Chapter 13

13

Beau

The next afternoon I do my usual when I get home. Run on the treadmill, lift a few weights and jump into the shower to fantasize about everything from the dinner last night to my conversation with Autumn in Georgia's kitchen. The wife conversation is cemented in my brain and I just can't shake it.

I haven't been able to think of anything else since. I thought Brook was going to slap me silly when we were taking an inventory list down in the rickhouse for the Moonshine he's been bottling all week. The first batch is about to be distributed and Georgia has been at the forefront of marketing the new line. She recently organized a private function in the tasting room with the local press, some marketing agencies from Nashville and a couple of high falutin' wine bars and restaurants. I couldn't keep a straight thought in my head. Not good for a Monday, but I blame it on all the sexy, flirtatious energy that was going around last night. Plus that whole marriage thing.

I get that everyone was happy and merry for Celeste and Callan with their baby news, but was it just the alcohol talking for Autumn? I mean, she made a big joke out of the fact her friend Carrie suggested we get hitched. Is she even going to remember what she said while she was making her hot chocolate?

I sure remember. It's been permeating in my brain ever since. Hence my text.

Her reply came a few agonizing hours later, and I've been stewing over it ever since.

Autumn Leaf

Beau, you're really sweet. You don't have to do anything, certainly not out of obligation. We need to talk about this and soon, okay? Let me know when you're free x

Obligation?

I don't want to be really sweet. I want her to take me seriously. I want her to want this too, which is absurd, but that's the truth of it.

She can say whatever she wants, but there's no way she can deny the chemistry we had going on last night, no matter how hard she tries. Not only that; she got me hard, so many damned times. My body responds to her in a way it never has before. It's like she lit a spark inside me, and now all I want is her, even if it means fake marrying her.

I still can't get over my form; outright telling her it was no biggie, and we could just get it annulled! You don't even have to sleep with me!

I facepalm myself. I wasn't even drunk when I said any of that. It's true, I wouldn't be expecting to sleep with her, it would just be an arrangement.

I hold my head in my hands like that's gonna help, waiting for Fletcher to get online in my gaming room.

I need to talk to him, as well as play. He responded to my text last night saying he was feeling better and we'd catch up this week.

I put my headset on and get ready to jump into Apex Legends, when Fletcher jumps online to double up with me.

"About time," I tell him over my headset.

He chuckles down the line. "Sounds like you had a day."

"Counting bourbon bottles all day will do that to you."

"Well, I'm sure it can't beat the hard drive that I had to try and extract the information from today. You know when you get a stubborn sucker that just won't budge."

"That kinda day, huh?"

"Yeah, and customers are so demanding." He works in the local tech store that has a tiny office nook attached to it where he carries out all kinds of repairs and computer related problems. I know he takes shit home to repair just for fun. He's better holed up somewhere than dealing with customers head on. That's why he hides in that tiny space and people only bother him when completely necessary. He does cell phone repair stuff too and can fix just about anything tech related.

"Oh, they never cease to amaze me," I chuckle.

"People think that you can just restore everything from their computers that they didn't bother backing up in a matter of seconds."

"Tell me about it."

"How was your night at the family dinner?"

"Ah that," I sigh.

"That good?"

"It was eventful."

"I'm sure any of your family dinners would be, there's a lot of you."

"Well, it wasn't even that… Autumn and I…" I trail off, not knowing how to elaborate. Like me, Fletcher isn't the biggest chick magnet in Stoney Creek and can't exactly give me steady, rational advice because of his expert know-how and experience.

"Autumn and you what?"

"Yeah, something weird has been going on." I don't know how to explain this most recent phenomenon. I sure as hell can't say shit about my proposition last night after she brought up the whole marriage-joke thing her friend suggested.

"As in?"

"As in, I'm having feelings for her."

"Autumn?"

"Yes, Autumn! Who else would I be talking about?"

