Page 26

CHAPTER 25

LIZZY

BUDDY

“Oh my god, you’re so slow,” Clay says, standing by the door to the garage, visibly irritated, waiting on me to get ready. “We’re going to be late.”

“Calm down, we won’t be late,” I scoff, glaring back at him. I look back into the entryway mirror, humming to myself and fixing my ponytail. I check my lip stain, popping them before turning and walking past Clay in the doorway.

He grabs me, peering down at me. Every second we haven’t been at work the last few days, we’ve been together in bed. And on the counter. And on the couch. And the floor. Everywhere. Still, the way his emerald green eyes make me feel seen stops my heart every time.

“You sure you want to go? Still have time to cancel.” He looks at me, his eyes darting from my eyes to my lips, his hand trailing up my back before tugging lightly on my ponytail. “Could go back to bed.”

A shocked gasp escapes my lips. “You’re bad. You practically invite yourself to Saturday brunch and now you want to cancel?” I give him a light tap on the cheek before turning and walking into the garage. “Nope. Come on, Chapman.”

He rushes ahead, opening the passenger door of my Bronco for me. “Thanks.” I smile back at him. “Besides, we can go back to bed after brunch.” I shimmy in my seat and clap my hands on my thighs.

“Deal.” He smirks, flashing his dimples before closing the door and walking around to the driver side.

I love my Bronco. Is it extra? Yes. But what I love more is watching Clay drive it. Something about the big, tattooed, brawny man driving my white, lifted SUV with pink wheels makes me laugh. And he insists on driving every time .

I get the sense there’s a reason, but there are still some things I don’t feel like he wants to share. He still wears a scowl most of the time, but some of them are softer and more playful.

Sitting at the window table in the charming little Main Street Cafe with Clay and Grace feels surprisingly natural. I love how her and I have already become friends during my time in Utah, two weeks of which I’ve been living with her brother.

But now, I’m slightly terrified at the way she’s been smirking at us all morning. After Clay finishes telling Grace about how his new stretching routine has helped with the stiffness in his knees, she raises her fork, pointing it between us while chewing a bite.

“So who made the first move?” I look at her, feeling the air rush out of my lungs. She’s looking back down at her breakfast, forking another bite. I look at Clay, who’s looking back at me with raised eyebrows, mouthing what the fuck?

“Um, what?” I ask, hoping she doesn’t know anything about us.

She takes another bite and mumbles while chewing. “How long have you two been fucking?”

Ok. Cool. This was not how I thought brunch would go today.

Clay nearly chokes on part of his biscuit sandwich and grabs his glass of water coughing. “Fuck, Grace.” I watch as his cheeks turn a shade that probably matches mine. “Why would you even ask that?” he scoffs.

She laughs before looking back up at us and taking a sip of her mimosa. I sit here, jaw still gaping open, half in horror and half in amusement at what’s unfolding. Clay is blushing and it’s almost adorable seeing him this flustered at the hand of his little sister .

I collect myself and reach over to Clay, who’s now choking on the water he drank too fast, patting him on the back, and coo. “Aw, did it go in the wrong hole?”

Clay coughs again and gives me a one fingered gesture before taking another, more careful sip of water. “Brat.”

I look over at Grace and feel a sense of accomplishment, seeing that now she’s the one with a stunned look on her face. “I can’t believe it. You two are like…” she waggles a finger between us. “Cute.”

Clay puts his elbows up on the table and buries his face in his palms, muttering to himself. “Great. Just great.”

Grace holds a finger to her lips, hiding a grin. “First off, thank you for making Clay like almost moderately not grumpy.” She smirks before looking at Clay. “And second, Clay, seriously? I’ve invited you to brunch like every weekend for the last year. How many times have you showed?”

She puts her fork down, holding up both hands in the shapes of zeroes and even I can’t help but laugh. “Zero, big bro. Zero. But suddenly, I check that Lizzy and I are still on for brunch today, she says yes, and not even ten minutes later you text me saying you’re coming to brunch too.” She rolls her eyes and looks back at her food with a laugh. “This was so predictable. I called it when he brought Kayleigh to dinner that night at your condo.”

“Excuse me?” Clay chimes in, sounding slightly annoyed with his sister.

“Oh, don’t give me that.” She grabs her fork and spears another bite of food. “You call her into social settings when you’re absolutely terrified of having to talk to someone.” She grins back at me and winks. “When I saw Lizzy and how you reacted to her that night in the hot tub, I knew you were into her and needed your Kayleigh buffer to protect you.”

I put one finger up, getting her attention. “I will neither confirm nor deny anything you’re saying.” I wink at her and she chuckles. “ Because on the gondola the day I met you, you were pretty adamant about not wanting to know about your brothers’ sex lives.”

“Well that was before I thought it was possible Clay was capable of,” she waggles her finger between us, “whatever it is he’s doing with someone as cool you.” She rolls her eyes and sighs. “But fair enough, I won’t ask for any more details.”

A defeated groan catches my attention and we snap our eyes to Clay. “There aren’t enough mimosas in the world for this,” he mumbles into his palms. We glare back at him.

