Chapter 21
Shiloh
“Girl, what are you going to wear?” Tyler screeches.
I came in here to tell her that Verge asked to take me on a date, and I think she is more excited than I am. Her enthusiasm makes me smile, though. Maybe having a girlfriend isn’t so bad.
I shrug. “ I guess jeans and boots.” I laugh.
“Bitch, you’re kidding?” Tyler says, and I squint my eyebrows, confused as to why she just called me a bitch again.
She reads my expression and laughs her ass off before she says, “Oh, wow, you really have never had a close girlfriend, have you?”
I shrug. “Why?”
“The way you just looked so offended when I called you bitch has me about to wet my damn pants, girl.” She walks over, putting her hands on my shoulders before she says, “It’s pretty much a term of endearment between girlfriends.”
“Uh-huh.” I laugh, still confused, but I go with it and say, “Okay then, Bitch, why can’t I wear jeans and boots?”
“Because it’s your first date, that's why.” She says, walking to the back of her trailer.
I stand, following her, and ask, “Then what am I supposed to wear?”
She looks back at me with a mischievous smirk and says, “A dress, duh.”
“I don’t even think I own a dress.” I laugh. I mean, heck, even when we went to church on occasion, I wore slacks or jeans. Dresses aren’t really my thing.
She looks back at me, looking me up and down, and says, “I don’t suppose you own makeup or booties either?” She laughs.
“Hey, I have mascara.” I defend.
Looking through her closet, she throws a pink dress at me.
It's not super pink, more mauve. It's probably knee-length with long sleeves and looks silky.
I catch it, looking it up and down, and she stops looking at me before she says, “Well, try it on.” She looks down at her assortment of shoes and says, “What size shoe are you?”
I lay the shirt on the bed, peeling off my jacket, and say, “7.”
“Oh, thank God, same size.” She says, pulling up a pair of off-white booties, tossing them at me as well.
Pulling off my jeans and the Nickelback tee, I put the dress over my head, and it honestly fits me like a glove and hugs me in all the right places.
“Damn, girl, that dress was made for you.” She says, clapping her hands as a big smile spreads across her face, and she says, “Try the booties on. You can’t get the full effect without it all on.
” She plops down on her bed on her belly, kicking her legs up and down as if she’s dressing a life-sized Barbie, and it makes me laugh.
I bend down, putting the booties on, and she claps. “All you need now is to curl that hair, and I’ll do your makeup.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling awkward in this dress.
“If you don’t believe me, go look in that mirror down the stairs.
” She says, pointing to a floor-length mirror in the living area of the trailer.
I groan and walk over. Once I’m in front of the mirror, my eyes pop out of my head.
I do look good in this dress. It’s not too showy, and it does fit me well.
She walks up behind me. “I told you, you look hot.”
“Okay, I’ll admit it does look good, but what if it’s too much?” I ask, worried I am now going to look as if I’m trying too hard.
“It’s a date. Quit overthinking it. Let me know what time, and we will plan for you to come and let me do your hair and makeup.” She smiles.
“Fine.” I laugh, nudging her.
She pops me on the butt, and I jump, walking back with her to her room to take the dress off and change back into my clothes.
Taking the dress off, I hand it back to her and slip the t-shirt back over my head. “Didn’t take you for a Nickleback kinda girl.” She giggles.
“It’s Verge’s.” I say, pulling my pants back on.
“Ohhh.” She says, wiggling her brows, and again I laugh at her. She is legit Cross in girl form.
As I put my jacket on, I say, “Come on, you perv, let's go up to the house. I’m sure everyone is wondering where we are.” I peek out the window and see Verge smoking, looking out to the pasture, and all the other men gathered along the patio around the grill.
I’m sure Mom and Aunt Lucy are inside.
Looking back at Tyler, she is waiting on me by the door, and we both head out and walk up, heading up to the house for dinner.
