Nate (A Texas Jacks Novel) (23 page)

“W
HAT DO YOU THINK?
I
S
this hot, or just okay? Or should I find something hotter?” Halley contemplates aloud, as she holds up a black and turquoise semi-modest bikini.
Is there even such a thing as a modest bikini? Well, modest for her, at least
. I admit to loving the two-tone color, but I wouldn’t be caught dead—
or alive
—in it.
It’s not my style
.

“It’s definitely cute, and it suits you. I don’t think you should break the bank on looking too illegal, though.” I jest, chuckling at her pouty face. “I think you should go for it.” I insist, while moving through the racks, trying to find something I wouldn’t mind Nathan catching me in. I’m more of a conservative dresser than Halley is, and even Naomi, at times. She’s the happy medium between the three of us. “I don’t think Holt will be able to concentrate on fishing, or anything else for that matter, if he gets a glimpse of you in it.”

“Was I being that obvious?”

I grin in her direction. “No, I just know how you operate. Don’t over think it.”

It’s Wednesday evening, and right now, the girls and I are out shopping for clothes, due to an impromptu camping trip with Nate and his friends. It’s been a couple of weeks since my car situation, and I have since learned it had a few issues besides the tire that needed fixing. In the end, I had to get new brakes, two new tires, and wheel hub bearings—which were not in my budget planning for the present to near future, so I ended up calling my dad to help bail me out.

“Oh, that’s really cute, Naomi!” Halley exclaims. “Right, Charlie?”

Naomi’s holding up a blouson-style tankini. The bottoms are black, but the top is made up of turquoise, purple, and lime green, with accents of white and black. It has an Aztec theme to it. “It’s totally you, Naomi. I would put that in your buy pile.”

I continue browsing down the row, looking for a suit I would wear. “Do you think Nathan is hiding behind all of our group activities so he won’t have to share his heart with me?” I blurt, completely out of the blue. It’s something I’ve been contemplating for a little while now, but have been too scared to put a voice to it.

Halley and Naomi stop their musings over shorts and tank tops to look at me with unsubtle expressions of shock and confusion on their faces.

“What?” Naomi recovers first.

“Is there anything specific that would make you jump to this conclusion?” A baffled Halley asks. If she’s baffled, then I’m probably imagining things. She’s a good judge of character with guys, usually. She would have been the first to point something out, if there was something at all.

“Never mind. I don’t even know why I brought it up,” I murmur, moving away from them and letting the conversation drop.

“Now hold on a minute. Was there something to make you speculate?” Naomi questions.

I give her a small shrug. “Nothing that he flat-out said, or even did, really.”

“Then what’s the matter? Obviously there’s something bothering you,” Naomi points out. She looks at Halley, whom gives her a little shake of her head.

“I think it’s a bit strange that we have more group hang-outs than we have one-on-one dates. Not that I don’t love hanging out with everyone!” I backpedal. “It’s just that I feel its Nathan’s way to hold himself back from me.”

“To be honest, I hadn’t really thought anything was off, in regards to that.” Halley admits.
Well, that surprises me
. “I think Holt has my radar all scrambled, sorry.” She quietly grumbles.

“There’s no need for apologies. Really, it’s probably just me. I mean, I feel this intense connection with him. It’s been three months, roughly, and I feel like I’m still in the ‘getting to know you, but not quite know you’ phase. He never opens up about his family. Why does he keep me in the dark?” I look to my friends, in hopes that they might have some insight.

Both girls give me a pitying look, but don’t answer.
But really, if I can’t answer it, then how can I expect them to?

“Anyway, I don’t want to put a damper on this trip. I don’t even know why I blurted it out in the first place.” I move to the last rack of swimsuits and start pawing through them. Halley and Naomi don’t let me get away with shirking the conversation, though, as I look up and find them eyeing me over the rack.

I give them a pleading look.

“Fine. I don’t like it, but just for this weekend, we will let it go. Right, Naomi?” Halley pointedly asks her.

I can see that Naomi wants to protest, but in the end, it dies out before it can form into actual words. She gives Halley and me a disapproving look, though. Not surprising.

“I know. I’m sorry. I promise we can dive into the deeper meaning of it all when we get back.” I hold up my pinky so we can do the silly, girly ritual pinky swear. It’s something we’ve done since we were younger, and, just like always, she gives in and lets the subject drop until a later date.

“Finally!” I semi-shout minutes later, while pulling a swimsuit off the rack and holding it up to my body for the other two to inspect.

I found a black one-piece, with one white strap sweeping across the top in a diagonal crossing where another piece twists around it and connects to it. There’s a little peek-a-boo triangle cutout between the top of the suit and the strap that sits high over the left breast. I really like the gathering that encompasses the suit from the top to the hip area.

