Better If He Goes (Always You #1) - Allie Everhart Page 0,13
so hard his glasses flew off."
I laugh, then cover my mouth. "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. Was he okay?"
"Totally fine. And you can laugh. I sure as hell did. Everyone else did too. I ended up dropping the class." He chuckles. "So yeah, you can't be good at everything, but hey, at least we gave it a shot, right?"
"Right." I stare at him, completely enthralled by him. He has this energy about him. He lights up the room. I've been dragging all morning, but now I feel alert and awake.
"Is this my new client?" April asks, hurrying over to him. "Sorry I'm running late."
"No problem," Brad says. He holds his hand out to her. "Brad Whittaker. Good to meet you."
"I'm April." She shakes his hand.
"He's Nate's cousin," I tell her. "He's here for the summer."
She looks at him in the mirror and tilts her head. "I kind of see the resemblance, although you're a lot bigger than Nate."
"Coach made us hit the weights hard. But I've always been someone who works out a lot."
"Let me guess," she says. "You play football."
"I did in college. Just graduated, so my football days are over."
"What position?" she asks as she gets her station set up.
"Tight end."
She nods, glancing at me and smiling. "Tight end. My favorite position."
I stop myself before rolling my eyes.
She motions for him to get up. "Let's get you shampooed."
As he walks to the shampoo chair, she turns back and mouths, oh my god he's gorgeous!
I just smile, then go to the back room to do laundry. As I fold towels, I notice my heart's still beating fast. That was not what I was expecting Nate's cousin to look like. Nate's cute, but his cousin is hot, and not like average hot, but a whole different level of hot. Just wait until the girls in town get a look at him. They'll be lining up at his door, begging to go out with him.
My phone chirps and I see a text from Nate. Did Brad show up?
I text back. He just got here.
The phone rings. It's Nate. I duck out the back door to answer it. "Hey, I can't talk during work."
"I know. I'll make it quick. Did you meet Brad?"
"Yeah, a few minutes ago. Why didn't you tell me he was coming by?"
"I wasn't sure if he would. He said he had some errands to run and might stop in to get his hair cut. Who'd he get?"
"April. Oh, she cancelled on me tonight so if you still want me to tag along with you and Brad, I'm in."
"Yeah, definitely. I think we're just going to grab dinner and a couple beers. You want us to pick you up?"
"If you could, then yeah."
"We'll swing by around seven. Does that work?"
"Yeah, see you then."
I hurry back inside just as my mom comes through the door to the laundry area.
"Hey, Mom," I say, sounding out of breath. "You need towels?"
"Yeah." She looks me up and down. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing. Why?" I hand her a stack of towels.
"You're out of breath and all sweaty. I thought maybe it was because you saw that hot thing out front." She smiles as she saunters over to me.
"What hot thing?" I ask, but I know who she means. I hope she didn't flirt with him. She would've if she'd been drinking, but she seems sober.
"The guy April's working on. You gotta come see him. If I wasn't with Dave, I'd be on that guy so fast."
"Mom, he's MY age. He's way too young. And he's Nate's cousin."
"Huh. I thought he looked familiar, although he's a hell of a lot hotter than Nate." She nudges my side. "You better get him before someone else does."
"ME? I'm not going to date Nate's cousin."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because he's Nate's cousin. It wouldn't be right."
"What's not right about it?"
"It just...it seems wrong."
"Does he already have a girl?"
"No."
"Then go for it! Grab that hot piece of ass before it's taken."
I cringe. "Mom, please don't call him that."
She laughs. "Get your butt out there and claim him. And do it fast because Kacey's already got her eyes on him."
"Kacey has a boyfriend."
"Never stopped her before." My mom turns and walks back in the salon.
Grabbing more towels, I follow her, passing Brad as I walk to the shampoo sinks. I glance at the mirror and see him watching me. I expect him to look away, but he doesn't. He keeps his eyes on me and smiles.