Chapter 1
Chloe
Senior year of high school.
“Run, Rip! Go!” I screamed from the sidelines as Rip caught the pass and headed for the winning touchdown.
When he made it, I spun around and looked for Alyssa.
My best friend. She was in the stands holding the sign we had made for Rip and Mike.
Alyssa and Mike had been dating for two years, while Rip and I, well, we were simply Rip and Chloe.
The two best friends everyone thought should be dating—but weren’t.
I agreed with them, although I kept that little secret to myself.
Rip, on the other hand, hadn’t once hinted at wanting something more since sixth grade when he kissed me at the middle school dance, and my father unleashed on him.
To this day, I blamed my daddy for scaring Rip so much that he became deathly afraid to even look at me wrong.
But sometimes, I did catch him looking. And the way it made my skin flame and my lower stomach ache confused me.
“Chloe.”
The sound of his voice had me spinning back around and launching into his arms.
“You did it, Rip. You won the game.”
He laughed as he held me tight and then spun me around, make me laugh.
Once my feet were back on the ground, he shook his head. “Nah. It was the whole team. Hell, the whole town backing us.”
Rip Myers. Always the modest one, no matter what it came to.
He wouldn’t brag how he had scored the most points in this game, or how he had won a full-ride scholarship to three different colleges who wanted him to play football, as well as a baseball scholarship to the University of Texas and Texas A&M.
He would play off the fact that he was most likely going to be the class valedictorian, with me trailing in second place. I was okay with that, though.
Leaning up on my toes, I kissed him on the cheek. “Congratulations, Rip.”
His cognac-colored eyes looked down at me, almost making me dizzy with such an intense stare. “You know how much you mean to me, Chloe? Right?”
I nodded.
Leaning down, he brushed a soft kiss to my forehead before being pulled back and tackled by all the other players.
My heart pounded as I laughed and tried to forget how his kiss had burned into my skin. How every touch, caress, and look he gave me burned into my very soul.
“I don’t get it.”
Lori Rhodes stood next to me. She was the captain of our cheerleading team.
“What don’t you get?” I asked, reaching down and picking up my pom-poms before walking with the rest of the team over to our coach.
The football team would be presented with the state championship trophy and she would want us all to be ready to take a picture for the Oak Springs Gazette, our local newspaper.
“Everyone knows Rip likes you and you like Rip.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re friends. Best friends, and we always have been.”
She scoffed. “He runs by everyone, including his coach, after that touchdown to get to you. You, Chloe. He looks at you like you’re the best thing since apple pie, and you do the same. It’s obvious the two of you want to be together.”
Peeking over my shoulder, I watched as the entire football team continued to celebrate. Focusing back ahead, I shrugged.
“We’re just …”
“Friends. Is that why every girl who tries to go out with Rip is met with utter devastation when he only goes out with them once or twice and barely even kisses them?”
My blood boiled any time someone talked about Rip going out with a girl. Especially when the girl in question was doing the talking. Rip’s a great kisser! Rip took me to make out point, and we danced under the stars.
Ugh.
I’d had to listen to it for the last four years of high school and was tired of acting like it didn’t affect me.
The only thing I did know for sure was that Rip was still a virgin.
I knew it because he told me. A small part of me was hoping that maybe, just maybe he was saving himself for me, like I was for him.
I would never admit that to anyone, though, not even Alyssa.
“From what I’ve heard, he’s a good kisser,” Lori said. Then she tossed her head back to laugh, turned and walked backwards. “I will say, if you don’t go for him soon, I may have to take a shot at him.”
I swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Don’t let me hold you back.”
Lori smirked. “Oh, you wouldn’t be able to.”
She turned and started walking faster, leaving me lagging behind. I wasn’t alone for long, though. Rip ran up next to me, draped his arm over my shoulders and launched into the plans we had for our fishing trip tomorrow.
Later that night, at Mike’s field party, Rip and I sat on the back of his tailgate talking. He’d had a few too many beers and was asking me if I wouldn’t mind driving him home. Since I knew he always got loose lips when he was drinking, I decided to probe him for some answers.
“Rip, do you ever get tired of people asking us why we don’t date?”
The beer paused at his lips for the briefest of moments before he took a long drink.
Without looking at me, he said, “Nah. I’m not bothered by it. They’re just jealous.”
I laughed. “Of what?”
“That I have a pretty girl on my arm all the time.”
Smiling, I bumped his shoulder. “Is that all I am to you?”
“Hardly, Chloe Cat.” He turned and looked at me. “Do you get bothered by it?”
“Nope,” I lied. How I thought I would be able to share this was beyond me. That’s when I saw Lori walking up. I held my breath as she made her way to Rip. My eyes roamed her way-too-tight shirt that showed practically all of her breasts, and her super tight, super short skirt.
“Hey, Chloe.”
“Hey, Lori.”
She turned to Rip and ran her tongue along her bottom lip. I rolled my eyes.
“Congratulations on winning the game, Rip.”
“Thanks, Lori.”
“I was wondering if you might want to,” she looked my way, then back to Rip, “spend some time together. Alone.”
Rip smiled, and his gaze raked over her body. I swallowed hard and looked away. If he went off with her I was going to have to leave. There was no way I could handle it.
“Thanks, Lori, but I’m talking with Chloe right now.”
The corners of my mouth threatened to spread upwards.
“She won’t mind. Will you, Chloe?”
I could either say I didn’t mind and push Rip right into Lori’s arms, or I could be a bitch.