“Shut up and be a good boy,” I say, sharing a glance with Grace.

“Oh.” She beams at me with that infectious Chapman smile and giggle. “I like this.”

Clay groans again and mutters something under his breath.

“So, you ready for the Bend trip?” I ask, already excited to see Tanner and V again. “I already talked to V. She has a light and loose suggested itinerary for us.”

She laughs. “Of course she would. But yeah, I’m excited for the trip.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah. Some things never change with her,” I say, remembering that not that long ago, V was obsessed with planning every little detail.

“When are you guys going?” Clay's low voice breaks up the light hearted talk. I look at him, noticing the look in his eyes is different. The look isn’t the please make my little sister stop asking about my sex life look. No, it’s a different, disappointed look.

“First week of May. Going to do some spring skiing and explore town a bit,” Grace replies, shrugging. “Do you want to come? Tanner’s got a house for the week, right on the Deschutes River.”

He takes a sip of his drink and nods, a small smile crossing his face. “Yeah, I think I can do that. Finally back on track and even a little ahead of schedule at work. ”

“Cool. I know Tanner would love to have you there too.” Grace smiles at him before turning back to me. “You still free for happy hour on Tuesday?”

“Yep. Roxy’s?”

She nods and takes a bite of food.

We continue talking about the trip, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing V and Tanner. Grace rambles on, talking a mile a minute about all the things she wants to check out in Bend. Apparently, there’s a great river park, lots of breweries, and some great Western bars.

Her excitement is in stark contrast to her brother. I can’t help but notice that Clay is quiet the rest of the time. Not the brooding quiet I’m used to, but a quiet that gnaws at me.

When we get back to Clay’s house, he opens the passenger door for me like normal and heads inside to let Ani out. He was quiet the whole ride back, more so than normal. He heads in and opens the front door, standing on the porch watching Ani bolt out into the yard. Seeing him run and play in the spring snow in his sweater still brings a bit of warm pride to me.

Clay leans against the railing of the porch, watching Ani. I lean next to him, enjoying the warmth of being so close.

“You want to tell me what’s got you all quiet for most of brunch and the ride back?” I bump my hip into him, trying to get his attention.

He looks down at me with a smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “Not really.” I lean further into him, nuzzling my head into his shoulder, humming to myself. “But I know you’re not going to drop it.”

“Nope.” I grin and give him two quick pats on his very firm, delicious ass. “You’re a fast learner.”

He sighs and I can feel his big, burly body deflate next to me. “It hurt my feelings.” Now that isn’t what I expected. A giggle bursts out of me and I reach to cover my mouth. He looks down at me, glaring. “Do you want me to keep talking or not?”

I smile back up at him, one hand on my chest and one still covering my mouth. “I’m sorry. You’re right, that was mean.” I shake my head, putting my hands on my hips. “I’m just shocked that something got under your skin like that.”

He hangs his head again and something about it is both sweet and endearing, but also heart wrenching. “You all have had this trip planned for over a month and no one ever even thought to ask me if I’d want to go.”

I take a second to think about that. He’s right. I mean, I get it. He was grumpy and moody and I’m sure his family knows that better than I do. He still is prickly with almost everyone I’ve seen him around. But that has to hurt to not even be asked by your own family to go on a trip with them.

“Did they ever ask in the past if you wanted to do things together like that?” I ask, wondering if this is a new thing.

His lips pull to one side and he rocks his head side to side. “Years ago. But at some point, I don’t know what happened. Either I kept saying no or they stopped asking.” He lets out a long sigh. “It’s been so long, it’s hard to remember who stopped first. I don’t like being like this. I don’t like feeling like this.”

I reach up, rubbing his back between his shoulders and an idea comes to me.

“You need a buddy.”

He looks back down at me, quirking a brow .

“A what?”

I lean against the railing, crossing my arms and grin back up at him. “You’re my accountability buddy.” I reach toward him and boop him on the nose. “A very pretty one.”

He snorts a laugh. “OK, and?”

“You need a…” I hum to myself and tap my finger to my lips, not missing the way his eyes follow that motion. “A disposition improvement buddy.”

His lips press together into a line. “How’s that supposed to work exactly?”

“I’m going to help you socialize with people.”

“That’s what Kayleigh is for,” he says gruffly.

Rolling my eyes, I grab him by the hands. “No. Apparently, she’s your buffer.” I pull his hands apart, leaving space between his palms. “See? Buffer. You need to learn to socialize, without a buffer.” I press his large, rough palms back together.

“This sounds miserable.” I glare back at him, not putting up with his attitude and his expression softens. “But what else do I have to lose?”

“Good.” I clap my hands together, bringing them to my lips. “I am going to coach you on being more social and nice to people.” I poke him in each of his shoulders. “Who knows, maybe they’ll even like you?”

He snorts another laugh. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

I lean into him, putting my hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “Well, people like me if you haven’t noticed and I like you. So there’s no one better to teach you.”

He hums playfully to himself, cupping my ass with his big hands and bringing me closer to him. “I can’t argue with that. So, when do we start this disposition improvement ?”

“We start today.”