Whew. Crisis averted. The tight ball of nerves in her stomach finally eased up. But her sigh of relief caught in her throat when she saw that Kyle was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“Hey,” she said, setting her yogurt in the cup holder between them. “I’m not ashamed of anything.” Except my parents. And my lies. And my stupid friends who would’ve acted like total bitches.

He huffed out a breath and shot her a forced smile. “If you say so.”

Cami’s chest ached at the wounded expression that lingered in his eyes. She wanted to say something to fix it, to let him know she’d acted a fool because of her own screwed up issues, not because of anything to do with him.

But the words, the truth about why she was in hiding, were just too humiliating.

Cami Nickelson did not do humility.

21 Ella Jane

“HEY, you busy? I need advice.” Ella Jane stood in front of her open closet in her room, wrapped in a towel. She held the phone to her ear with the help of her shoulder.

“I’m heading out to the beach to watch fireworks with my lame-ass parents. Why, what’s up?”

Ella Jane breathed a sigh of relief. She was in the middle of a major freak-out and needed Lynlee’s expert opinion. “So I think I’m going on my very first date tonight. And I have no idea what to wear.”

Lynlee squealed into the phone, prompting Ella Jane to pull it a few inches from her ear. “You finally did it! You finally made a move on Coop. Go you!”

“Um, no, I didn’t.” Ella Jane paused as she held a red dress up in front of her and faced the full-length mirror. “Actually, that guy I told you about? The cocky one from Summit Bluffs? He kinda asked me to watch fireworks with him tonight.” Or did he? More like he just agreed to join her. Now Ella Jane was even more confused. Was this a date or wasn’t it?

“Nice. That’ll show Coop.”

Yeah, it had started that way. But now she wasn’t so sure she even wanted Coop to know about her and Hayden.

Coop had a girl in his life apparently, and she didn’t want him thinking everything she did was because of him. “I don’t really care anymore what Coop thinks. He’s got a girlfriend, I think. I don’t know. Whatever. The point is, I’m meeting Hayden in an hour at The Ridge and I need to know if I should wear a dress or just keep it casual. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, you know?”

“What does he normally see you in?” Lynlee asked.

“Um, work clothes. And church clothes. That’s really it.”

Lynlee blew out a breath. “Okay, so you need something that looks casual like you just threw it on to watch fireworks but shows enough skin to be distracting. How about your denim dress with the cute pockets? It’s short enough to get his attention without being obvious. Throw a red cardigan over it and boom, you’re patriotic.”

“Um, okay. Let’s see if I can find it.” Ella Jane found it near the back. It actually showed a lot of skin in her opinion, which was why she hardly wore it. “Here it is.”

“And for God’s sakes, leave your freaking hair down. Ponytails are not sexy.”

EJ yanked the elastic band out of her wet hair. “Hair down, got it. Anything else?”

“Oh, and wear cute underwear. And a matching bra. Just in case.”

Whoa. Ella Jane’s eyes widened at her own reflection. “Just in case what? A spark falls and my clothes catch fire?”

“No, Virgin Mary. In case you decide to let anyone see them.”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to be an issue. Ella Jane had only kissed one guy—or rather, one guy had attempted to kiss her. Until Kyle jacked his jaw. And that was like almost three years ago. “Um, okay. Have fun with your parents.”

“Doubtful. I’ll be ditching them ASAP. Enjoy your date. Maybe we can compare stories later tonight.”

“Right. Thanks for the wardrobe help.”

EJ was one hundred percent positive her evening would pale in comparison. Lynlee was the furthest thing from being a virgin and EJ was the poster child for abstinence. Her friend had given her graphic tutorials on blow jobs, hand jobs, and the kinds of noises she should make when a guy touched her. It was pretty much a ton of useless advice she wouldn’t be able to put to use until long after Kyle was away at college and boys got bold enough to risk their lives to date her. So possibly never.

And if she was being honest with herself, she’d only ever pictured one boy doing any of those things to her. Only wanted to do those things to one guy.

She closed her eyes and tried to wipe the image of herself wrapped in Coop’s arms out of her head.

She let the word incest take its place. Then his smug smile when he’d rubbed it in about his favorite girl. The one he’d be with tonight.

