Charisma #3
Yzzy narrowed those big green eyes at me like she didn’t believe a fucking word I said. “With the way that Nate looks at you, you’ll know real soon if you already don’t.”
“I have a boyfriend.”
I thought that confession would garner me some type of reprieve from her but she simply laughed me off.
“My husband had a fiancée when I met him. I doubt that a mere boyfriend is going to be enough for Nate to stay away. He has far fewer scruples about this sort of thing than me and his brother. He ain’t gone let much besides you stand in the way of getting you. ”
“Getting me?”
“Yes, getting you. Claiming you. Making you his. Changing your last name so it matches ours. That’s kind of what they do around here.” She was ticking off these actions like lines on a to-do list and I felt slightly overwhelmed. Who said anything about marriage?
“That’s absolutely insane.”
“No, it’s not. This is the west. This is Texas.
This is what they do. You are dealing with a true cowboy and not one who cosplays it on the weekend ‘cause he got handed a bunch of land. He’s a good ole’ boy in the best sense of the word.
A southern gentleman who will go out of his way to please you in every way imaginable.
” Her brows bounced suggestively and her innuendos were proof that Sampson might look calm but he was putting his wife through the mattress nightly.
And I’m not getting this treatment from the brother out of loyalty to a man who treats me like a child.
“This sounds like a lot.”
“It’s a heavy responsibility when you have a man standing around and waiting to hand you your dreams on a silver platter.
I’m assuming that’s the reason why he seems too good to be true.
Because he’s already started to make good on those promises and you don’t know what to do with yourself.
Or this boyfriend that you say you have is the issue.
So tell me, what’s the complications between you and this man?
There has to be one. Because if you were truly in love I can tell that you’re the type of woman whose head wouldn’t be turned.
And although I know that Nate is handsome, charming, wealthy and has the type of affable personality that makes women putty in his hands, you wouldn’t budge.
Me and the Old Man are already doing our part to start the next generation of the Chisholm-Loves, you’ll have to put in work for the other brother.
” She waved her wedding finger in the air and the massive oval diamond and matching gold band still caught the waning light as the sun set.
“We are no where near that.”
“Maybe not yet, but as my mama would say, soon come. Now, the boyfriend, what’s his faults?” Yzzy was leaning forward and I felt like it was okay to confide in her despite me not having said a word to Nate about what was going on.
“I’m just his beard. He stuck beside me during a rough time in college and has needed me to do the same for him right now.”
“His parents don’t have any idea about his sexuality?”
I didn’t mind her shock since I was blown away when Trent confessed his sexuality to me years ago. When I met him he acted like a typical nigga. Even now when I searched for a sign there wasn’t one. But I guess when you spent your whole life putting on an act, you got damn good at the performance.
“No. I didn’t either because when you’re around him there’s zero hint. I couldn’t believe it when he confessed to me. But he’s stuck firmly in the closet because of his upbringing.”
“Oh! And he’s trying to drag you in there with him? Hmmm. Don’t worry about it, Nate will take care of everything.” She waved her hand like it was a done deal and I didn’t get what Nate was going to be taking care of.
“What do you mean?”
“Tell me, Charisma, what exactly were you going to do in order to stop yourself from falling in love with Nate?”
Yzabel had my brain short circuiting because I didn’t have any words left to combat what she was saying. My brain was too busy processing that yeah, we were kinda falling for this man. More deeply than I thought.
“One thing about the Chisholm-Love men, they’re used to moving mountains, honey.
It’s in their DNA to beat the odds. And since they’re used to uphill battles you’re going to have to throw a whole lot in that man’s path to show him you’re not worth the fight.
And frankly, I haven’t seen or heard anything from Nate that would ever make him think you weren’t worth it.
So, you have a decision to make.” She leaned forward with a serious expression on her face that had me worried.
“And what’s the decision?”
“On whether you’re gonna drag this out unnecessarily or if you’re going to stop fooling yourself and fighting your feelings.
Because even if it doesn’t work out with Nate, it’ll never work out with this boyfriend.
There’s no need to carry around the dead weight of a man who adds nothing to your life. ”
I hesitated hating that I’d already shared so much and wondering why I felt comfortable enough to continue to do so. “He knows something about me and—”
“You don’t have to tell me yet if you’re not comfortable.
But what I will say is this. If that secret is something he’s using to keep you close to him then I’m rooting even harder for you to be my sister-in-law.
It’s a low type of man who uses a woman for his own personal gain.
He’ll mess around and find himself in one of these abandoned oil field ditches rotting and being carrion for the vultures.
You might be his friend, but he’s definitely not yours. ”
And again, I didn’t have anything else to say because her words held too much truth for me to deny.