Pivotal Moments (In Time #1) (6 page)

***

Food, glorious food! There were hot dogs and burgers, potato salad, macaroni salad, and coleslaw. For a little variety, someone had gone to the local Mexican place and brought tacos and burritos. I swiped at my chin to make sure I wasn’t drooling.

As I picked up a plate, Penny appeared behind me and said, “We should run by the cattle supply and pick up a trough for Jace.” She pointed over to where he sat with a handful of boys, shoveling down food like he was going for the Guinness, and we laughed. I handed her a plate, then moved down the line.

Teagan was just in front of me, and I paused as he grabbed the spoon for the baked beans and served up a large helping for himself. Pointing the spoon at my plate, he said, “Want any?”

I smiled and shook my head, fighting the urge to shudder.

We continued down the buffet, Teagan offering various dishes and me accepting or declining. By the time we had made it through, Teagan had so much food that his plate was in danger of breaking. I could only shake my head.

“You do realize you can come back through the line, right?” I mentioned, giggling as he tried to balance his plate while juggling his drink, fork, and napkins.

He shrugged, grinning. “I plan on doing just that.” He glanced around, and then headed in the wrong direction. Two girls, one I’d seen with Jace earlier, had taken over our spot and were happily eating their meal. I moved to follow where Teagan had wandered off to, noting with a fluttery stomach that the bench Teagan sat on was still open. Probably had something to do with the beast lying beside the picnic table, watching his every bite.

A nudge on my shoulder made me glance back. Penny stood there with a heavily-ladened plate and drink. She nodded her head toward Teagan. “Go on,” she hissed.

I frantically shook my head no. I wanted to, but I had already made an ass of myself at least once today. I wasn’t about to do it again.

Penny groaned in annoyance. “Ash, the guy is totally into you.” She nudged me again toward Mr. Goodness. “Let’s go.”

I planted my feet, shaking my head.

It was about that time I heard Brody behind us talking to his brother, Denny. When I heard Tracey’s name mentioned, my ears perked up. I’m human; I’m nosy. I’ve accepted this. I saw Penny had done the same thing.

“I’m done, man! This shit’s embarrassing!”

Heads all around turned to take in Brody snarling at his brother. Denny leaned closer to say something in an undertone, too low to hear. Brody shoved him back, shouting, “I don’t give a fuck if she hears me!” His volume raised several decibels. “Every time we go to something like this, she gets drunk, starts hitting on every dude around! She’s cheated on me, she’s lied to me…I’m done.” Brody threw his plate in the trash.

“Brody—” Denny started.

“I’m leaving,” he snarled. “Tell her to get her own damn ride home.” He spun on his heel and stalked off, digging his keys out of his pocket.

There was a long silence as Denny stared after his brother. Then he walked in the other direction, shaking his head. As soon as he was out of sight, Penny muttered, “Should we be cheering? I mean, I know that was the Epic Breakup of the Golden Couple, but still…it friggin’ took him long enough.”

Most of the people here probably agreed.

Penny gave me a slight push and then walked past me toward Teagan. I took a deep breath, gathering courage, and followed her. My hands were trembling, and my throat was already closing up. But there was an empty seat across from Teagan; I should be safe from myself there. And when Zver raised his big eyes to mine, licked his chops, and began thumping his tail, I couldn’t help but grin.

Teagan looked up at me and smiled. No lie, I was about to melt into a cartoon-style puddle of goo. The never-ending blushes didn’t help.

“Hey, Teeg!” Penny exclaimed. I swear, she was never awkward or nervous. “Mind if we join you?”

Chewing, he nodded to the benches. I moved toward my safe-zone, but Penny cut me off and slid into my seat with a sly smirk.

“Penny!” What was this, an attempt to drown me in my own goo?

She kept her butt planted. Pinching off a piece of her hotdog bun and sticking it in her mouth, she said, “You can thank me later.”

Teagan was watching us, eyebrows slightly raised, taking a long draw on his beer. Catching my eye, he gave me a quick wink and patted the seat next to him. Penny beamed pure innocence at me.

“I don’t bite, you know,” Teagan joked, setting his bottle down.