Suddenly, the image in her head shifted. He was citified to the core, obnoxious, and utterly full of himself, but Hayden Prescott was the one meeting her tonight. The one who’d laughed with her all summer, teased her, watched trains with her. He was the one who’d showed when he’d said he was going to, been there to make her laugh when she’d cried. He was the one who made her nervous and unsure and crazy. He irritated her to death and excited her just as much.

Maybe Coop was right. Maybe different could be good and not all changes were bad.

AS she pulled her truck up to The Ridge, a small seed of nervousness began to grow. She tugged at the sleeve of her white cardigan as she got out of the truck. She hadn’t been able to find the red one because it was dirty. She’d forgotten she’d worn it to church last Sunday.

She wanted to kick herself. She’d put on a pink bra and teal panties and then stripped at the last second and put on matching red ones. She really was patriotic. And stupid, apparently, because the fireworks were starting and Hayden was nowhere in sight.

As she laid the blanket she’d brought across her rickety tailgate, the seed of nervousness became a vine of worry, which was rapidly growing into a thriving tree of full-blown panic. Maybe Coop had warned him about her brother and he’d decided not to show. Or maybe he’d forgotten. Or she was a complete idiot and he’d been messing with her all along.

Either way, it was hot and humid and she was sweating. She pulled her hair to one side, wishing she’d just ignored Lynlee’s advice and worn it up. Her heart grew heavy in her chest. Telling her friend she’d been stood up was going to suck. Lynlee wasn’t the kind of girlfriend who would be sympathetic. She was the kind who would laugh. Hysterically.

Glancing down, Ella Jane saw a few red specks on her white sweater. She’d helped her mom unload the salsa she’d made for the Founder’s Festival before coming here. Apparently some had splattered on her.

This night was off to a swell start. She began pulling her arms from the sweater sleeves. A low whistle interrupted her.

“I just got here and already you’re stripping. Should I give you a few more minutes and come back?”

As much as she wanted to glare at him, she grinned up at Hayden as he approached. “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” he asked as he hopped up on the tailgate beside her. He offered her a brown paper sack so she took it.

“Make stupid comments like that. Like you’d really be okay with me taking my clothes off out here.” She peeked in the bag. “Oh, never mind. You can be an ass all you want. Grandma Prescott’s caramel apple pie is my favorite.”

Hayden laughed, but it was a short laugh. Then he cleared his throat. “For starters, I have no problem with you taking your clothes off up here. Pretty sure I’m the only one who can see. And secondly, I made the pie for the festival because my grandma wasn’t feeling so hot.”

Ella Jane ignored the comment about her clothes and inspected the pie with the plastic fork he’d handed her. “Oh no. I hope your grandma’s okay. And I hope you didn’t just poison the whole town.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. And yeah, she was just tired, I think.” He paused and set his own piece of pie aside. “Can I ask you something?”

With her mouth full of warm apple pie—pretty decent pie actually—Ella Jane nodded.

“Would you give two of me for one of Joe, er, Cooper?”

“Um…” EJ forced herself to swallow. She couldn’t help but notice Hayden’s normally gleaming eyes seemed a little dimmer as he reached over and wiped a crumb from the corner of her mouth. Her skin burned where he touched her, and it was scary and intoxicating all at once. “Why would you ask that?”

Hayden shrugged and removed his hand. “Something my grandpa said.” She studied his profile as he turned his face to the sky. “Ever feel like no matter how hard you try, nothing you do will ever be good enough? Like you can do two million things right but people will always remember you for the one thing you did wrong?”

“Kind of. But I mean, all you can do is your best, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” He turned to her and tilted his head to the side.

Ella Jane sucked in a breath as Hayden leaned his face toward hers.

A loud boom interrupted whatever had been about to happen. Startled by the fireworks blossoming and falling in front of them, they jumped apart.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Ella Jane asked as the sky lit up with bright blasts of blue and purple and red and green. Flashes of light reflected on her face as the twinkly ones she loved went off.

“You’re beautiful,” Hayden said quietly from beside her.

“What’d you say?” she asked turning her attention back to him.

“You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

The abrupt honesty of his words shocked and thrilled her to her core. “I don’t… No one’s ever said that to me before. I don’t know what to say to that,” she breathed.

“Most girls I know would say ‘I know I am,’” Hayden told her with a grin.

“Really? What kind of girls do you know?”

