Choices. (Completed) A Bam Brown Alaskan Bush People story

Chapter 1

The first time I saw Bam Brown, I was hanging out with a group of friends in a small cafe in town. Everyone knew each other well and the small group seated around the table exchanged easy conversation and shared comfortable laughter. The restaurant wasn't full so there weren't many other customers who could be annoyed by our increasing level of hilarity. As usual, I was the loudest one in the group and my high pitched laugh cut through the air like a sharpened knife.
"Girl, you have the craziest laugh!" My friend Dina grinned and pushed against my shoulder playfully.
"Yeah. But I've had it too long to change now. You're just going to have to get used to it." I smiled back at her and tapped the back of her hand with my plastic spoon.

Dina and I had been friends since I first moved to Juneau, although we almost didn't start out as friends. Her boyfriend at the time had been blatantly hitting on me as I sat on a stool in the small bar. I didn't know him at all so I had no idea he was attached to anyone. I admitted to Dina later that I had found him a bit pushy and aggressive, but he was cute so I gave him a few minutes of my time. Within five minutes however, Dina had sauntered up, slapped him hard on the back of his head and told him to start walking home while he could still walk. I laughed out loud at her brashness as I realized they must have been a couple. She gave me a half-smile then stuck out her hand for me to shake. She also thanked me for giving her an excuse to cut his sorry butt loose. That was the first time she had heard my crazy laugh and she was still capable of making me laugh harder than anyone else I knew.

When the five brothers strode into the restaurant, all eyes turned toward them. The noise level in the room suddenly dropped as most people stopped talking to silently watch as the brothers stood scanning the room. Of course I didn't know at the time that they were brothers. But before the night was over, I would know quite a lot about the Brown brothers from Chichagof Island.

"Well, what do we have here?" Dina drawled as her eyes traveled over all the faces of the brothers. "So many choices, so little time."
I tried to keep my laugh quiet and the stifled snort that escaped my lips made her glance over at me in surprise.
"What was that sound you just made?" Dina locked her bright blue eyes on mine and narrowed them suspiciously. "Is the ice queen starting to thaw or are you just choking on the ice in your veins?" This time my laugh was loud and full. I had earned the nickname of Ice Queen soon after I first started going out partying with Dina. Every guy who approached me was met with a cold stare and even colder conversation. Dina had asked why I didn't even try to give the guys a chance. And who was I waiting for? I had shrugged and told her,
"I'll know him when I see him."

As I looked at the group of brothers, one of them immediately caught my eye. His short curly hair made me guess his age to be about thirty to thirty-five years old. But he was gorgeous. His eyes were a bright blue just like Dina's and his smile was without a doubt the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. His front teeth that he flashed when he smiled were slightly uneven and it made him even more attractive because it meant he wasn't too perfect. Perfect men always made me nervous. I always felt like I could never measure up to their ideal image. And who needed that kind of pressure? I knew I was pretty. But I didn't want pretty to be the only thing a man wanted from me. I liked to think I had so much more to offer than that.

After some discussion among themselves, the group of brothers decided on a table and settled in, grabbing up the plastic coated menus. Each one looked around the room, clearly scanning for available women. I had seen those types of looks hundreds of times before and learned how to deflect and avoid the man behind the look. But this time, I didn't want to hide. I kept my eyes on my chosen man as I reached up to smooth down the back of my short asymmetrical bob cut hair with one hand. Dina's eyes had gone wide when she first saw me after this drastic cut. But I explained that I had no remorse at all. I was tired of dealing with my long straight hair and needed something completely different. So when I showed up the following week with the spiky front dyed a bright pink, Dina didn't bat an eyelash.

A couple of the brothers finally seemed to have made some decisions and the two of them stood up, adjusted their clothing a bit and began walking toward our table. My guy was in the lead and he moved confidently across the room to stand in front of the table.
"Hi. I'm Matt Brown." He put out his right hand and smiled broadly. At Dina.
"Huh." The small grunt I uttered was audible only to me and when Dina's face lit up and she placed her small hand in his, I felt like I was choking on my own breath. It wasn't the first time a man had chosen Dina over me. We'd been out together enough times and wrangled with enough half-drunk would-suitors to be able to handle that. Neither of us cared which one of us a guy picked because we were never interested in anything serious. It was all just for fun. But this time? With Matt? This was the first time, I realized with a jolt of surprise; I really did care.

At Dina's encouraging smile, Matt quickly suggested they find a table alone so they could talk. Matt's words had a slight accent to them and I couldn't help staring at his lips as he spoke. They were full and pink and when he turned his head to give me a cordial nod, I had to fight to drag my eyes away from his mouth. I gave him a tight smile. It was all I could offer since my heart was stuck in my throat, cutting off my words. As I watched Matt and Dina's retreating backs, I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I didn't understand why I had such a reaction to Matt. It wasn't as if I hadn't seen beautiful men before. But I loved my friend and we had never fought over a man before and I was determined we wouldn't start now.

I was so deep into my own thoughts that I didn't see the man standing in the spot Matt had just vacated.
"Hi." He said, apparently not for the first time.
"Oh, hi." I looked up into his face and immediately tilted my head so I could better see his eyes through his wire rimmed glasses.
"I'm Bam Bam." He stuck out his hand formally and I shook it formally. pump, pump. I tried my best to maintain eye contact with him. That was only fair, but my eyes kept darting over to where Matt and Dina sat, heads now close together as they talked.
"May I join you?" Bam Bam kept his eyes on my face.
"Sure, have a seat." I forced a full smile and breathed out, trying to relax and I waved my hand at the empty chair Dina had just vacated.
As he sat down in the chair, he hunched it closer to me and smiled.
"I saw you the minute I walked in." He didn't seem to realize he didn't have my full attention. I felt bad about that so I doubled my efforts to focus on his words and his face. When I turned my face fully to him and he knew I was looking only at him, his face broke into a huge smile that encompassed and brightened his entire face.
"Oh, wow, you're beautiful!" I exclaimed loudly.