I smiled weakly and carefully swung a leg over the seat, placing my plate of food on the table and sitting. I managed to avoid dumping my plate, but there was no way I’d be able to eat right now—not with these pigeons back in my stomach. I risked a glance at Teagan and saw he was watching me. I blushed and stared down at my plate. Yeah, the whole concept of food was going to make me sick.

Something tweaked my elbow. Teagan’s thumb and index finger were stroking my skin. His misty gray eyes caught mine, and in them were warmth…and amusement.

“You okay there?” He pulled his hand away and went back to eating.

“Yeah.” Wow. Great answer there, Ash. I cringed at my disinterested tone. I tried again. “I’m fine. I’m not used to this.” I waved my hand to indicate the gathering. “This isn’t my kind of thing.” I figured honesty was the best way to go. Judging by Penny’s subtle nod, she agreed.

Teagan’s lips quirked up. “It’s not really mine either,” he said, absently picking up his beer and twisting it around in his hands.

I frowned. He’d been talking to Connor’s friends, mingling, laughing, and joking with self-confidence. He was so self-assured—it was no wonder he’d caught Tracey’s eye. For him to say he wasn’t in his comfort zone…

He caught my look and chuckled. “What?”

“I’m just surprised.” I shrugged. “You seem so at ease, talking to people.”

His smile dimmed and his eyes darkened. He lowered the beer and breathed deeply, running a hand through his hair for a long, silent moment. Then, meeting my gaze, he said, “I know how to fake it, Aislinn. This?” He nodded at the groups of people scattered around. “This used to be me every weekend.”

“So, what’s different?” Penny asked the question before I could.

“Things change,” he replied, never taking his eyes from mine. “And they change you.” Breaking our stare, he smiled wryly and looked around before shaking his head. “Anyway…wanna go for a swim?”

I squirmed. I would rather have my teeth removed without Novocain than swim, if it meant getting out of these clothes. All the girls here were gorgeous—tall, thin, perfect hair, perfect skin…it was enough to make even Miranda Kerr self-conscious. But me…

“Aislinn?”

I blinked. Teagan was waiting for an answer. “Uh…” I struggled to produce a reply that wouldn’t show how uneasy I was.

“We’d love to go!” Penny exclaimed. “C’mon, Ash.”

I glowered at her. She glanced back at me, and flattening my lips, I narrowed my eyes at her; we were so not done with this conversation.

I admit, I seriously considered punching my best friend. But that was out of the question. I shuffled through my brain, trying to think of anything that would keep me out of the water. If Teagan hadn’t been there, I would’ve considered using my period as an excuse. With him…I wouldn’t go there.

I finally exhaled—harder than necessary—and nodded. Penny gave me a triumphant smile and stood up, collecting her trash. I shoved myself up and snatched my plate off the table.

I was about to throw away the food when Zver stood and blocked me, prancing in place, tail wagging. I rolled my eyes at the dog’s antics and bent down, placing the paper plate on the ground. At his happy little grunt, I giggled.

A warm breath against my ear made me start. “I told you, you shouldn’t give him scraps, Aislinn.” The way Teagan murmured my name sent shivers skipping through me. My throat went dry, and I swallowed hard. God, this man was endangering what little self-control I possessed.

He shot me a Teagan grin, took me by my wrist, and led me over to where Penny and Connor were standing by the dock. The way he kept looking back at me, he could tell I was less than thrilled. But Teagan was one step away from holding my hand. A girl could die happy from that alone.

We were about halfway to Penny and Connor when Tracey’s voice soared out over the crowd.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘He left me here’?” she shouted. “Where is he?”

All around, people were finding their cups, plates, or shoes fascinating.

Tracey marched into the center of the picnic area and planted her hands on her hips. “Well?”

Scott Jacobs piped up. “Well, he probably went wherever your drunken whore ass isn’t, for starters.”

There was a collective gasp, but I wasn’t shocked. Scott was another friend of Connor’s from school, and I’d known him since the first grade, and even then, if the thought entered his brain, it exited his mouth. Blunt didn’t begin to describe the dude.

This wasn’t going to be pretty.

Long, deadly silence. Then Tracey went for blood. She laid into Scott, screaming, calling him every name in the book. What she apparently hadn’t counted on was Scott was more than her match. Every volley she fired, he returned. Not only was his vocabulary equally as extensive—it also seemed he knew a great many of Tracey’s secrets. They came to light. All of them.

