Serendipity by Stacey Bentley Page A

Austin? Phew, I think I need a cool shower to soothe my scorching body. He’s not wearing a hat, and his black hair is cut short—resembling a buzz cut. The glare of his piercing blue eyes, burn into my soul.
    “Okay, let me just grab something and then we can go?” Dean says, only looking at me.
    When he leaves the room, Emily and Keith talk to the boys. I sit there just listening to their conversation, and stealing glances at Austin.
    A throat clears behind me, and I look over my shoulder to see Dean looking around the room. “Ready?” He catches the boys’ attention.
    They nod, say their goodbyes and walk out the door.
    Emily wipes her hands on her apron. “You ready for that shower now?” She places her hand on my shoulder.
    I nod. Getting up from the table, I push in my chair and follow Emily upstairs.
    What in the hell is happening to me? I’ve never been like that around guys, let alone the way I feel about Dean. Plus, the dreams. This is all new to me and I’m feeling as if I’m having an out-of-body experience.
    After I shower, Emily helps with placing dry gauze over the stitches. I get into my pajamas and slip into bed. I make a mental note of all the things that have to be accomplished this week—starting tomorrow!

    Walking out to the field to the fire pit, we wheel out a cooler full of beer, in addition to the open ones we each have in our hands.
    “So, that’s Barbie, huh?” Austin asks.
    I load some wood into the pit and tilt the can of fire starter until the can is empty. I answer without looking up. “Yeah, that’s her.”
    “Damn, Dean, she’s fucking hot,” Jake replies.
    I toss the can aside and light a few matches and throw them into the pit. The fire catches immediately, and the flames lick the cool night air.
    “Yeah, I guess she is. Once you talk to her though, that all changes. She looks like an angel but don’t let her looks deceive you, she’s really an evil bitch.” I sit on the log bench and sip on my beer.
    After last night, the last thing I wanted to do was drink again but this time with them is long overdue.
    “Looks like she’s an all-round angel to me,” Austin offers.
    I growl at his comment. I saw how they looked at each other. In school, Austin was the playboy—hell who am I kidding, he still is. All he has to do is look at a girl and she’ll drop her panties.
    We were dubbed the Three Musketeers years ago and it has stuck with us to this day. Both guys went away to college but returned right after they graduated. Austin works at a large bank in Nashville, and Jake is the P.E. teacher at our old high school.
    “Like I said, man, looks can be deceiving,” I say to Austin but it’s really for them both.
    “She off limits then?” Jake asks.
    Hell yes she’s off limits. Barbie is mine!
    “Nah, man, you guys can go after her all you want. Sure, she’s probably the hottest damn woman I’ve ever seen but I wouldn’t touch her if she was the last woman on earth.” I toss the empty beer can into the small pile that will soon become a mountain of cans.
    “Montgomery, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a thing for Angel?” Austin says.
    I snort—not a chance on God’s green earth. “You’re sadly mistaken, Austin. And what’s this shit about calling her Angel ? It’s Barbie, get it straight,” I try to hide my frustration and pop the top off another can.
    “Man, you need to ease up. I heard you almost call her Barbie in the house and she didn’t look too happy. Has she heard you call her that before?” Jake asks.
    I ignore him and get up to toss more logs into the fire. I look over my shoulder to see Jake and Austin sharing a laugh and no doubt it’s about Barbie.
    “What are y’all laughing about?” I ask.
    Both guys stop laughing and look at me. “Nothing,” they say in unison.
    Yeah, like I’m buying that.
    “Forget about Barbie, let’s talk about something else.” I offer and they agree.
    By one o’clock, the fire has