Chapter Fourteen
Rhett
By the time Brynlee and I finally untangled ourselves from each other, it was well past time for me to run home to shower and change before taking her out like planned.
“Are you sure?” I ask as I park and turn to her. “We don’t have to eat here. We can go somewhere else.”
Brynlee nods and gives me a reassuring smile. “I’m sure, and I’m starving.”
I’m willing to bet at least one of the women she overheard talking today is in the bar right now. The last thing I want is Brynlee feeling uncomfortable because I need her to know she can thrive here. If she can’t, I’ll surely lose her.
Kissing her hand, I open the door and slide out, holding my hand for her to slide out on the driver’s side. “Come on, you little sex vixen.”
“Better than inexperienced one, I suppose. Are you getting lazy on me, Rhett Dillon?”
“Just savin’ time where I can,” I say, kissing her and sliding my tongue into her mouth as I pull her to the edge of the seat.
Her legs press against my sides, and I groan.
“This may have been counterintuitive because now I don’t want to go inside.
The bar. I’d like to be inside somewhere much more fun. ”
She giggles and shakes her head. “Nope, I need sustenance. I’ll faint soon otherwise.”
I look at her with concern. “Are you kiddin’?”
“No, I learned a long time ago that I’m just not built to go too long without eating. Don’t worry, I’m usually able to keep myself sustained, but I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I’m getting shaky.”
She holds her hand out to show me, and I all but carry her into the bar, opening the door for her as we slide into a booth. “Do you need me to run and grab somethin’ from the store? The pizza can sometimes take a while.”
“I’ll be fine.” The way she smiles at me makes me want to kiss the ground she walks on. “I just need a soda to help level out my blood sugar.”
I slide out of the booth and walk up to Jake. “Hey, man, I need a beer, a soda, and a large pepperoni.”
He lifts his brow as he pours the drinks and hands them to me. “Couldn’t wait for Heidi to take your order?”
“She’s hungry,” I say. “Hasn’t eaten most of the day. Figured it would be faster to order here.”
“You got it,” he says. “I heard about the grocery store incident. They’re not here. Darla and Carter walked in about fifteen minutes ago, and the women hightailed it out fast. For what it’s worth, no one believes a thing they said.”
“Do you know what they said about her?”
He won’t meet my eyes and just says, “Nothin’ worth repeatin’, believe me.”
I take the drinks and head back to the table where Carter and Darla have now taken up residence. So much for our date night.
“I thought you were takin’ her out,” Carter says, letting me slide in across from Brynlee.
“You took her on a date here?” Darla asks. “Dude, come on.”
Laughing, Brynlee shakes her head and takes a drink of her soda. “I’m starving, and I demanded food now. The only thing I have at home is tater tot casserole, and I’m not sure I could stomach another helping even if I hadn’t eaten in a week.”
“Martha forgot to tell you her recipe feeds a small army,” Carter says. “Rookie.”
“How are you doin’?” The look Darla gives Brynlee softens my annoyance at being disturbed.
She smiles. “I’m okay. I normally have thicker skin, so I’m not sure what happened.”
“You had to hear nasty bitches talkin’ shit, that’s what happened.”
“Jake says they’re gone. Took one look at you and left skid marks leavin’ the bar,” I say.
“Damn right!”
An elbow hits me, and I see a knowing look on Carter’s face as he whispers, “Now she’s her knight in shinin’ armor.”
“Shut up,” I whisper back.
“What are you whisperin’ about?” Darla asks with her eyes narrowed.
“Nothin’,” we say.
Brynlee giggles and drinks half of her soda. “Okay, I think I’m stable until the pizza arrives.”
“Stable?” Carter asks and looks at me, confused.
“Low blood sugar. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“You suck,” Darla says and drinks her beer.
My foot gently kicks her shin. “Excuse me?”
“What? She’s skinny and eats regularly. Drinks regular soda. What’s fair about that?”
“You look great, Darla,” she says. “Oh, speaking of which, I was told by every person I’ve talked to that I need to schedule an appointment with you for my hair. Now, I’m kind of picky, but any chance you have an opening?”
She slouches down in the booth. “I don’t have a shift until the end of the week.”
“Could I pay you to come to my house tomorrow, and do it? I just need a root touch up and a trim.”
I’m shocked by how quickly this Darla perks up. “Any chance you’d be willin’ to let me do somethin’ else?”
“Like what…?”
“Dar, you’re scarin’ her,” Carter warns.
She waves a hand at her husband. “Okay, hear me out. You’ve got a nice tan, and I think you should lighten up a shade or two. I don’t think the maintenance will be much worse than what you’re doin’ now, and it’ll really brighten you up.”
Grabbing a strand of her hair, Brynlee looks at it, and I smirk as I see her imagining it as a different shade of blonde. “I can’t pull of platinum. Trust me, I’ve tried. It’s terrible.”
“Not platinum, I swear.”
She lets out a deep breath. “I trust you.”
“That’s the nicest compliment you can give me,” Darla says. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
“How does ten sound? I still have to get groceries. I kind of failed to do that this morning.”
“Perfect!”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Darla this excited, and I just hope she doesn’t make Brynlee regret this decision. I love Darla, but she’s a small-town stylist, not what Brynlee’s probably used to.
“How do you feel about a spin on the dance floor?” I ask.
Brynlee nods and smiles, almost bouncing as we’re let out of the booth. I take her hand and lead her out just as a slow song comes on.
“Saved with a country ballad,” she says, not resisting when I pull her into my arms.
Her wedges prop her up to my chin, and I hold her tightly against me as we dance to George Strait. “You used to dance for a talent, remember?”