Teagan placed a hand on the small of my back, gently nudging me away from the drama and toward the others. Penny had already stripped down to her sapphire-blue two-piece, and Connor’s shirt was off. I didn’t miss the appreciative glances they were giving each other.

Reaching them, I bit my lip. How long could I stall? I started to swallow hard, only to choke. Teagan pulled his t-shirt up over his well-defined six-pack, nicely toned pecs and shoulders, and finally uncovering that tattoo.

Sweet mama.

Teagan’s display of warm, muscular flesh sent my heart into hyperdrive. My fingers ached to skim over his shoulders, across his chest, and down his beautiful stomach—

“Hey, Ash!” The shrill voice directly behind me shattered my happy place. The high-pitched, bubbly sound was like nails on a chalkboard. “I never thought I’d see you here!”

Tracey Banco.

Chapter 6

My palms began to sweat.

Teagan was watching the scene with narrowing eyes. Returning my attention to Tracey, I could tell by the smirk on her face that she knew what she just interrupted for me. She seemed to have ESP when it came to my awkward moments.

“Why so surprised, Tracey?” I kept my tone bored, but anyone could see where this was headed.

She shrugged. “This was never really your scene, if you catch my meaning.”

This crap was not happening in front of Teagan.

Penny answered, “No, we don’t. Why don’t you explain it to us?” The if you’re so smart and we’re so stupid was implied. Her Territorial Best Friend Mode was on its way to making an appearance.

“Oh, you know…” Tracey gave a light shrug. The gleam in her eye demanded blood.

“No. We don’t know.” Penny crossed her arms.

“Well, other than you…and that art geek, Karen…it’s not like Ash has a healthy social life.” She delicately waved a hand toward me. “This must be strange for her. After all, there must be some reason Connor never brought her to these parties.”

I flinched.

Penny stiffened beside me. Connor was standing where she’d left him, frozen. I looked at him, hoping for any kind of defense from my big brother while the heinous bitch spewed her venom at me. When he didn’t deny Tracey’s claim, wouldn’t meet my gaze, she started giggling. It was the same nasty giggle she’d given when she’d shoved the defenseless freshman, Jackie, into the gym in just her underwear. I was suddenly done. Done with all of it. I’d already hit Tracey, and it seemed like nothing I did would make her stop. I felt the tears begin to well up. I positively refused to give her the satisfaction of tears. Head held high, I walked away. I headed toward the woods, my eyes and nose burning. Connor called out my name, but I kept walking. About eleven years too late there, buddy. The sound of Penny unleashing her wrath on Tracey was slowly fading behind me. Had I not been so upset and hurt, I probably would have felt a little sorry for the girl. Nah, She deserved it.

***

Laughter came from the gathering on the other side of the lake. I’d been lying in the grass on my back for probably over an hour now, lonelier than ever and also incredibly pissed that I’d allowed myself to reach this point. I no longer fought the tears, letting them fall as I admitted the truth. I’d been alone for the last eleven years.

Until Dad had died, Connor and I were inseparable. He’d been the awesome big brother who took care of me, bandaged my knees when I fell, taught me to ride a bike, convinced Mom to let me get a pet hamster. And then, it stopped. He still took care of me—kind of. But we didn’t talk like we used to; the feeling of friendship nearly disappeared.

Handling that loss was especially hard when Tracey decided that I was a threat to her. We had been friends once, but she developed a crush on Brody. I guess since I was tutoring him and we had become friends, I was a threat to her and the plans she had made where he was concerned. Next thing I know, I’m in the school cafeteria and everyone was laughing at me.

Tracey had sent everyone in the school pictures of me in my underwear from a recent sleepover and added in the message that I hoped Brody would be the one to help me lose my virginity.

Humiliated didn’t cover what I felt at that moment. I thought Penny was going to kill her, and I just wanted to crawl under a rock and die. That public humiliation hadn’t been the end of it. Nope, she just kept it up, bullying and intimidating with a singular focus. Not to say she didn’t spread the bullying around. Tracey was good at multi-tasking.