As we walk, I look at Verge, and his eyes lock with mine, and they soften, and a small smirk plays on his lips as he takes a pull on his cigarette, blowing it out.
I smile back, and as much as I’d like to deny it because I feel like it’s impossible to feel this much for one person too soon, I very well may be falling in love with Verge McCoy.
After dinner, we all head out to the porch just shooting the shit.
Aunt Lucy and Uncle Tuff seem to really taken a shine to Tyler.
She’s easy to like, and like I said, right up Cross’ alley.
She seems so sure of herself, but not in a snotty way at all.
The confidence she carries is admirable, considering her situation.
I, on the other hand, feel like a fish out of water half the time.
I’m not girly in any way, and I have always felt like one of the guys rather than trying to be noticed by one.
That was until Verge. I crave his attention, and it’s something foreign to me.
Sure, I’ve noticed the attractive guy and had a couple boyfriends, but nothing I would say had me falling head over heels like I am for Verge.
Hell, I’m still unsure of why I am so drawn to him. It can’t just be his looks. I'm not that shallow. There is just something about him that intrigues me and makes me want to get to know him on a deeper level.
I want to know his story. All I know about him is that he bullrides, his mother passed away about 2 weeks ago, and he’s Beau's cousin.
“Bye, sweetheart.” Uncle Tuff says, pulling me in for a hug.
“Bye, see y'all later.” I tell them, waving, and Aunt Lucy comes up, hugging me as well.
“Cross, you comin’ home, boy?” Uncle Tuff asks.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you there.” Cross says over his shoulder as he walks Tyler to her trailer for the night.
I look around and see Verge by his truck smoking again and put my hands in my pockets, walking his way.
He looks me up and down, blowing smoke out this side of his mouth, and he leans back on the truck, smirking, and my insides flip again at those damn dimples of his.
For someone who smokes, I swear he has the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen.
He then flicks the butt to the ground and steps on it, then looks up at me with an oops look, and his face makes me laugh as he bends down, picking up the butt.
“Sorry, is there a trash can around here somewhere?”
I gesture with my head for him to follow me to the dumpster so he can throw the butt away.
He opens the lid, disposing of it, and we walk back to his truck together.
I grab his hand, lacing my fingers with his, and he looks at me with a slight lift of his lips and kisses my head as we walk.
I don’t know what it is about this man, but I always want to be touching him.
“So, what time are we going on this date tomorrow?” I ask, biting my lip.
As we get back to his truck, he wraps his arms around me, and I inhale him. I’m still shocked he smells this damn good, given how much he smokes. I mean, the scent lingers a bit, but not a lot at all. Not like you’d expect.
“Hmm, how ‘bout I come pick you up around 5?” He asks with his arms still wrapped around me. I look up to him, scrunching my nose.
“Okay, I can make that work.” He kisses me on the head, pulling back, and Beau makes his way over to us, and Cash and mom follow.
“You ready, Verge?” Beau asks.
“I reckon.” Verge says, looking at mom before he says, “Thank you for dinner, ma’am. It was great.”
“Don’t mention it, sweetie. And if you need a place to stay, the loft is free. No one ever stays in there.” I look over to her, shocked. I mean, she’s right. No one ever does stay up there, but damn.
“I’ll think on it. I appreciate that.” He says, nodding.
Beau puts his arm around mom and hugs her and thanks her for dinner, and she hugs him back, saying, “You two drive safe now.”
Verge looks at me, then back to mom, and I hug his side, and he kisses my head, saying, “I”ll call you tomorrow.”
He then hops in the truck with Beau, and they drive off, leaving Mom, Cash, and me standing in the driveway.
“I like him.” Mom says, nudging my arm.
“I do too.” I laugh.
Cash rolls his eyes but agrees, saying, “He’s a good guy for sure. I approve.” I laugh at him and his older brother's sarcasm.
I look at mom again, saying, “He can stay in the loft?”