When she tilted her head with that look only she could give, I had my answer.
Bitch, it is.
“Actually, I do. We were in the middle of talking about the plans we have for leaving early in the morning. Rip was asking me to drive him home, so if you’ll excuse us, I’m sure you won’t have a problem finding another guy to be…alone with.”
Lori’s mouth dropped open, and Rip tried to hide his beer-induced laugh but failed.
Turning on the heels of her boots, Lori walked away.
“Damn, Chloe! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”
“Hardly. I simply saved you from getting some weird sexual disease from her.”
Rip watched Lori walk away, his eyes clearly on her retreating ass. Maybe he had wanted to be with Lori. My heart dropped to my stomach at the thought.
Jumping off the tailgate, I said, “I’m ready to leave now. Are you about done?”
“We can leave if you’re ready to.”
I held out my hand. “Want to give me the keys, or would you rather I call Lori back over? I didn’t mean to send her away if that was what you wanted.” Rip jumped down, stumbling a bit. He placed his hand on the side of my face. My stomach fluttered when he rubbed his thumb over my cheek.
“Lori is definitely not what I want.”
My breath caught in my throat. We stared at each other for what felt like forever. Finding my voice, I whispered, “What do you want?”
His eyes went to my mouth, and then just as quickly back up to meet my gaze. He smiled, both dimples displayed on that handsome face. “I think I want my bed so I can get some sleep, or we’ll never be able to get up and go fishing in the morning.”
Disappointment rushed over my body, but I quickly pushed it away. I jumped into the driver’s seat of his Ford truck and said, “Then let’s get you home.”
***
My sunhat blocked the strong rays, but not my view of Rip while he stood at the bow of the boat.
For only being eighteen, he had a body to die for.
He had a broad chest and muscles that made all the girls at school stare at him.
Including me. Years of sports and hard work on his granddaddy’s farm and Frio Cattle Ranch had made him solid.
Plus, his oldest brother, Jonathon, who was married to my Aunt Waylynn, owned a construction company.
Rip had put in countless hours working for Jonathon last summer.
“I can’t believe I haven’t caught anything,” Rip stated.
Once a month, Rip and I went fishing with my dad, Uncle Trevor, and my younger brother Gage. I was a female surrounded by a lot of testosterone…completely outnumbered but I could totally hold my own against these men.
“Dude, you’re not using the right bait,” Gage announced from the back side of the boat.
Rip shot Gage a dirty look. “I know what kind of bait to use, Gage.”
“Don’t argue, boys, you’re scaring the fish away,” my Uncle Trevor said, pulling his hat down over his face.
He was currently sitting with his feet up and eyes closed.
I think he often napped more than he fished but he would say he was “waiting for the right moment to cast his line” whenever anyone pointed that out.
Glancing over to my father, he walked up to Rip. The two of them were soon lost in conversation about bait. I sighed and looked out over the water.
My father and Rip had always been close.
I knew my father had had a talk with Rip once after he caught us kissing in middle school.
I wondered if whatever it was my father had said to Rip was the reason he wouldn’t kiss me again.
I thought I saw it in his eyes every now and then.
It was how he looked at me. Or little things he said to me.
Like last night. He hinted he wanted me, but then he didn’t say it.
It seemed like he wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted him to.
Neither of us would ever make the first move, though.
I knew why. We were the best of friends, what if things didn’t work out?
Or maybe Rip was just curious and not serious about wanting me.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Uncle Trevor said, sitting next to me.
I had to quickly change my thoughts even as Uncle Trevor’s voice pulled me from them. “Rip hasn’t told me what school he’s going to yet.”
“You hoping he picks A&M?”
With half a shrug, I replied, “Maybe. It’s going to be weird if he goes somewhere else. We’ve always been there for each other.”
Trevor nodded and looked back over toward Rip and Daddy.
“I’m sure wherever he ends up going, he’ll always be there for you, Chloe.”
I rested my chin on my knees. “I know.”
“Things are going to change a lot in the next year, hell, the next few years.”
“I know that, too. It kind of scares me.”
“You ever going to tell him how you feel?”
I snapped my head to look at my uncle. “What?”
He shook his head. “I know that look, trust me. The look of wanting someone so badly but being afraid of taking the leap. I’ve walked in those shoes. I see it on his face as well as yours, Chloe. Someone has to take the first step.”
Swallowing hard, I pressed my lips together tightly, trying to decide if I wanted to admit my feelings, and if Uncle Trevor was the person I wanted to admit them to.
“Do me a favor, Chloe Cat. Do it before y’all leave for college. Will you promise me that?”
“What if…”
He shook his head. “There is no time in this life for what ifs, little girl.”
“Holy shit! He’s got something big!” Daddy yelled out as Trevor jumped up and headed over to watch Rip reel his catch in. When he pulled up a giant bass, I couldn’t help but smile. He held it while Trevor took a picture. Then his eyes met mine, and I smiled even bigger, giving him a thumbs up.
“Way to go, Rip!” I shouted and snapped a picture on my phone.
“Guess the bait I was using worked. Huh, Gage?” A shit-eating smirk went across his beautiful face.
My father looked proud while Gage shot Rip the finger, then changed the bait on his line to what Rip was using. They quickly got back to fishing after Rip let the bass go in lake.
Picking up my book, I leaned back and got lost in the words, grinning. This was a perfect day for me.
And even though I was smiling at how perfect the moment was, I knew there weren’t many of these days left for us in the coming months.