Needless to say, I’d needed my big brother and he wasn’t around, emotionally or physically. He’d left for college and I never heard from him anymore. In some ways, it felt like he’d abandoned me.

“Why?” I whispered. “What did I do, Connor?”

Something cold nuzzled my cheek, and I startled. Zver gave a soft whine before settling down next to me, placing his head in my lap. I buried my fingers in his thick fur, and then wiped a tear off my cheek with my shoulder. Zver must’ve known I needed some snuggles as he edged more of his mass onto my lap. I tried to smile at his antics—it came out more as a sob.

“It’s not like that, you know?” Teagan said.

I shrieked, desperately kicking out from under Zver’s bulk. When he let me up with a reluctant groan, I was able to roll over and get up on my knees. Really? Could this day get any worse?

“What are you talking about?” I muttered. Apparently fate had decided I needed to be humiliated further.

Teagan stood silently for a moment, then walked over to where I balanced on my knees and lowered himself to sit beside me. I hesitantly sat back down, and Zver immediately dropped his head back into my lap. Teagan’s lips quirked up at the gesture, then turned his attention back to me.

“Aislinn,” he began, then sighed. “Connor knows what he’s done is wrong, okay? But you have to understand…you’re his little sister.”

I snorted. Teagan gazed at me, his eyes deep and full of an emotion that was almost hidden. Not sure how to react, I stared at the grass and cleared my throat. “I know that. But it doesn’t explain why he just…stopped being my friend.” I couldn’t keep the hurt from creeping into my voice. And by the look on Teagan’s face, he heard it too. Wonderful. Little sister and whiny brat. At least I wasn’t blushing.

He reached down and picked up a blade of grass, fiddling with it in silence for a minute before he heaved a deep breath. “It’s hard, you know? When you’re suddenly responsible for someone, no warning given. You make choices that seem right at the time, not really seeing the future results.”

I tilted my head, rolling his words around in my head. Nope, didn’t make sense. Teagan tossed the blade of grass back down and gave me a lopsided grin. The flip-flop stomach thing was back.

“Look, Aislinn, what I’m trying to say is, Connor took on the whole man of the house thing before he even really knew what it meant. He probably figured he couldn’t watch out for you if he was being your friend.” He paused, running a hand through his hair. “It’s not that he doesn’t like you. You’re his little sister, you know? I think he’s just trying too hard to protect you.”

I snorted. Yeah, that’s a laugh. But if I admitted he might be right, I wouldn’t have an excuse to be angry.

Teagan gave me a slight smirk. “I never said he was doing it the right way, okay? I just said that’s what he probably thinks he’s doing.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, and then turned to fully face me. “I did the same thing, you know?”

No, I didn’t know. At his wry smile, I raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah…I pushed my little sisters too hard into the protective brother cubby. It backfired. And I had to take a year off from college to clean up the fallout.”

Not gonna lie; I was so damn curious I should’ve been meowing. What had happened? What fallout? Why did he lose a year of school? Wait, hold up. A year of school?

“You mean you’re a year behind?”

“Yeah.” He raised an arm, bicep bulging, to run a hand through his hair. “I was going to the University of Washington. It’s not far from where my dad lives. I figured I needed to be close to my sisters. I got a lacrosse scholarship to go.” He paused with a sigh and shook his head. “I don’t want to see Connor do the same thing.”

I frowned as it seemed he was drawing a comparison between myself and his sister. It was obvious something had happened there. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, you know.”

The wind picked up, and a few wisps of my hair blew into my face. My breath hitched when Teagan gently tucked the strands behind my ear. His fingers lingered on my cheek. “He loves you, Aislinn. Just be patient with him, okay? Connor’s trying to ease up. It’s why he had you come with us today.” His hand dropped, and he smiled. “I’m glad you came too.”

My breath came back in a whoosh. My ear and cheek tingled where his fingers had been, and when I brought my eyes up to his, my heart beat faster at the gentleness in his gaze. Of course this would be when that damn blush would reappear. Of course!

Zver lifted his chin to give sympathetic puppy kisses all up my neck. I grimaced at the slimy, wet sensation, but stroked his head. I appreciated the effort, the attempt to comfort me.

