"You aren't watching the movie." He smirks, when he catches me looking at him.
"You have some new ink. Can I see it?"
Giving me that panty dropping, cocky half-smile America loves, he lifts his shirt sleeve to reveal what would look like a simple nature scene to anyone else, but I recognize it instantly. It's the field the guys would always take me to on picnics. It's where we spent lots of our time in the fall, because the changing leaves were breathtaking, and it's also where we were, when they got the call about their record deal the summer after I graduated high school.
"I miss that place. Life was so much simpler then," I sigh.
"Yeah, it was. Some of my best memories with you and Landon happened there. It's the one place that the rest of the world couldn't touch us."
We stay up well past midnight talking about some old memories, discussing the movie, catching up on some TV shows, and just catching up in general. Dallas has always been so easy to talk, too.
I don't remember falling asleep, until I'm jolted awake with a warm body cuddled with mine.
Chapter 2
Dallas
I'm fighting waking up, because there’s a warm body pressed against me. Normally, I don't let a girl stay the night, and when they try to cuddle, it makes me want to bolt, only this girl pressed against me isn't making my skin crawl.
I crack open my eyes and see I fell asleep in the living room, and it all starts to come crashing back to me.
Austin.
She fell asleep watching the last movie. I decided to finish it then carry her to bed, but I guess I fell asleep, too. Then sometime in the middle of the night, we must have shifted to lying down on the couch. She’s pressed between me and the back of the couch with a long, tan leg swung over my hips. She’s using my shoulder as her pillow and has her arms flung across my stomach.
I let her warmth soak into me and try not to wake her, because I want to lie here just a bit longer.
I have had a crush on this girl, since high school, but you can't date your best friend’s younger sister, right? In fact, Landon makes that perfectly clear any time he’s caught me looking at her. Austin was off limits then, and I know she still is, especially because of my playboy days, once we got our record deal.
Her brother won't care that I'm tired of that lifestyle and haven't been with anyone in over six months. It's the fact that I lived it at all. It was a way to forget everything. The fact that I couldn't have Austin, my mom dying, and dealing with sudden fame.
Landon's my best friend, and he's supported me through it all, never questioning or judging me, but I know I'm not what he wants for Austin. She deserves somebody respectable that you can't find lewd stories about online almost weekly. The press also doesn't care that I haven't been with anyone. They know how to take a photo just right to make it look like whatever they want it, too.
I sigh, pushing the thoughts out of my head and try to be in the moment with Austin, because I might not get this chance again, having her cuddling with me.
She didn't seem quite her normal self last night. Granted, she had been driving for over two days, but I think this thing with Branden shook her up more than she wants to admit. She's tried dating, but half the guys wanted to date her to get to Landon and me, or they didn't treat her as well as we did. We did set a pretty high bar.
Her last long-term relationship was about a year ago, and his excuse for breaking up with her was that she was too close to her brother and me. Do guys really get upset about that? So, she started this casual thing with a few guys, always breaking it off, when they wanted more. But this guy, proposing after three months? Not cool.
She stirs, and I’m disappointed that our snuggle time is coming to an end. I can tell the moment she’s awake, because she freezes. I'm guessing like me, it takes her a few moments to remember where she is, and who she’s with.
When she lifts her head, and her gray blue eyes meet mine, my heart starts racing. She rests her chin on my chest and gives me a soft, sleepy smile, and right here in this moment with her dark brown hair slightly a mess, I can't remember a time I have ever seen her more beautiful.
"Thank you for letting me talk last night. I think I needed to vent more than I realized," she says.
"Of course, I'm here anytime," I say.
Then, a slight pink tints her cheeks, and she sits up.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you," she says.
I know I need to fix things and put that wall back between us to keep us both safe, even though I don't want, too.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm used to having beautiful women throw themselves at me." I give her my famous cocky smirk.
"Ugh!" She wastes no time throwing a pillow at my head, causing me to laugh. There we go, back to our normal.
"Why don't you go get a shower and all? I'm going to take you out to brunch, and I have a surprise that might cheer you up," I tell her. The thought had been in my head last night that I needed to do something for her, like her brother would, to get her mind off Portland and everything she left behind.
As she heads upstairs,