Mom looks up to the loft, then back to me before she says, “Cash and Beau filled me in on his situation while y'all were napping.” She shrugs and says, “I feel sorry for the poor guy, and I know Beau and them don’t have a whole lot of extra space at their place.”
She’s not wrong. Beau and his family aren’t poor by any means, but they just don’t have a huge house.
I believe it’s only a 3-bedroom, which makes sense.
I mean, shit, Beau should be living on his own, being 27, but with the lifestyle we live, we aren’t really home a whole lot, so I guess I can’t judge.
Cash and I still live in our mother’s house.
I hug her because as much as she teases me about my big heart bringing in strays, I get it from her.
My mom has always been strong, but she’s also always been so kind to everyone she meets.
She’d give you the shirt off her back if you asked.
As much as she misses my dad, I do wish she could find happiness because I feel like when we are gone, she is so lonely.
I’ve offered for her to come several times, but she always insists she has lessons or training.
She stays here and gives lessons and trains barrel horses and tends to the steers we keep.
As we turn to the house, Cross surprises me by picking me up from behind and spinning me around. “See you later, alligator,” he teases.
“Put me down, you jackass.” I laugh.
“Cross, you are a trip,” Mom says, laughing at us.
“I just wanted to say bye. I’m gonna head home. I’ll probably be by tomorrow, though, to see my girl.” He winks at me excitedly.
“She seems sweet,” Mom says to him.
He puts his hand over his heart and says, “I think I’m in love, Aunt Liz.”
Mom bursts into laughter, giving him a hug, “You are so crazy, Cross, but our life would be dull without you.”
He hugs her back, and I look around, realizing now Cash has slipped off, and wonder where he went.
Cash is very private. He's the best big brother, but not only did he deal with losing our dad at 12, he also lost the love of his life at the age of 21 to a fatal car wreck. They were engaged to get married. I loved Stella. She was the best, and she loved Cash as much as mom loved dad. We all took it hard when she passed, but Cash? I still don’t think he’s gotten over it.
Which is why he’s 27 years old and still single. I’ve seen him eye a few girls here and there, but that spark he used to have died out when Stella passed.
“Bye Cross, see you tomorrow.” I say, hugging him, still looking around, and I spot Cash in the barn with Stella’s horse, Merle.
After she passed, her parents were going to sell him since they didn’t ride.
Cash quickly decided he wanted him, and he’s been here ever since.
We ride him from time to time, and he’s a back up to Tommy if needed.
I tell mom I’ll be inside soon and make my way to the barn with him.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I say, nudging him with my shoulder, and he smirks, looking back at me, then to Merle.
“I meant it when I said he’s a good guy, Shiloh. Don’t take that for granted is all I can say.” He tells me with a smirk that doesn’t quite meet his eyes.
I rub his back. “You good, Cash?”
“I was just missing Stella is all. All these new relationships around, you know.” He admits, and my heart breaks for him, and I hug him, and he hugs me back and says, “I’ll live, Boots.”
I pull back playfully, scoffing at him and rolling my eyes.
“You know I’m here. I know I’m 7 years younger, but if you ever need to talk, Cash.” I urge because I know he keeps it bottled up.
“I know, sis. Thank you.” He says, patting Merle’s nose one last time and swinging his arm around me before he says, “Let's go to bed.”
I nod, and we walk up to the house together. As I get ready for bed, I hear my phone ping and look to see a text from Verge.
VERGE: Just got back to Beau’s, Goodnight, Shi. See you tomorrow.
SHI: Goodnight, Verge.
I put my phone on the charger and look at my nightstand, where there is a photo of dad and I smiling.
I’m on his shoulders, holding a buckle I won for peewee goat tying when I was five, three months before he passed.
I smile at how happy I looked and how proud his expression is looking back at me.
As scared of this as I am .... I think for him I can survive the seconds that feel endless. Only time will tell, though.