“Fake ones. Conceited ones. Insecure ones. Lots of different kinds. None like you though.”

“And what kind of girl am I?” Ella Jane asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She held her breath as she waited for his answer.

“Real. Honest. You don’t hide behind makeup or worry about what anyone else expects or thinks.” A breeze blew between them, and he brushed her hair gently out of her face. “I never know what you’re going to say next. You always know when I’m full of crap. You amaze me. And you scare me a little, too.”

Ella Jane’s eyes widened. “What do you mean I scare you?”

Hayden shook his head, glancing up as if the words he needed might drop from the sky like rain. “I don’t ever know what you’re thinking. Well…sometimes I do.”

She laughed nervously, scooting a tiny bit closer to him on the tailgate. “Oh yeah? Like when?”

“Like when you’re thinking about kissing me.”

She scoffed, giving him a small playful shove. “Shut up.”

“Seriously. It’s cute. I love that you try to pretend like you’re not thinking about how bad you want to kiss me every time you see me.” With his trademark smirk, he leaned in and placed his forehead on hers.

“I’m not,” EJ whispered, shaking her head against his. “I’m not thinking about how bad I want to kiss you.”

“Oh yeah?” Hayden pulled back a few inches. “Then what are you thinking about?”

Pulling in a deep breath and gathering up all her courage, she met his stare and told the truth. “I’m thinking about how bad I want you to kiss me.”

That was all the confirmation Hayden needed. “Ella Jane Mason, I’m going to kiss you before this night is over. If you don’t want me to, you should say so. Soon.” His eyes looked like they were memorizing her mouth.

“If you don’t kiss me, after all that, then I’m going to be seriously disappointed.”

“Well we can’t have that,” Hayden said softly just before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Fireworks went off around them as they both fell headfirst in love for the first time ever.

22 Cooper

SOME guys had all the luck. They were born into wealthy families. Seemed to be in the right place at the right time. And they always, always, got the girl.

Brantley Cooper was not one of those guys.

As he stood at the edge of the brush with a handful of vibrant flowers that reminded him of the girl he was finally going to confess his feelings for, he wondered why he couldn’t just for once catch a damn break.

Fireworks shot off in every direction behind the couple wrapped in each other’s arms.

All he could see was their silhouette in the darkness, but it was enough. Ella Jane and Hayden were attached firmly at the mouth. He didn’t know if it was the first time but he suspected it was.

He’d blown it. Chickened out when she’d needed him to man up and that was that.

He glanced over at them once more, hoping that maybe it was someone else sitting on the tailgate of her truck with Bitch Boy. But he saw the long blond hair. It was her. His girl in someone else’s arms. Kissing someone else’s lips.

Dropping the bouquet and letting the flowers scatter on the ground, he did the last thing he wanted to. Instead of barreling out of the woods and kicking Hayden Prescott’s ass, he did what his father said the bigger man always did. He walked away.

He walked right back to his truck and drove to town. Then walked right into Harwell’s Gas Station. Thankfully, when he walked up to the counter with a case of beer in hand, Harwell’s nimrod stepson, Brody, was working the register. The same nimrod that hadn’t ever taken the time to ask Coop, Kyle, or any other underage kid brave enough to attempt to buy beer for identification. Ever.

“Rough night?” he asked as Coop tossed a twenty down.

“Something like that,” Coop mumbled, not really wanting to get into specifics. Especially not with Brody.

“Wanna get high?” And there it was. Three words almost broke a smile free from Coop’s lips. Then he remembered EJ making out with Hayden Prescott. The urge to chuckle at the stoner who would probably work the nightshift at his stepdad’s gas station for the rest of his life was replaced with a pathetic sigh. Just like Brody would always get high and sell beer to minors, Coop would always be a farmer in a nothing town without the girl he really wanted.

“Umm… no. Keep the change.”

COOP really didn’t feel like going to the Masons’ the next morning. Hell, he didn’t even want to get out of bed. He’d spent the night drinking his sorrows away in the loft of his family’s barn.

Last summer he and Kyle had fixed up the old loft and turned it into their man cave. They’d hooked up a television and Coop’s Xbox, found a couple old sofas, and cleared out all the dust. Even let Ella Jane put a rug down and a couple throw pillows on the couches. It wasn’t fancy, but they loved it. He’d made a pretty good dent in the case of beer he had bought last night before he finally passed out.

