She turned and walked away with one last glance over her shoulder. She smiled and waved, and I waved back.
When she was gone, I turned my head to look at Nick, hoping we could have a few minutes to talk. But he and Ben were busy
I guess asking him out would have to wait.
CHAPTER3
NICK
The Fourthof July was always busy after the fireworks display. Alejandro had brought Anna again to help around the bar. Tonight, if time permitted, I was going to teach her how to do inventory on our reserves. It wasn’t hard, but Alejandro liked the recording done a certain way for his spreadsheets.
I didn’t have to go into work until seven, so I was spending the first half of the day with my twin sister. Nicole had flown in from Southern California to see everyone, and I was eager to talk to her.
Our parents, Brian and Michelle Reed, were doing their regular summer holiday thing and grilling burgers. My mom went all out when both of us were home because it was becoming more and more difficult the older we got. There was a definite possibility I would get a job offer in another city when I graduated, so I took every opportunity I had to be with them.
It had been a week since the draft party, and I’d successfully avoided Preston. Throwing myself into my schoolwork was easy, but the dreams were driving me insane.
Me on my knees, him on his knees, on top of the bar, jerking each other off in the backseat of a car. They just wouldn’t stop. Preston had invaded my subconscious and refused to move out. My cock had never been so hard, and I’d never jerked off so many times in my life—not even when I was a teenager. Hopefully, Nicole could tell me what to do to stop the dreams.
When I got out of my car, I could smell the burgers on the grill. My dad had mastered grilling when we were kids, and my mom was happy to turn that over to him.
The unmistakable aroma wafting from the backyard brought back fond memories of summers riding our bikes until the sun went down, then competing to see who could catch the most lightning bugs before we let them go. Popsicle stains decorated every t-shirt I had after I’d lost my two front teeth when I was six-years-old.
Pushing open the back gate, I walked around to the deck, where my mom had the picnic table overflowing with food. This was going to be great.
“I could smell those from the car,” I told my dad as I jogged up the back steps.
“Well,” he said proudly, “I know how much you love them. Made my special recipe, too.” He winked, and I gave him a hug.
My dad had shared his top secret recipe with me a while back, but when I made them, they never tasted like his. But it did give me the idea to buy him a meat grinder attachment for my mom’sKitchen Aidmixer. Now he could grind up any combination of burgers he wanted.
“Where are mom and Nicole?” I swiped a piece of watermelon from the bowl on the table.
“Inside with Pop and Nanna. Go see them and tell them ten minutes.”
“Sure thing, Dad.”
He went back to his burger heaven as I opened the sliding glass door and found my mom in the kitchen.
“Need any help?” I asked, going over to hug her.
“Hey, sweetheart. No, I’ve got it. Your sister is dying to see you. She’s in the living room.”
I chuckled. “Okay. If you need something, let me know.”
My mom smiled at me like I’d made her day. “I will, baby. Did your dad tell you your grandparents are here?”
I grinned. “Yeah, I’m headed in there to see them now.”
I grabbed a baby carrot from the tray and dipped it in my mom’s homemade ranch dressing. I popped it into my mouth and savored the flavors.
“What time do you have to go to work?”
“Six. It’s gonna be cra-zy,” I singsonged.
My mom laughed. “Just how you like it. I better feed you all the things before you leave.”
I grinned and headed to say hello to my grandparents and to see my sister.
