Chapter 26
__________
Kayla
Great. Just great. Let me say for the record right now, I don’t like this. Not that anybody’s listening or recording. Of all the ridiculous things I’ve had to do today, this is the worst. Coty’s following me home and staying the night. I storm to the back to get my purse and coat. I take a quick moment to call Lily.
“Hey, girl. How’d your shift go?”
“No. No small talk. No being nice. Coty’s following me and staying the night.”
“Um. Yeah.” Lily goes quiet.
I drop my head back and groan. “It’s club ordered. Isn’t it?”
“It is,” Jack confirms. Great. I’m on speaker. “Even if it weren’t, he’d do it anyway.”
“Can’t I just stay with you tonight?” I whine to Lily.
“Um.” She’s not going to answer me.
“Nope,” Jack answers. “I’m having a wild night with my ole’ lady. I don’t want her to be quiet.”
Lily gasps. Not in a shocked way. She’s a freak and turned on. Jack McLeod has ruined a perfectly good woman. I’m kind of jealous.
“But…”
“So, Sparky, you let him stay or you go to the Haven House,” Jack says.
“I’m not an angel,” I point out.
“You’re still in danger. You’re Rodeo’s woman. So deal with it. Gotta go now. I need to chase my prey. She looks like she wants to play.” Lily squeals, and the line goes dead.
“Ew.” I shudder and slide my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. I could’ve gone my whole life without hearing that. I love them both, but Ew.
Coty’s waiting by the door for me. It looks like everyone has left.
“Where’s Eliza?”
“Parker’s making sure she gets home.” Coty opens the door and follows me out.
Hendrix locks the doors and gives a firm nod before disappearing into the bar. He and Bankz are always the last to leave.
Halfway across the parking lot, I huff out a breath through my nose. Naturally, he parked near my car. His truck is in the next row, directly behind my car.
“You could ride with me. We can pick your car up tomorrow.” “No.” I unlock the door and get in. “Uh.”
“What?” Coty quickly scans the parking lot for signs of trouble.
“Nothing.” I put the key in the ignition and slide my seat forward a little. Short people problems. Gotta reach those pedals after all.
My heart pounds and my mind races on the way home. Every time the thought of the night we spent together comes to mind, I slam a lid on quickly. I can’t force those thoughts away this time. He’s staying with me tonight, and neither of us is drunk.
Coty pulls into the parking lot and parks next to me. Even if I wanted to run, there’s no chance of slipping out on him while he’s sleeping. He’ll make sure of it. Besides, I have nowhere to go. Running and avoiding him ends tonight.
His grandmother’s words have played on repeat in my mind today. It was all true. Every last bit of it. How she knew some of those things is a mystery. It’s not important. I won’t try to figure it out. This town loves to gossip. I’m sure everything my father said about me at Sunday dinner was all over town.
It would be nice to have a few days to think about everything Nana said and prepare what I should say to Coty. I’m not getting that luxury tonight. Truth be told, I’ve had it for far too long.
Ever the gentleman, Coty opens my door and offers me his hand. Once I’m out of the car, he doesn’t release it. He hits the lock button and closes the door. A part of me wants to jerk my hand away. The part of me that’s listening to Nan lets the warmth flow up my arm. Oh, there’s literally warmth. It’s not a cliché.
I set my purse on the table by the door and drop my keys into the wooden bowl. Coty takes our coats and puts them in the closet by the door.
“You want that beer now?” I go straight to the fridge because I sure need one.
“If you can drink one without getting drunk, sure.” He moves in way too close behind me.
I reach in, grab two beers from the twelve, and pause.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” I turn and offer him one. “I usually keep a twelve-pack. Just forgot I bought a new one.”
Coty twists the top off his and tosses it in the trash. He stares into the bin.
“Are you okay?” I tease.
He closes the lid and runs a hand over his mouth and chin. “I’m just going to ask, but don’t get mad.”
