“Comfortable?” He asked, fixing the blanket so that it covered my shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks.” I said when he grabbed the remote and pressed play.

I tried to relax and watch the movie, but it was impossible.

Ezra was everywhere, invading my senses and making my brain fuzzy.

When his hand settled on my arm I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I knew he meant nothing by the touch, but I couldn’t stop myself from wishing it was more.

So much more.

Crushing on my best friend really freaking sucked.

MY HEART POUNDED in my chest as I swiped pale pink lip-gloss over my lips. Hayes would be showing up any minute to pick me up and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t know why I’d agreed to do this. I felt like I was cheating, even though that thought was beyond silly considering I was no longer with Braden and I certainly wasn’t with Ezra either. But that knowledge didn’t stop me from feeling dirty. It was all so stupid and ridiculous.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

I had to get a grip.

Hayes was a nice guy and it was one date.

This wouldn’t change anything.

I nodded my head in affirmation at my own thoughts and put the gloss away.

I sprayed on some perfume and turned out the bathroom light before heading downstairs. I grabbed my purse from the counter, checking my phone for any messages. There was one from Hayes saying he’d be here in ten minutes that was sent five minutes ago.

“You look nice.”

“Ah!” I let out a scream and whipped around. “Jesus, Ezra, you scared the crap out of me. I thought you were still out.”

“I got back early.” He leaned against the back of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest. “Seriously, you look nice.”

“Oh, thanks.” I mumbled, still scattered. I’d dressed in a long white skirt with a loose over the shoulder beige sweater on top. I was going for nice, but casual.

Ezra shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki cargo shorts. “So…Hayes?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, tucking a piece of wavy hair behind my ear. “You’re okay with that right?”

He’d been fine since the Fourth of July party, but the way he stood now with squared shoulders and a tense jaw only reiterated my feelings that I was doing something wrong.

“Of course,” he scoffed. “Why would I have a problem with it?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

My hand tightened around my phone, willing Hayes to get here faster so that I could end this awkward conversation.

“What are you going to do today?” I asked him.

He shrugged, scrubbing a hand over the heavy stubble on his cheeks. “I need to mow, so I guess I’ll do that.”

It always amazed me that Ezra liked to do things such as mowing his own grass. I mean, he was a rock star. He could easily pay people to mow his yard—which was far bigger than most—but he wanted to do these things himself.

“Maybe we can watch a movie later?” I suggested, wanting to get rid of the mountain that seemed to be growing between us.

“I’m not in the mood.”

“Oh.” I sighed, glancing towards the door. My phone buzzed in my hand and a second later the sound of a car horn could be heard outside. “I guess I better go.” I pointed at the door stupidly.

He nodded, forcing a smile. It was so incredibly fake that I nearly called him out on it. “Have fun,” he said, the tone lacking any enthusiasm.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, for lack of anything else to say.

I headed to the door and before it closed behind me Ezra caught it. I turned back to look at him, raising a brow. “What?” I asked.

He stared down at me and then up at Hayes who was climbing out of his truck. When his eyes fixed on me all he said was, “Be careful,” and the door closed in my face.

I was tempted to barge back inside and yell at him—to tell him he was being a jackass again—but Hayes was waiting on me so I plastered on a smile and headed over to his truck.

He stood waiting by the passenger door. “Hey, you look beautiful,” he greeted me, lowering from his towering height to kiss my cheek.

I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

He opened the truck door and held onto my hand as I climbed inside. His hand was warm and calloused like Ezra’s from all his hours of playing guitar.

He jogged around the front of the truck and climbed inside. The music was blaring and he reached over to turn it down.

“Where are we headed?” I asked. I’d been surprised when Hayes wanted to pick me up at one in the afternoon, but I rolled with it.

“I thought we could go to the park and have a picnic.” He nodded to the backseat of the truck and I turned around to see an old-fashioned looking picnic basket.

“That’ll be fun.” I grinned, truly meaning it. “But won’t you get mobbed?” I asked.

“Aha.” He reached down between the seat and kept his eyes on the narrow driveway as dirt billowed around us. “That’s what this is for.” He held up a baseball cap and sunglasses. I looked at him in disbelief. “It helps, believe me.” He added.

“I’ll take your word for it,” I laughed.

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

I began to relax once he pulled out onto the main road. “Why a truck?” I asked.

“Huh?” He glanced in my direction.

I shrugged. “Maddox and Mathias drive sports cars, Ezra has an Escalade, and you drive a truck. Granted, this is a fancy truck, but it’s a truck,” I remarked.

He laughed, shaking his head. “I’m a country boy, Sadie, and country boys drive dirty, mud covered trucks.” He took on an exaggerated southern drawl.

“Did you grow up around here?” I knew a lot about the other guys in the band, but Hayes had always been a mystery to me. He didn’t open up easily.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“How’d you get to know the other guys?” I knew it sounded like I was prying, but this was one story I’d never been told.

He glanced at me briefly before his eyes returned to the road.

“We went to school together. I was two years ahead of them, and I’d always played guitar so when they started their band and needed a guitar player they reached out to me. They’re cool and we all clicked. It was easy to become friends with them and then everything else sort of fell into place,” he shrugged.

“Do you like living the rock star life?” I knew his answer—Hayes was the band member that most took advantage of his celebrity status.

“Absolutely,” he answered with an easy going grin. Sobering, he added, “But I like being home and living a normal life too. I guess I like having the best of both worlds.”

“I can understand that.”

“So…” He started, glancing in my direction with an awkward smile. “How’s Ezra with this?” He waved a finger between us. “Is he cool now?”

I shrugged. “Fine, I guess.” Based on his odd behavior this afternoon fine was the last thing he appeared to be, but I didn’t want to tell Hayes that. “Let’s not talk about him.” I didn’t want my thoughts to become entirely absorbed in Ezra.

“Okay, that’s off the subject table then.” He smiled over at me, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in time with the beat of the song playing softly on the radio. “What do you want to talk about?”

I thought for a moment. “If you weren’t in Willow Creek, what would you be doing?”

He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Working in construction. My dad owns a company. It was my plan to work for him while I was in high school, get a degree in business management, and take over the company one day…but plans,” he pursed his lips in thought, “they have a funny way of changing.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the park and turned the vehicle off. He put the red baseball cap on, making sure the brim covered half of his face and added the sunglasses.

“How do I look?” He asked me, striking a playful pose.