Folding Hearts (Mitchell Family #2)(14)
Author: Jennifer Foor

The ride to the bar was uneventful. Ty and Colt talked about some baseball game when they were kids, while Van and I played on our phones in the back. I went into all my social networking apps and changed my status to say single. While Van seemed occupied by her own phone, I pulled up Ty’s profile on mine. His profile picture was a group of his friend’s doin’ keg stands. I had to laugh when I pictured him holding my daughter being so responsible. After goin’ through a few more photos I found a bunch of he and Van. It made me sad. I heard him saying that there was nothing between us except for friendship, but this just confirmed that he was not ready to move on.

Still, when we climbed out of that car to go into the bar, I felt his eyes on me again. I wasn’t denying that I worked hard to make myself look irresistible, but the fact that Ty wouldn’t stop looking made me all tingly. The night was looking up, well that was until my brother and his girlfriend pulled up. Sitting in the back was Courtney Timmons, former Ms. Kentucky.

They got out of the car and immediately approached us. By the look on Conner’s face, I could tell this was a setup. She came here to be hooked up with Ty. I should have known that my brother would cover all his bases to prevent anything from ever happening between us. This was low, even for him. How could he bring the prettiest girl in all of Kentucky to paw all over Ty?

Right away I could tell he was interested in her. They shook hands and both got ridiculous smiles across their faces. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to scream or cry first. I tried to shake it off and concentrate on all the other available guys around us, but my eyes kept going back to the one I couldn’t have. His strong arms led Courtney out onto the dance floor. I had never wanted Ty. Sure, he was one of the most gorgeous guys I had ever seen, but I never really looked at him as available.

“You okay?” Van asked, breaking my train of thought.

“Yeah, fine. Just didn’t know she was going to be here.” I pointed toward Courtney and Ty.

She led me over toward the bar. “Conner thought it would take Ty’s mind off of my engagement. She seems to be doing a good job.”

“Yeah, whatever!” I said sarcastically.

Van looked over at me with a concerned look on her face. “You can’t like him Miranda. You know that right?”

“Are you sayin’ that because you still want him for yourself?”

“Of course not!” She said immediately. “I just don’t think it is a good idea for the two of you to get involved, especially so soon after what happened. Plus, he is family.”

“We are just friends anyway. He made that clear earlier today with my brother.”

She started laughing and made a quick glance over my shoulder. “You should stay that way. He is better at being a friend than a boyfriend anyway.”

Van didn’t warn me that Ty and Courtney were coming up to the bar. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to his smiling face. The more I looked at him, the more I felt like a teenager with an impossible crush. “Hey.”

Get a grip.

“Hey, you look like you are havin’ fun. Good thing Courtney came along.”

He shrugged and looked over at her talking to Van. “She’s alright.”

“You do know she is the former Ms. Kentucky?”

“She told me, like ten times already. It’s getting old.” He said close to my ear in an almost whisper.

I pulled away from him and looked at his face, but before I could say anything else he smiled at me and looked down at my body. I started to shiver as his eyes started at my face, but slowly moved down every inch of my figure. When his eyes met mine again, I felt like they were on fire, burning into me. Before either of us could say anything, he was handed two beers by Courtney and being hauled back out to the dance floor away from me.

He turned to look back at me as he walked away, giving me a half smile.

Van filled the empty gap between us and giggled as Colt came up behind her. I spotted my brother and his slutty girlfriend grinding all over each other in a corner of the bar, while Colt and Van made company next to Ty and Courtney. I found a stool located at the bar and sat down on it, spinning around every now and again to watch everyone else having a good time except for me.

My brother was such an ass**le for bringing me out, but making sure that I couldn’t hang out with Ty. Maybe nobody else noticed his schemes, but I wasn’t going to pretend Ty’s hookup was a coincidence. He was rubbing Ty’s love for anything with a vagina in my face. He wanted me to see that he was the type of guy I didn’t need in my life.

A few mixed drinks later, a slow song came on. I didn’t even want to turn around and watch Ty grinding all over that blonde tease, so I just kept flirting with the bartender. When I felt someone spinning me around I started to scream. Ty’s face lit up in front of me. “How about a dance?” He asked while offering his hand.

I didn’t waste a second as I grabbed his hand and let him guide me onto the dance floor. “Where is your date?”

“She ain’t my date and she went to the bathroom. I hated seeing you over there all by yourself. I thought we were going to hang out more tonight,” he admitted.

I could feel the redness rushing to my cheeks and tried to look down so that he couldn’t notice. His hands were wrapped around my waist, and he kept them there instead of letting them linger around my ass. I would have been fine if they wandered around, but he seemed content the way they were. “I thought we were goin’ to hang out too. I think my brother thinks there is somethin’ goin’ on between us. I told him that he was crazy and we were just friends.” You smell so good that I want to take you outside and let you do whatever you want to me.

“Yeah, I told him we were just friends too. He is just looking out for you. He knows my track record and doesn’t want you getting hurt. He is your brother and it is his job to protect you. It doesn’t help matters when you look so f**king hot in that dress.”

Ahh, he did notice.

“Well I just wish he would mind his own damn business. If I want to hook up with someone than I can damn well do it. He can’t control my life ya know.” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

The man smelled so good. I felt like I could just lick every inch of his skin. His hands remained firm on my waist, but it made me hot just thinking about what else they were capable of doing to me.

Ty slowly pulled his face back enough to be able to look at me. “It’s not like you have someone in mind to hook up with right?” He asked with a smile across his face.