“Oh, Charlie! That’s the one. You’re buying it. There’s no fighting it, either.” Halley commands me, as if I had planned to protest against the idea.

“I wouldn’t even dream of it.” I can’t help but grin from ear to ear. I may have my doubts about Nathan’s heart, but at least I’ll look and feel like a million dollars this weekend. “I think we only need a few tank tops, shorts, and sunscreen, right?”

We continue our shopping expedition, like my crazy thoughts hadn’t spilled out, and get into the spirit of an exciting weekend to come.

It’s been two weeks, and so far, I haven’t been called upon to take Charlie to Sacramento for dinner with her family. This suits me; however, there is the eventuality that this will cause a potential strain in our relationship. I know I’m being unfair to her, but I’m not ready to crack open my emotional baggage just yet. I can’t even pinpoint when I will be, if ever. Up to this point, we’ve been enjoying ourselves, and spending a lot of time with our friends. I see no reason to rock the boat. If it can stay like this, then why make any waves? Hopefully, we can just continue on as we have been.

The guys and I decided it’s time for a camping trip, as it’s been too long since our last one. We’ll add a bit of fishing, since we plan to haul my dad’s boat with us, too. I thought it was time to get away from the women, and do our own thing. That was the plan at least, until Tucker mentioned it to Naomi in passing. That wasn’t smart, since we all know by now that once Halley catches wind of something, she barges her way in until it’s a full-fledged group outing.

Though, the more I think about it, I’m not completely upset, or even opposed to the women tagging along, as it does give me full on access to Charlie, yet, we’ll still have enough of an audience around that it feels safe to be alone with her.

Friday morning comes soon enough as the guys and I are making some last minute preparations for our trip, while waiting for the women to arrive. We decided that it was best for them to park at our house rather than Charlie’s apartment complex, where the parking is limited for overnight guests.

I had just finished adding a few more things to the bed of my truck, and then checked to make sure everything is tied down when Halley shows up in her own truck. I let a whistle fly to the guys from the driveway, alerting them to the presence of the women as they start to climb down from the cab.

I see Charlie first, in her cutoff shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops, and a ball cap. She looks pretty sweet in her camping gear. She sees me right away and gifts me with one of her bright smiles. Once she gets to me, I lift her off her feet and swing her around.

“Hey, Charlie.” I kiss her right there, in the front yard, for the whole street to see. She giggles as she wraps her arms around my neck, hanging on. I get the impression she’s not about to let me go, and I mean that in more ways than one.

“You’re in a cheery mood, little one.” I smile up at her, as I’ve yet to place her back on her feet. She wraps her legs around my waist, and keeps her arms loosely draped around my neck. She leans in and kisses me again.

“I had a handsome cowboy to see. Besides, I get him all to myself this weekend. Who could deny my excitement over that?” She winks at me.

“Should I be jealous of this so-called man?”

“Are you sure you’re a man?” Holt slaps me on the back as he bypasses me to collect his own woman in a bear hug. We hear her squeak as he lifts her high off the ground in a similar fashion.

I shake my head and look back up into Charlie’s eyes. I can see so much joy and happiness in them. I know that’s all for me—there’s no denying it. I let that feeling slide through me, and it might feel good, but it sure scares the life out of me. This weekend isn’t for sentimental feelings, though. It’s for fun and making crazy memories. I put Charlie back on her feet and tug on her hand to help me check on their luggage.

We round the back of Halley’s truck just in time to hear Tucker whistle. “What did you women pack? It’s just a two-day camping trip!” he exclaims.

“This is why women shouldn’t be allowed on a man’s outing.” Holt shakes his head in disapproval as he eyes the truck bed full of the women’s luggage.

“Oh, come on!” Halley protests. “We didn’t bring that much, just the bare necessities. Stop being such babies about it.”

“Woman!” I guess that sums up everything Holt has to say about the matter.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s transfer this to the other truck and get going!” Halley is bouncing on the balls of her feet, like a little girl would do when she’s overly excited about something.

“You heard your woman. Stop being lazy, and make yourself useful.” I biff Holt on the back of the head, and then duck before he can cuff me back.

Charlie smiles at our boyish antics, and moves to the side so we can get their stuff moved over. I jump into the bed of the truck first, and start handing everything out to any willing, and available, hands. Fifteen minutes later, we’re all piled into my truck as I drive, with Charlie perched at my side. Holt claimed the passenger seat, while the other three climbed into the back cab. I flip on the radio, tune it to a favorite country station, and then we hit the road to
Lake Berryessa
.