Page 29 of Whiskey & Honey
“I guess. I’ll stick with water for now. Hydrate and all that.”
We sit here, in the blazing sun, watching our friends battle it out to avoid dish duty. Once Ashton and Owen secure the win, they perform some sort of awkward victory dance that includes poking fun at their opponents, Piper and Landon. Eventually, we all settle in for an afternoon of swimming and, for everyone but me, drinking. I notice as the day wears on that my sister avoids direct conversation with Jameson. They’ve never been very close but they have always been civil. I assumed since they hang out as a group that they had bridged whatever gap existed between them. Apparently I was wrong.
Much to Ashton’s dislike, Piper declares it dinner time, which sends Owen and Ashton to the cabin to begin preparing. Feeling the need to impute a little big brother advice, or really just figure out what is going on with her and Jameson, I offer to take Owen’s place in the kitchen. He willingly takes me up on it and suddenly it’s just the Sullivans in the kitchen.
I take the lead and start seasoning steaks as Ashton shucks the corn. A few minutes into the process I decide to bring up the subject of Jameson.
“So what’s the deal with you and J? You pissed at him or something?”
“What? No. Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you never speak to him. You were pretty bitchy when we got here this morning, too.”
“You know I don’t like to be shaken awake, I apologized for that. And for your information, I do speak to Jameson. I just don’t speak slut so he probably doesn’t hear me and thus doesn’t respond,” she declares as she walks out of the cabin with the corn.
Just as I’m about to join her with the steaks, Landon walks in the cabin.
“Hey, man, those look good. How’s it going?” he asks me, pulling up a seat at the table.
“All is well. How’s it going with you? How’s the HVAC business?”
“It’s good. My dad and I haven’t killed each other yet so that’s always a bonus.”
I laugh with him and cannot imagine being business partners with my dad. I love him and we’re close, but business partners? No thanks.
“Yeah, I don’t think I could do it. I thought you’d bring a date this weekend.”
“Nah, we’ve all tried that. Bringing someone outside the group for this last weekend of summer never goes well. The girls we’ve brought have never really meshed with your sister and Piper. Girls are catty, man. I just don’t get it. Last year Tony came with Piper and that was cool.”
I don’t respond to that last comment. I pick up the tray of steaks to head out to the grill when Landon asks me the million-dollar question. “How about you? You plan on hooking up with Piper again?”
I set the tray of steaks down and put my hands on the back of the chair, leaning in a little with a shrug. “We didn’t hook up. It was,” I pause searching for the correct word,” spontaneous. Something that ended once I found out who she was.”
Landon laughs. “Yeah, man, you keep telling yourself that.”
‘What’s that supposed to mean?”
Shaking his head, he stands and smiles. “Ben, come on. I see the way you look at Piper when you think nobody is looking. Yeah, I get it, she’s fucking hot in a bikini, but it’s more than that. We all appreciate what she’s displaying, but you? You look at her like, hell, man, I don’t know, like something.”
I don’t respond. I stand there watching as he enters the bathroom, letting his words settle before taking the steaks to the grill. Yeah, she’s something all right.
A few hours after my conversation with Landon, his words are still ringing in my head. I know Piper and I have a connection that neither of us can deny but that’s all it can ever be. I will never do anything to come between her friendship with Ashton and I really don’t want my sister pissed at me. While I’m convincing myself of this fact the same sister declares it bedtime and, along with Piper, heads to the tent they’re sharing. Landon and Owen follow shortly after, leaving Jameson and me alone with a fire and the crickets.
“So what’s the deal with you and my sister?”
Jameson must be taken by surprise at my question because he wastes a good portion of his beer by spraying it toward the fire.
“Where’d that come from? Nothing, man. She’s a royal pain in my ass as always but we’re cool.”
“She seems really pissed at you all the time. I figured maybe something happened.”
“Nah, she’s always like that. It’s worse when I have a date around. That’s why we don’t bring them anymore. The last time I had a girl here for our last weekend Ashton kept saying things like ‘slut’ and ‘hoochie’ poorly disguised as coughs. Poor Candi had to be consoled all night. It was really a tough job.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you were really put out with that job. If you say everything’s cool, then I guess it is.”
As I respond I hear a zipper from a tent and see Piper walking toward the water. Jameson must follow my gaze.
“She does that every night when we’re out here. Says it is the only time she can think.”
I watch her as she makes it to the water’s edge and starts skipping rocks. Even from this distance and in the dark I am mesmerized by her. Never taking my eyes from her, I feel Jameson’s hand on my shoulder as he stands.
“Quit fighting what is so obvious to us all. Go to her, Ben, see what happens. I’m hitting the sack.”
I don’t move right away. I battle myself and know I should go to my tent too. I should get up, put this fire out, and go to sleep. I don’t. Instead, I find myself walking toward the woman who consumes my dreams and is easily making her way into my heart.