That’s a sign you’re usually going to get mad. Why in the world would my trash make me mad?
“Sure.” I take a sip of beer and remain calm, as asked.
“You got a drinking problem?”
Way to get right to the point. I spew beer out and quickly reach for the dish towel hanging on the stove handle. “No. Why would you ask me that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Let’s see. There’s a bottle of whiskey on the counter. You were beyond drunk Sunday night. You don’t remember buying a new twelve-pack, and there are six empty bottles in the trash.”
Really? All of that’s true, I guess.
“I don’t count my trash, Coty.” I walk past him to the living room.
“You’ve only been home for a day.”
I sit on the couch and toss my hands up. “I guess I forgot to take the trash out before I went to Knoxville.” I honestly don’t remember. I know I didn’t take it out today. “It’s just trash. So, chill out or go home.”
“Okay.” He doesn’t believe me, but lets it go.
“Oh.” I stop him before he can join me on the couch and point to the recliner. “Will you hand me that blanket, please? I usually keep it on the back of the couch.”
He lays the blanket over my lap and sits next to me, really close. “You said last night you wanted to see me today.”
“I’ve seen you for the last eight hours.” I grab the remote and flip to reruns of Friends. It’s just background noise. Something I can pretend to be interested in. I couldn't care less what the episode is about.
“Don’t do that,” he says softly.
“Give the man the chance he deserves.” Nana’s words almost shout in my head.
“I didn’t handle things well Monday morning.”
“That’s very true.” He set his beer on the end table. “Would you really have shot me?”
“No.” I set my beer on the table next to me. I’ve no desire to drink tonight, especially with him in the house. “The safety was on.”
He glances at me from the corner of his eye. “Is that the only reason?”
I lightly laugh. “No, Coty. It’s not.” I turn my head to meet his eyes. “I could never shoot you.”
“Good to know.”
His hazel eyes reach into my soul and tie a cord. This happened a lot when I was a love-struck teenage girl while he gave me riding lessons. Lessons my parents regret letting me take. I was thirteen when my dad took me to Coty’s grandfather’s ranch for riding lessons. Coty was seventeen. I was too young for him back then—just a speck of dust in his eye.
“You wanna tell me why you hate me? Why you run?”
“Wow. No buildup. No easing into it, huh?”
“Why waste time?” His eyes drop to my lips. “Foreplay is saved for far better things.”
I swallow hard. “I don’t hate you.”
“Then why are you mad at me?” His voice remains low and calm.
“You left.”
“Yeah. I had to. My best friend was drowning in pain, grief, and losing his mind. I couldn’t let him go out there alone.”
“You were gone for two years.”
“We were. It was freeing. I watched Jack regain himself. I promised his family I’d stay by his side.” His eyes drift away for a moment. “Didn’t really have a reason to come home.”
Nana was right. I didn’t give him any hope that we could be together someday. I didn’t call or text Coty after he left. I let him go.
“There’s more.” It’s not a question. He knows there’s more.
“Yeah, but can we talk about those on another day?”
“If you promise not to push me away, sure.”
Time to be brave. “I promise,” I whisper.
His eyes drop to my lips again. “You really don’t remember?”
“Bits and pieces.” Flashes of the night we spent together started coming while I was in Knoxville. Each one made me feel like an even bigger fool for how I acted. “And you? Do you remember?” He said that morning that he was drunk too.
He leans close. His lips almost touch mine. “Every glorious moment of it.”
My lips slightly part. I gasp against his lips when they touch mine. Thoughts of pulling away are lost, too, so I don’t. I happily lean into the kiss. Finally, after all these years, I kiss the man who was once the boy I fell in love with. It’s perfect. Wonderful. I savor every movement of our lips together. The slide of his tongue across my bottom lip steals the last of my reserve. I moan, and his arms tighten around me.
I pull away ever so slightly. “Can we go to bed now?”
“Only if you promise to remember it this time.”
I smile against his lips. “Every glorious moment of it.”