He pauses the combat game for a moment. I know it's not an ideal topic of conversation, especially while we're heading into battle here. "Feelings?"

"You know, the ‘she's hot' kinda feelings."

"Bro, you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's not like I can help it. She was at the dinner last night, we were goddamned hula hooping outside with the kids."

"That doesn't sound so bad to me."

"It wasn't bad, but we're best friends."

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend?"

"She's my best girl friend," I amend before he gets offended. "And you have seen Autumn, right?"

"Sure, and she's smokin' no doubt about it. So whatcha gonna do about it?"

"We were flirting all night, bro. She was a little tipsy by the end of it, but man, I'm crushing so bad."

"Again, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"She was flirting back."

"You said she was a little tipsy," he points out. "Maybe it was just the drinks talking?"

"I'm sure she was flirting with me at her house the other day when I was fixing her roof, she was perfectly sober then."

"Hmm." He thinks about it for a moment. "So you think? Or you know?"

He resumes the game.

"I don't know, I can't think straight. I've never crushed on a girl like I have Autumn. When it's your best friend, it hits differently. She isn't just some girl. If I fuck this up, then I'll lose her out of my life forever."

"Love hurts, haven't you heard?"

"Not helping."

He smashes through a player with his sword, savagely chopping his head off. "Trust me, having an unbiased opinion is exactly what you need."

"Oh really, wise one? And what words of wisdom do you have for me?"

"Aside from the obvious; you could get to nail the woman of your dreams. It's Autumn. I doubt you'd find a way to fuck it up. You two have chemistry."

I frown. "You barely know her."

"I don't have to. I can tell by the eyes you're probably giving her, or practicing in the mirror, that you're serious. And if she's flirting back, then that tells you she's interested."

"Huh."

"I mean, have you outright asked her?"

I snort. "Asked her if she's into me? How long has it been since you went out on a date, Fletch?"

He takes a long pause. "A while, but the dynamics don't really change."

"Word of advice; you don't go around telling the woman you're interested in that you're interested until you find out if they're into it. Fundamental, I know, but true all the same. Plus, there's the friendship thing. If we go there and it doesn't work out, what then?"

"You still get to say you boned Autumn Davenport."

"Be serious, Fletch!"

He snorts. "Okay, okay, but it couldn't be the worst thing in the world, could it? I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

It's my turn to snort. "Are you kidding me?"

"They often say the best kinda relationships start with a good friendship, at least you already have the bones right there. As long as you don't mess it up, of course."

"Thanks, Fletch. That's super helpful."

"Glad I could help."

I cover his back and shoot an enemy, ducking for cover behind a bunker. "So you're saying don't chase her?"

"Chase. Wow bro, you're really out of practice."

"You know what I mean. Women wanna be wooed now. I saw this article the other day…"

He groans. "Spare me the details. What you probably need to do is gauge it when she's sober. You'd be cute together."

I rest my controls. "Cute?"

"What's wrong with cute? Hey, get down, you're gonna get slaughtered out there!"

I duck for cover again as bullets come flying at me. "Shit," I mutter. I've never been this distracted when playing. It's my happy place. My go-to when I'm stressed or anxious or I've just had a shitty day. I don't come here to play at being a wuss. "Goddamn it!" I shoot back as Fletch covers me. "Get your head in the game, VirtualHero!"

"Fuck off."

He chuckles as we split up. A few moments pass. "It's kinda hot that she's older."

I stifle a groan. No shit. It's hot alright.

"It's only hot if she likes younger guys, and so far she's never dated anyone under thirty. So the odds in my favor are not looking good."

"You're toast then."

"Gee, thanks."

"Hey, I'm just keeping it real." He runs out from the bunker firing. "You gonna back me up, dude or just sit there on your hands?"

"Shit, sorry." I run after him, my gun pointing as I aim at everything in my path. My heart isn't in it, and he knows. Autumn has my thoughts jumbled.