Luckily, he’d remembered to hide the beer cans under the sofa, because as soon as the sun was up, his mom was out there waking him up. She would have been as mad as a box of frogs if she’d seen how much he’d drunk.

“I need you to run these jars back over to Millie’s. She’s making another batch of salsa and she needs them this morning. Can’t believe how fast that stuff sold at the farmers market last week.”

“Okay,” Coop reluctantly agreed, his voice still thick with sleep. His head was pounding, and despite what he’d thought last night when he was drinking, no amount of booze in the world would make him forget about seeing Ella Jane with another guy.

He hopped in his truck and headed over there. He hadn’t even bothered changing his clothes from the night before. It was still early enough that he might be able to avoid seeing anyone. He’d just leave the jars on the porch and haul ass.

He coasted up the lane and pulled to a stop in front of the house. Looked quiet enough. He slipped out of the truck and carried the box of jars up to the porch. He thought he’d been in stealth mode until he turned around and saw Hayden standing in front of him. He was surprised to see the little punk up this early, and from the dirt on his shirt, it looked like he’d been at it for a while already this morning.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Hayden offered up with his usual charm. “Thought you were the mulch delivery.”

“Just dropping off some stuff for Mrs. Mason.” Coop didn’t have the energy to argue with Hayden this morning. He brushed past him and headed back to his truck.

“You’re awfully dressed up for farm work this morning,” Hayden called out. Coop looked down at the khaki cargo shorts and blue polo he’d put on for Ella Jane last night. Hell, he even had on flip-flops.

“Feel free to mind your own business.”

“Sorry I asked.” Hayden threw his hands up. “Look. I shouldn’t have said what I said about the handouts thing. That was a low blow and I regret it.”

“Oh yeah? Losing sleep, are you?” Coop raised a brow. “My heart’s breaking for you, buddy.” Well, maybe he felt like arguing a little.

“Whatever. I could care less what you think. I’m a big boy. I can admit when I’ve taken something too far.”

“The only thing you’re taking too far is the game you’re trying to play will Ella Jane. Back off, man. Go back to your penthouse or whatever and leave her be.”

“You’re awfully threatened by me, aren’t you?” Hayden smirked. “What I can’t work out is, you’ve known her forever, right? But now that I’m here, suddenly this is the summer you get all worked up thinking you have some claim on her. You piss a circle around her when I wasn’t looking?”

Cooper breathed heavily through his nose, his broad chest rising and falling with each deep breath. He took a step closer, knowing how this could end but not caring. What did he have to lose? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. “You probably think she’s impressed by you. Your sunglasses probably cost more than my truck. But you know what the real difference between me and you is?”

“Enlighten me.” Hayden crossed his arms and waited for Coop to finish.

“The real difference is I work for what I have. From sunup to sundown, I bust my ass, and everything I have I paid for. Myself. What do you drive, Bitch Boy? A girly Mercedes or some shit?”

“Bentley,” Hayden bit out at him.

“Of course you do. And did Mommy and Daddy buy that pretty, shiny car for their little boy?”

Snorting as if the words didn’t affect him, Hayden shrugged. “Your point?”

“My point is, I’ve unloaded two tractors full of straw, mucked stalls, and plowed a thirty-acre field before you’ve even rolled your worthless ass out of bed. And while you’re working out, grinning at yourself in the mirror at the gym, I’m doing actual work. Man’s work. The kind that supports my family and puts food on the table. The kind of work that Ella Jane respects. The kind of work that can take care of her. So no matter what’s happened between you and her this summer, don’t for one second think I’m jealous of you. I don’t envy anyone who gets everything handed to them. I’m not impressed, and eventually, Ella Jane won’t be either. When you head on back home to Mommy and Daddy, I’ll still be here. And so will she.”

23 Hayden

THE cold, hard truth ignited a flare of self-hatred inside of Hayden. And now he was the one who was jealous. Joe was right. He could practically see him and Ella Jane together. The thought made him want to hit something. Hard. And Cooper wasn’t done.

“Who do you think she’ll call when she really needs something? If she’s stranded on the side of the road and needs someone to tow her out? I’ll give you a hint. It probably won’t be you.”

