Smokin Gun

First Dates: Part II

Stephanie's POV

I skidded to a stop in the doorway of my living room. Kolby turned to give me a big smile as he opened the door and invited Josh in. He was tall, had the broad shoulders of a former football player, dark curly brown hair and deep brown eyes. I had met him at the regional Social Studies fair of all places.

We had been texting for a little while and this was the first time our schedules could match up to go on a date. He taught history at Commerce High and was the assistant football coach. He had two pluses. One he wouldn't be intimidated by these two knuckleheads and two, he wasn't from here originally.

Josh nodded at Kolby and stepped into the foyer smiling at me. Brantley had taken up post leaning against the back of my couch glaring at him. I elbowed him in the side as I walked forward to take the yellow roses he was handing me. I mentally groaned. That was one color of roses I couldn't stand. I saw B smirk out of the corner of my eye. He knew that hot pink ones were my favorite. I gave Josh a smile.

"Thank you. They are beautiful," I said as he leaned down to kiss me on the cheek. I swear I heard a pair of knuckles crack.

"And these two are?" Josh asked giving me a puzzled look. Kolby had walked over to lean against the couch as well, taking up his brother's stance of crossed arms and scowling face. Both of them had turned their hats backwards thinking it made them look more intimidating. I gave them both a glare I used on my students before looping my arm through Josh's.

"This is my best friend Brantley and my little brother Kolby," I said through clenched teeth stressing the word friend and little brother deliberately. "Guys, this is Josh."

They both nodded his direction. B handed me my brown leather jacket I had dropped on the couch. I slipped it on before picking up my phone and purse off the table. I glared at both of them one more time and pointed.

"I'll talk to both of you tomorrow. Lock up when you leave and behave I mean it," I said walking to the door with Josh. "Or I will call Mama!"

We walked outside to Josh's truck he had parked on the curb. Between both Brantley and Kolby's trucks there wasn't any room left in my driveway. Josh let out a low whistle as we passed B's truck.

"Man, I am not a Ford man," he said pointing at his dark grey Chevy. "But dang that is a sweet looking Raptor."

I laughed and shook my head.

"Handles like a dream too," I said smiling as he opened my door to get in. He came around and climbed in to start the truck. We made small talk on our way to the restaurant. He was more of a rock fan so I didn't have to answer questions about Brantley. I have had one or two guys in the past ask me out just to get an introduction to him. We were looking at our menus when I felt my phone buzz in my purse. I growled under my breath and gave Josh a smile before pulling it out.

BG: Yellow roses.what a dumbass. Just send me a text if you need one of us to fake an emergency to get you out of the date.

I rolled my eyes before answering.

Steph: It's the thought that counts jackass! And no, I won't need an emergency! Go harass your brother or play with Sylo! I will call Mama Becky if you keep this up!

I didn't get a reply back so I knew he was sulking. I swear he was an overgrown child at times. As the night wore on I wished that I had let B fake an emergency for me. While Josh was good looking, he knew it and wasn't afraid to tell you. Plus, I loved football dont get me wrong, I watched games all the time with the boys.

But I didn't need to know all of Josh's college and high school stats. I didn't get a word in edgewise, so I just smiled and nodded a lot. I came to the resolution by the end of the night I was better off being single. I had never been so glad to see that two trucks had disappeared out of my driveway by the time we pulled in.

I halfway expected them to be watching out the window like a pair of nosy parents. Bet they would even flash the porch lights if he tried to kiss me. But they were gone and the porch light had been left on as well as a lamp in the living room. I shook my head and smiled softly, teddy bears, both of them. We got out of the truck and made our way to the door as I pulled my keys out of my purse.

I told Josh goodnight at the door with him placing a kiss on my cheek since I turned my head at the last second. I had just shut the door and leaned against it when I was greeted by my favorite guard dog sitting at my feet giving me a goofy smile to rival his daddy's. I leaned over to scratch his ears as my phone vibrated in my purse. I pulled it out and rolled my eyes at the text.

BG: Soo.. have fun tonight with the hotshot football coach????

I growled at the phone and shook my head. I could see the smartass smirk on his face from here. Jackass. I sent him back a selfie of me flipping him off  then made my way to my room with Sylo trailing after me.

A month later..

I stepped off the plane in Dallas and looked around as I walked out of the gate. I had come to spend the weekend on tour with B. It was Thursday evening and I had taken off tomorrow to make it a three-day weekend with me flying back into Atlanta Sunday night. I looked up to see Jesse and Ben holding a sign up with my name on it. I hurried toward both of them to get a hug.

"Hey darlin," Jesse said as Ben set me down. Ben took my carryon from me and we headed towards the parking lot.

"He's in interviews for a while longer but we are all going to head out and find something to do tonight," Ben said with a smile. "He said to tell you to just go on and get dressed when we get back."

"Ok," I said with a smile as I climbed in the back of the SUV. We got on the road and headed towards the venue. I had planned on coming on the road earlier but had come down with the flu a few weeks ago. B had been madder than hell when I wouldn't let him come home and check on me. I reminded him that he didn't need to get this mess and be on the road.

He had been a pain in my ass FaceTiming me at least once a day that whole week to make sure I was taking my medicine like I was supposed to. Jesse pulled in by the buses and I grabbed my purse climbing out. I walked over to Brantley's bus and keyed in the code as Ben followed me to put my bag up. I made it to the top step before Sylo tackled me knocking me on my butt and smothering me in kisses. I hugged him tightly as Ben laughed.

"Missed you too buddy," I said scratching behind his ears. Ben stuck a hand out to help me up then looked at the time on his phone.

"I'd say be ready in about an hour," he said smiling at me.

"Sure thing, drummer boy. What do I need to wear?" I asked as I turned to head to the back.

"Something comfortable," he said as he walked out. I shrugged and walked to the back tossing my bag on B's bed. I pulled out my favorite pair of Silver jeans that hugged my ass just right without being too tight and tossed a fitted black long sleeve shirt on top of them. I went and hopped in the shower.

A while later I had put the finishing touches on my makeup and wondered what the boys had planned for tonight. It was always something different. They usually had BJ researching each stop to find something. Whether it was paintball, go carts, rock climbing, batting cages, it was always fun and I had a blast with all them when I was here. It usually turned into a competition really quickly because none of them could stand to lose.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and tied my black Converses before standing up to pull my black and pink North Face jacket out of my bag. It was supposed to be a little cooler tonight and I made need it with whatever they had planned. I pulled my wristlet out of my bag and transferred my stuff over to it then slipped my phone into my pocket.

I spritzed myself with perfume and called it good to go. I was texting Ben to see where I needed to go when I got to the lounge area of the bus and looked up and stopped. My heart skipped a beat before I got control of it and tamped the feelings down.

Brantley was standing leaning against the counter smiling at me. He had on a pair of blue jeans with just slight holes in the knees, a white v neck t-shirt that I could see the edging of his chest piece, necklaces, chains on his jeans, boots, a black North Face jacket a lot like mine, and that damn hat backwards. My eyes got huge at the beautiful hot pink rose he had in his hand holding out to me with that panty dropping grin. The damn man didn't play fair and he knew it.