“I’ve never seen him get so friendly so quick with someone, the way he has with you.” Teagan leaned across me slightly to ruffle the deep mane of fur around Zver’s neck.

“Does that bother you?” I asked quietly.

Still leaning over me, he turned his head, putting us nearly nose-to-nose. I had to fight the urge to lean forward and rub my nose against his.

“No…I don’t mind,” he murmured. A long pause, then, “It means I’ll always be able to find you.” He straightened, and I tried not to hyperventilate. If I failed to calm my breathing, I would end up passing out in his lap. Not that I would mind—but he might.

“Always find me?” Damn these hormones; my voice came out in a squeaky gasp. I frowned, clearing my throat. Second try was a little better. “What do you mean?”

He let out a low chuckle. “I never would’ve found you if Zver hadn’t led me here.”

Now I really was in danger of fainting. But I wasn’t ready to stop talking. I slid him a shy glance and said, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything you want,” he replied easily.

His reply left me floundering mentally. Anything? But I recovered. “Why don’t you use my nickname?” I asked. “You haven’t called me Ash once.”

Teagan stared at me, gently searching my face, my eyes. Finally, he said, “You have a beautiful name, Aislinn. It suits you, and I like it.” He seemed to put some emphasis on it as he spoke my name. “Therefore, that’s what I’m going to call you.”

I won’t lie. That sent a warmth wriggling through me. Maybe I wasn’t little sister zoned after all.

I sat there with Teagan for a while. Finally, his phone rang, and from the way he spoke into the receiver, Connor was on the other end. He mentioned Penny, and I perked up. Upon ending the call, he pressed the heel of his hand to the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep breath.

“What’s the deal with Penny? Is she okay?” I demanded, pushing myself out from under Zver to stand.

“Yeah, she’s okay.” He gave a dry laugh. “She has a knack for getting in trouble, doesn’t she?”

I bristled. “No!” Hell, I got in more trouble than she did. “She doesn’t put up with any crap, is all.”

“Whoa! Easy!” He held out his hands as if to stop an animal attack. “I just meant that she says what’s on her mind regardless of what people think. It’s not a bad thing.” He flashed a quick grin. “No wonder Connor likes her.”

I put my hands on my hips. He was so not redirecting my attention. “Are you going to tell me what happened or not?”

He dusted off his pants with a laugh. “I don’t know what happened, babe. Connor just said we needed to go, and that Penny was causing a scene.”

I rolled my eyes. That one, I believed—Penny and scenes were like peanut butter and jelly.

Had Teagan just called me babe? Giddiness flooded through me, and like clockwork, the blush appeared. I didn’t care, though. Mr. Gorgeous had just little sister un-zoned me.

He held a hand out for me. I stared at it in frozen excitement, then glanced at his expression. A slideshow of emotions flitted through his eyes—amusement, tenderness, and…nervousness? My brows furrowed. Why on earth would he be nervous?

His hand was still extended, waiting. Was I reading too much into this? Probably. Did I care? Nope. With a deep breath, I raised a trembling hand and set it in his. A shiver lanced through me when his warm, rough fingers closed over mine. His eyes widened a bit then cleared, and he flashed his signature grin. Tugging on my hand gently, he looked down at where Zver was still laying at our feet.

“Zver, ryadom! Let’s go, boy.”

The dog lumbered to his feet, shook himself, and settled to walk beside us. Teagan was running his free hand through his hair, mussing it up. While I had to fight the urge to stop him so I could fix the mess, he was still sexy as hell.

God, I had it bad.

***

“Connor, shut up! I can’t hear Penny with you running your damn mouth!” I yelled. God, my brother was such a freakin’ drama queen sometimes. When Teagan and I had returned to his truck, Connor and Penny were on the verge of coming to blows.

While Connor occasionally lost his temper, he wasn’t prone to outbursts of strong emotion. When he did lose his cool, it was passionate and intense. It scared him, and ordinarily he kept a tight rein on himself. Few people knew what he was really capable of.

Glaring Connor into silence, I gestured to Penny to tell me what had happened. She shot my brother a dirty look. His offended surprise was priceless. It took everything I had not to burst out laughing. I stood there, arms crossed, and waited. She opened her mouth and started to speak, but closed it. She repeated this action several times before Connor finally got fed up.