Free Almost in Love by Kylie Gilmore

that?”
    Barry did a double take. “No, it’s not okay if you hit that. She’s the one I’m crazy about. Don’t you dare make a move on her, Ian, or I swear I’ll kick you out. You’ll have to stay with Mom or go back to campus with no babes whatsoever.”
    A beat passed.
    “What about Daisy?” Ian asked.
    Barry groaned. “What part of married and pregnant did you not understand?”
    “She’s super hot.”
    “Is this gonna be a problem?”
    “I can’t help it, bro, I love women. And the women in this town are fine.”
    “Just”—he unclenched his jaw with great effort—“leave Amber to me.”
    “No prob. I’ll be your wingman.”
    “I don’t need—”
    “Yeah, you do. ‘How are you?’ is not gonna get you laid.”
    Barry ground his teeth.
    “Just sayin’.” Ian pulled out his cell and started texting.
    Barry took a deep breath.
    “And ditch the Hawaiian shirts,” Ian said. “That’s only cool in Hawaii.”
    “I thought they were fun.”
    Ian glanced up, taking in the green Hawaiian shirt with surfers. “Fine. Wear them. Your deprivation.”
    Okay, fine, no Hawaiian shirts. That left T-shirts. Sure, they were comfortable, but there wasn’t much flair to them. Barry drove to Ernie’s diner in Eastman because he was afraid if they ate at Garner’s in Clover Park, Ian would hit on more married women that were also Barry’s customers. Geez, his brother was much worse since the last time they’d hung out together. Ian’s success with the ladies on campus had really inflated his ego.
    After dinner, Ian searched for community theater info on his cell while Barry drove.
    “I got it, bro. Eastman has a summer production of The Pirates of Penzance . Women love pirates. You’re gonna be set.”
    “Playing a pirate sounds fun. Yeah, I could do that.”
    “Not just a pirate. You, my friend, will be the Pirate King!”
    He cocked a brow. “Yeah?”
    “Oh, yeah. King is the top dog. I’ll pull up a song on YouTube so you can rehearse. Audition is next week.”
    Nerves ran through Barry. It had been years since he’d been on stage. He’d been too busy in college and then too busy with work. He did like to perform. He performed every day at The Dancing Cow, entertaining the kids. He supposed it was like riding a bike. And if it gave him a much-needed confidence boost, maybe he could find some way to make that translate into getting Amber back into his arms.
    ~ ~ ~
    Amber smoothed another coat of black paint onto a wooden pirate ship cutout for the Eastman community theater’s summer production of The Pirates of Penzance , with help from her friend Steph. She painted scenery for all of their summer shows ever since Steph had started singing in the chorus five years ago. They were at Eastman High School in the large band room just across the hall from the auditorium.
    “So what part are you playing this summer?” Amber asked.
    Steph had just auditioned a few minutes ago. Her friend said teaching fifth graders made it easy to get up on stage in front of an audience. She was prepared for anything.
    “I’m one of the Major-General’s daughters,” Steph said. “I don’t know which one yet. They haven’t posted the cast list. Any of them is fine. I doubt I’ll get Mabel. Zoe Davis auditioned again this year. Her voice is amazing.”
    “Cool.”
    Amber knew Zoe through Daisy. They’d hung out a few times at Daisy’s parties.
    “You should try out this year,” Steph said, slapping paint on in a way that Amber knew would leave lines. She’d smooth it out for her in a minute. “It’s not too late. It would be so fun to do the show together.”
    Steph was always trying to get Amber to join the show. Amber usually just volunteered to paint scenery, which took about a week, then left. Amber dipped her brush in more black paint and smoothed the lines Steph had left. No matter how many times she’d told her friend how to paint smoothly in layers, she never did.
    “I wouldn’t like being