Addicted to You(45)

And because life liked to throw curve balls, the new text wasn’t from Landon.

Colby: I know you probably don’t want anything to do with me right now, but I have to say one thing: I’ll always support your decisions and as your best friend I hope you always choose happiness.

No matter how many times I told myself not to reply, my fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. After all, it was Colby. If I was any good at ignoring him, I wouldn’t be here right now.

Me: Don’t worry. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be single for the rest of my life.

Colby: If that’s what makes you happy.

Me: Yeah…funny thing is I don’t actually want to be the crazy cat lady.

Colby: I doubt you want my advice but if you ever do choose a guy, my suggestion is to choose the one who pays attention when no one else is watching.

Me: And how am I supposed to figure out who this mystery guy is?

Colby: He’ll prove it with the little things. Your favorite food, your favorite color, the words to make you smile…

Did he just describe Landon? Chocolate croissants, Yellow flowers. The note that was left with them. Nothing made sense. He mentioned Landon’s possible feelings, then got upset when he saw us together, yet now he was pushing me toward his brother again? Colby wasn’t stupid. He had to know I had feelings for him so why was he so convinced I should be with Landon?

Me: And tell me again, why should I choose him?

Colby: Because he’s the one who loves you.

Me: What if I don’t love him back?

I waited for a response but as the seconds ticked by I became doubtful I’d actually get one. And as we pulled up to Taylor’s place, I finally gave up on hearing back from Colby. I tried not to take it personally, considering he’d probably passed out.

“Everything okay?” Taylor asked as she turned off her car.

“Um, yeah.” I shrugged but as the corner of one side of her mouth turned down it occurred to me I’d done it again. I was shutting her out to avoid talking about myself. The whole point in coming here was to vent, so why was I bottling this up? I sighed and patted my phone. “I just got drunk Landon followed by drunk Colby texts. When we get inside, maybe you can help me interpret them.”

“For sure.” She offered a small smile, then added, “Not to minimize your situation, because I know it’s stressing you out like crazy, but if I had to be stuck between two boys, I’m not sure I’d complain too much if those two happened to be Callahans.”

I laughed because she was absolutely right. There were probably a lot of girls who would give anything to be pinned between the hot bartender and the sun-kissed boat captain. It was like the perfect love triangle, straight out of a movie. Problem was, the reality of being wedged between two brothers, both of whom I loved and cared about, was actually kind of heartbreaking. And a place I didn’t enjoy at all.





Chapter 15


The next morning, I rode with Taylor over to Colby’s to pick up Matt on her way to take me home.

She cracked open the front door and peeked in. “Oh, sorry to barge in. Matt said it’d be open and that knocking might wake you. Didn’t realize you were all up now.”

“No worries, we haven’t been up long. Come on in,” Colby said from the other side.

My stomach twisted at the sound of his voice. Our conversation had ended last night with decisions needing to be made, then the whole Landon kiss thing…Yeah, I wasn’t too sure he’d even want to see me now. But after Taylor’s revelation about how maybe Colby felt stuck between his brother and me, I decided not to push for more. I’d let him decide where we stood with no more pressure from me.

Of course, I’d been told he was sleeping and hadn’t really expected to run into him, but a part of me probably wanted to. After all, I had followed Taylor inside.

“Hey babe.” Matt kissed the top of her head. “Thanks for picking me up. Let me finish helping out.” And as I came into view, he added, “Oh, hey Isla. Didn’t see you back there.”

Colby spun around, clearly not expecting me either. My gaze washed over him. His disheveled hair complemented his wrinkled shirt and gray sweatpants nicely. Really. He looked adorable.

Not really sure how to act, I blurted the first thing to come to mind. “You guys need a bulldozer and about thirty cans of air freshener.” I waved my hand in front of my face. “It smells like a bar at two A.M. in here.”

“I happen to enjoy that smell,” Landon, who appeared from around the hall, joked. “Always reminds me of closing time and tip-out.”

And not to compare the two brothers, but I couldn’t not notice the way Landon’s basketball shorts hung low on his hips and the way his broad shoulders bunched as he heaved a black trash bag into the kitchen. He was shirtless, after all. It kind of invited staring.