Hayden forced a cocky grin he wasn’t really feeling. “Yeah well, at least if she calls me I’ll actually show up. You’ll have to check with her brother first, right?”

He watched as Cooper tried to murder him with his stare. “Let me guess, you’ve never been a decent friend to anyone? Screwed all your best friends’ girls behind their backs?”

“Don’t act like you know me,” Hayden said through gritted teeth. He’d done some shady stuff in his past, but he was different now. And Joe was walking a fine line between speculation and sore subjects.

“Fine. Then don’t act like you know her. Because no matter what happens between the two of you this summer, you won’t ever really know her like I do.”

Hayden’s brows dipped in confusion. What the hell was Joe talking about? Had he and Ella Jane been sneaking around behind Kyle Mason’s back? Was she maybe not as innocent as she seemed? He almost shook his head at his own stupid thoughts. No way. He’d kissed her, tasted her sweet innocence on her lips.

Coop huffed out a harsh laugh. “I can tell where your mind is going, and that’s exactly why I don’t like your ass. There’s more to knowing her than the way you’re thinking.”

“You’re a mind reader now?”

“I’m a dude, and I know you’re wondering if maybe there isn’t more to my friendship with Ellie May than meets the eye.” Cooper smirked. “Have fun wondering.”

The slamming of the screen door jerked both boys’ attention back toward the porch.

“What are y’all talking about?” Ella Jane asked as she practically skipped down the stairs to stand between them. Hayden smiled at her carefree expression. She was a much-needed breath of fresh air easing the tension that had built up in his chest.

Glancing over, he saw her appearance had the opposite effect on Cooper. The guy’s eyes darkened, and he narrowed them at Hayden for a full minute before speaking. “Nothing,” he said, clenching his jaw as soon as the word was out of his mouth.

“You, angel face. What else?” Hayden said, wishing she were standing closer to him instead of equally close to him and Coop.

“Must be a slow news day if all y’all can talk about is little ol’ me.”

“Something like that,” Coop grumbled, shooting Hayden another dirty look before nodding toward the boxes by the porch. “Get your boyfriend to carry those in. If he can lift them. Mama sent them over.”

“Tell her thank you. And Mama said to let her know we’d pay for them. She wanted to give y’all a cut of the money she made at the market anyways.”

Hayden watched as Cooper’s expression clouded over. “Don’t sweat it. I need to get back to the farm. Some of us do actual work for a living.”

Dropping his arm across Ella Jane’s shoulders, Hayden fought the urge to wink at Cooper as he got in his truck. His stomach turned at the thought that this might be temporary. Ella Jane might only be his for the summer, and then what? Would Joe make a move once he was out of the way? It gave him a headache to think about. So he didn’t even look back at the other guy and focused all of his attention on the beautiful girl at his side.

Dust and gravel flew behind him as Cooper tore out of the driveway.

“Wonder what his problem is?” Ella Jane wondered out loud.

Hayden shrugged as if he had no idea. “Who knows.”

IT was nearly seven and his grandpa still hadn’t shown up to pick him up. Hayden was exhausted from working harder than he ever had in his entire life. Covered in dirt and sweat, he sat on the Masons’ front porch and sipped the glass of tea Ella Jane had brought him. Through the open door, he could hear her sweet voice placing orders for sod and fertilizer. She used her professional voice on the phone. He’d bet money the person on the other end couldn’t tell she was only sixteen.

A breeze blew and he watched the tall grass in the field across the road bend and sway with the wind. Finishing off his drink, he stood and took in the view from the Masons’ front porch once more. There was something about this place.

A peacefulness settled over him here. No so-called friends constantly up his ass about what the plans were that weekend, which girls they were hanging out with, or whatever. No dad hounding him about drumming up more business for whatever scheme he was currently involved in. Just long days, sunshine, cool breezes, and the most beautiful girl in the world.

Deep down he hoped summer would never end. Maybe he’d talk to his parents about moving in with Gran and Pops for real. They were getting older. Surely they’d be happy to have some help.

Before he had time to really formulate a proposal, Ella Jane burst out of the house. “Hayden, your grandpa just called.”

The panicked expression she wore made his head throb. “Okay. What’d he say? Where is he?”

She swallowed hard and turned her round, bright blue eyes up to his. “He’s at the hospital. He had to take your grandma to the emergency room.”