Clallam Bay (A Fresh Start #2) by L. C. Morgan Page B

parents could handle was me. Are they older than you? All but the one?”
    “All older. All but the one.”
    “Well, how old are you?”
    “Twenty-eight.”
    “How old are they?”
    He thought for a minute. “Thirty-six, thirty-four, thirty-one, and eighteen.”
    “Eighteen? Wow, that’s a big jump.”
    “Yeah well, he’s actually my half-brother. Mom remarried and had him kinda late.”
    Sighing, I turned to look out over the bay. “Four brothers. Wow.”
    “Well, technically five.”
    I turned to face him again. “What do you mean technically?” I asked.
    He jerked his head toward the bar. “Me and Russ are stepbrothers.”
    My mouth dropped open. I wanted to say something. Anything. Like, thank God I’d turned him down then, for example. But we were interrupted.
    “Hailey! Where you been?” Alyssa walked up with her arm hooked around Sonia’s neck. “Get in here. We missed you terribly.” They embraced me with a three-way hug. Sonia’s face got shoved into my armpit. I gave Coll a look and he just smiled, making no attempt to save me.
    “Sorry, Hailey. I tried to stop them. But those two bitches are fast.” Lifting each leg, Amber pulled off her heels. “And sneaky.”
    Alyssa and Sonia giggled as they swayed on their feet. “Are we moving? Feels like we’re moving,” Sonia mumbled into my sweater, and Alyssa leaned over my shoulder to retch onto the railing.
    When Amber attempted to pull Alyssa off of me, she got puke on her sleeve. “Okay, that’s it. I’m done, Hailey. We’re all going home right now.”
    “No! You can’t make me!” Alyssa pushed Amber out of the way and ran, and Amber took off after her.
    “Bitch, get back here! I mean it!”
    By the time we got the girls settled and back to the pier, Jason was waiting for Sonia and Timmy’s dad had already pulled up. I felt like I had been blindsided then slapped in the face. I didn’t know what to do or say.
    “Well.” I shrugged. “You need a ride? It’s no trouble. Your place is on the way.”
    Rubbing his chin, Coll smiled at the ground. “Nah, I drove.” I gave him a questioning look when he looked up at me. “I haven’t been drinkin’. Promise. Just stickin’ around in case the guys want me to play another set.” Glancing back toward the bar, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “You could stay too if you want. I could give you a ride later. It’d be no trouble, ya know. Since it’s on the way.”
    More than anything, I wanted to stay and watch him play. I really did. I wanted to abandon my girls for a boy. But what I wanted had nothing to do with how I acted or who I wanted to be. Which was, first and foremost, a good friend.
    “I don’t know. I should really get these two home and put to bed.” Before they killed themselves, or better yet, one another. “Alyssa’s going to wake up feeling terrible later, and I really don’t want to miss that.”
    As I started walking backward toward Timmy’s dad’s van, Jason stuck his head out of the bar and yelled for Coll to hurry the hell up.
    “So, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
    “Yeah. Tomorrow. And you’ll have more of those cookies.”
    “Yeah. Tomorrow. Cookies. Sure.”
    “Okay then. Tomorrow it is.”
    I returned his open-hand wave then climbed in the van between crazies one and two. I mediated and kept the peace the whole drive with a smile. By the time we got home, they were each snoring in my lap and I ended up profusely apologizing to Timmy’s dad for having to lug both into the house, one after the other over his shoulder.
    Perfect symmetry.
    Funny how things worked themselves out that way.
    It was well past midnight when Coll’s truck chugged down the drive. I lay lazily on the couch and watched the headlights splash across the ceiling then trickle down the opposite wall to ripple across me.
    My heart jumped when a second door slammed. But I didn’t get up to look and see who was with him like I wanted to. Turning on my side, I closed my eyes