I still haven't replied to her text because I had no idea what to say. I also got so busy at work bottling and left my cell charging in my office; something I rarely do. Now it looks like I'm ignoring her.

"I guess time will tell," he says. "But you gotta put yourself out there, bro. If she doesn't know how you really feel, then it's kinda pointless."

Of course Fletcher doesn't know about the whole marriage idea. I can't say anything as I promised Autumn, but if I confess how I feel now, then she's going to run a mile.

Then again, marrying her without saying how I feel also feels dishonest somehow.

I can't seem to get a damn break.

"I guess…"

"Women are complicated," he goes on, the regular Dr. Phil. "You have to get into their brains, and even when you do, there's no guarantee you'll figure it out."

"Uh huh, once again, remind me of the last time you dated?"

"I have a date this weekend, actually."

I balk. "Who with?"

Another pause. "I've no idea. It's a blind date."

"Fletch, you gotta stop puttin' yourself out on those dating apps. Haven't you watched America's Most Wanted ?"

"You're forgetting one vital thing."

"And that is?"

"I can hack into anything and do a background check."

I laugh. "I forgot that."

"I figure if her only crime is not returning her library books on time, it's a fairly safe bet."

"Is she from town?"

"I told you I don't know yet. I'm keeping this one on the DL, that way if I like her, I'll do a check after the date. No point in wasting my energy or resources before we've even had a coffee." I guess he has a point.

"I bet your fingers are itching to do it."

"The trouble with chicks these days is they're selling themselves short."

I snort. "How do you figure?"

"They seem to always go for the rich guy, the smoothest line, or the guy who wears a suit well and looks like Henry Cavill. How can I compare with that? I've come to realize I can't. No point shooting above my average if all the chick is interested in is looks. I've got a brain, bought intel at six and I can hack into Homeland security, though I can't exactly put that on my dating app profile."

"Aww, Fletch. Want me to break out the violins?" I laugh.

I get what he's saying. There's a stigma sometimes against smart guys who don't have what women consider to be ‘traditionally' good looking.

"Not all of us look like a Bassett," he sighs.

"Hey, you're not ugly bro. I definitely saw Penny Roundtree checkin' you out that time we had drinks at Moose's."

"You told me. Penny's too shy, she barely says a word around me."

"And you're just a regular Cassanova, right? Maybe you should take some of your own advice. Make the first move. Hit her with one of your hilarious jokes."

Fletcher is like nobody else. He's your typical looking geek; large rimmed glasses, hair hanging in his eyes that he never seems to cut, and he's unusually tall and gangly. I always told him he could try out for a pro basketball team, but he'd rather play video games with me and work at the tech shop because his real passion in life is building hard drives, not bouncing basketballs.

I think that's why we get along so well. He's a good guy; loyal, funny and the best hacker around. "Right. Except only you seem to find me funny."

"Fine. If this blind date doesn't work out, let's scour the bar next weekend and you can ask her for a drink."

"Hey, I thought I was here to help you grow some balls and ask Autumn out."

I dodge a stray bullet and fire back to the enemy as we run through the abandoned village. "I'm still thinking about it."

"Wuss."

"Yeah, well, she just isn't like any other girl. Like I've been sayin', things are different when you have a friendship to ruin if things don't work."

She's special. Like no one else I've ever met. And if I mess anything up, there's a lot more at stake with her than any other girl. I never want to be the guy to put a frown on Autumn's face.

"Time's ticking," he says. "Sitting on the sidelines isn't gonna get you the girl, all it's gonna do is make sure you wind up alone."

I snort, wondering when the hell he became so damned full of insight.

When Fletch starts making sense then it's really time to worry.

"Great advice. I seriously think you're in the wrong job." And then I get hit in the head and die. "Shit!"

Fletcher chuckles. "Never bring a knife to a gunfight, my friend."

I've gotta get my head in the game and talk to her. Pronto.