“Yeah, jazz and tap. I doubt that’ll come in handy around here.”
Her head rests on my shoulder, and I know right then that I’m in love. Hell, I’ve been in love since I met her, but there’s no doubt about it now. And it takes everything in me to push down the panic.
Even with Honor, I never quite fell completely in love with her. If I don’t fall in love, it doesn’t hurt as much. But this will hurt. It’ll damn near kill me when it ends.
“What’s wrong?” Brynlee asks, her eyes looking up into mine. “Your heart’s racing.”
“It’s just bein’ this close to you,” I lie.
The eyebrow raise makes it clear she doesn’t believe me, but she doesn’t push. We fall into a comfortable silence as we sway, our bodies in perfect harmony until the song ends.
“Pizza’s here,” I say as Heidi sets it on our table.
“Oh, thank God,” she mutters and almost runs to the table while still holding my hand.
We’re let into the booth, and she doesn’t hesitate to grab a slice, setting it on her plate, and cutting it with a fork. All three of us watch in awe. Who eats pizza with a fork?
“What?” she asks, shoving a forkful into her mouth. “It’s too hot to eat with my hands yet.”
“So, let it cool,” Carter says with a chuckle.
“You don’t understand how hungry I am.” She cuts another piece and shoves it into her mouth. “I’m on the verge of throwing a tantrum like a toddler.”
Leaning back, Darla nods her head. “I’m goin’ to use that excuse now. I like that.”
“I’m serious,” she says, grabbing the slice and biting into it now. “The term hangry has nothing on me when I don’t get fed.”
“Food basically runs your life, then?” Carter asks.
She shrugs and nods. “Yeah, I suppose you can say that. The only time I don’t eat regularly is if I’m upset. Otherwise, I need three meals a day and at least two snacks.”
“I find it sexy watchin’ my girlfriend eat like that,” I say, realizing what I just said and who it was in front of.
If it bothers Brynlee, she doesn’t let it show, and Darla and Carter gape at me. Darla’s the first to speak with her patented, “Shut up!”
Hopefully, this wasn’t something Brynlee wanted to keep to ourselves. “You asked her to be your girlfriend?” Carter asks, an impressed smirk on his face.
“Sort of,” Brynlee says. “It kind of just happened. We can sort of thank Honor for it.”
The way she shovels the food into her mouth has me looking over my shoulder at Jake until he catches my eyes, and I nod my head towards Brynlee.
See, asshole? You were wrong!
“Honor?” Darla’s voice brings me back to the conversation.
“Yeah, I ran into her this morning, and I’m pretty sure she hates me. Well, more than she did at your birthday shindig, Carter.”
“She talked some shit about me, which didn’t sit well with Brynlee.”
Carter waves a hand in the air. “How did this end up with you two bein’ together? Officially?”
“She called her my girlfriend, and she clarified we hadn’t put labels on things. We hadn’t talked about it since we had only one date, but then it just kind of happened when I went to check on her. We decided to put a label on it,” I say and eat my first slice while Brynlee grabs a second.
“Woah, that’s the first time Honor’s ever done anythin’ decent. Even if it was accidental,” Darla says and laughs.
“And we’re all feelin’ good about this decision?” Carter asks, looking between Brynlee and me.
I know he’s trying to reinforce things for me, but Brynlee sighs and puts her hand on her stomach. “I think I ate too fast.”
“Are you okay?” I ask, suddenly concerned. And a little anxious that she hasn’t answered Carter’s question.
“I just need fifteen minutes,” she says and laughs. “And I feel great about the decision. Rhett’s everything I didn’t know I needed in my life.”
Even as she says it, the doubt creeps in. I’m everything she needs in her life until she settles from whatever she ran away from. She’ll slowly realize I’m not everything she can get elsewhere, and I’ll be left in the cold again.
I felt special just minutes earlier, but I’m feeling the cold dread wash through me already. It’s better to anticipate the change than let myself be blindsided by it. If I can prepare, it’ll make it easier.
“Stop it,” Carter whispers, and I just shake my head at him. “Excuse us.”
He yanks me out of the booth and outside before I can say anything. “What the hell?’
“I see what’s goin’ on your brain. Stop it right now!”
“Carter—”
“If you ruin this, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”
Placing my hands on the top of my head, I hate this. I hate myself for ruining my high. “I love her, okay?”
“That’s good!”
“That’s dangerous,” I hiss. “Don’t you get it? They always leave! When she inevitably leaves, it’s goin’ to kill me, Carter.”
He rubs his temples as he lets out a long, slow breath.
“It’s inevitable only if you keep doin’ this stupid song and dance you’ve done since high school.
I get it, okay? You’ve been told all this bullshit about how you’re not enough, but it’s not true.
It’s not true at all, and believin’ it only makes it worse for you. ”
“You—”
“Stop it!” he shouts. “Okay, so maybe she leaves one day. Hell, Darla might leave me one day, but that doesn’t mean you want to expedite the process.
Give her reasons to stay if you think she’s goin’ to leave.
Make her never want to think about it, and maybe, just maybe, you can have the happily ever after you keep sayin’ you want. ”
I stare at him, willing him to understand where I’m coming from. “I don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”
“Then you don’t love her.”
“Screw you!”
“No, screw you,” he says. “Any man who loves a woman wouldn’t be plannin’ on her leavin’.
A man—a real man—does whatever he can to make her never even think that it’s a possibility to leave.
Make her so happy she doesn’t want to ever live without you.
If you’re already in this state of mind, you don’t want her. Not for the long-term.”
“Yes, I do.”
Laughing, he turns his back to me and walks back to the front door of the bar. “Then prove it.”