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“Well, Mom’s good. She left the old man five years ago, moved down to Lexington. She couldn’t take his shit anymore. She tried, damn that woman tried.”
“And your dad? How’d he handle that?” Luke looks up at me, pain marring his baby blues. I don’t want to push too hard. Hell, I have heartache that even I don’t want to discuss, but I feel deep inside that Luke needs to get something off his chest.
“Eh, he’s breathin’, barely. He drinks himself into oblivion every damn day. He doesn’t give two shits ’bout who’s around. He says ‘Time’s never wasted when you’re wasted all the time,’ then tosses back another,” he says, spitting each word from his lips. His face is hard, and his lips are turned into a frown, as his happy personality turns to one of disgusts. Luke’s dad was always a drunk.
“I’m sorry, Luke. If he’s so miserable to deal with, why did you move home?” Okay, I know I’m pushing, but it feels necessary. Luke leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. He releases a pent-up breath, then shakes his head.
“’Cause he needs me. Old man’s gotta bad liver from all that damn poison he pumps into himself day after day. Mix that with all the pain medicine he takes for his back, and his liver is barely hangin’ on. When Mom left him and came to Lexington, he became more depressed than I’d ever seen him.” He inhales roughly, then releases, adding a saddened sigh. “I’ve lost enough in my life. I’ll be damned if I let the last few years with my old man be spent through phone calls. He’s a mean son of a bitch, but he made me the man I am today. I just hate that he lives his life through the bottle. There’s so much he’s missin’, and he doesn’t even realize it,” Luke adds, cracking his knuckles.
Rumors always floated around Williamstown about his dad being an abusive husband and father, but Luke never showed evidence of abuse. Unless his father covered it well, of course. I’ve never known the man. He used to be a coal truck driver until he was injured in a terrible accident when we were in grade school.
From what I can remember of the stories I’d heard, his dad was returning to the mines to load coal. His coal truck got stuck on the railroad tracks down by Gingersnap Crossing, and he was struck by a train loaded down with thirty-five thousand tons of coal. The impact of the train ripped into the coal truck, and the trailer jack-knifed around, wedging the tractor against the nose of the train. When the train was able to stop, the trailer flipped down the track like a tumbleweed on the breeze.
He survived the accident but was never able to work again. He was deemed fully disabled as his back was badly injured from the train collision. Their family nearly lost their home after the accident, but Luke’s mom, Sherry, worked at The Village Diner as many hours as she could to save her family and their dignity. I guess she eventually had enough of his drinking and was brave enough to find her own escape.
“Luke, I’m sorry. I didn’t know your dad was sick. If there is ever anything I can do, I’m here. I know it seems like I pry and you eat crow a hell of a lot, but something tells me that we both need a good friend. So if I ever overstep my bounds, please tell me to shut the hell up, ’kay?” I grip his large hand in mine, trying to sincerely offer him my friendship. He squeezes my hand lightly, then stands tall on his feet. I mimic his action.
“Thanks, Carly. I tell ya, when I left here, I never thought I’d have to come home. But here I am. It’s lonely here, everyone has moved on, but I’m glad you’re home too.”
Luke pulls me into a hug, and as soon as our bodies tangle together electricity jolts through me, releasing a thousand butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I wince at the sensation, and my breath hitches as I inhale Luke’s delicious scent. I pinch my eyes closed and try to calm my nervous breaths. Luke releases me from his strong frame, and I’m left frozen. He smiles down at me, then tilts my chin up so I’m peering into his heart-shattering, sad eyes.
“It’s late. Thanks for letting me stop by.” He slowly trails his finger across my chin, then walks around me to the front door. I keep my back to the door but hear it close behind me. I stand in the living room on shaky legs, trying to brace myself to move.
I shuffle my feet lightly under heavily weighted legs toward the stairs and climb to my bedroom. My brain is on auto pilot, overloaded from the stress and tension of the day. I suddenly feel overwhelmed with tiredness as I climb into my big, plush bed. As soon as my head hits the pillow, the world turns black around me.
Chapter 20
Colton
Tryin’ to break through to Carly Jo has proven to be no easy task, but she’s worth the fight. She’s spent so much time bein’ strong that she needs a little challenge. She needs to realize that she can take her mask off and be vulnerable around me.
After our first night at my house, I asked her out on a date. I’ll admit, I was a little hurt when she laughed in my face and told me that we weren’t sixteen anymore, but I reminded her that she promised to try, and I was holdin’ her to that promise. I told her to be ready Saturday at two pm. At first she looked confused, almost like she wanted to argue with me, but she bit her tongue and agreed. The week dragged by slowly, but nothin’ was keepin’ me down.
Saturday rolls around and at two pm, I’m at her house, ringin’ the doorbell like a gentleman. She opens the front door, and I swear my breath escapes my lungs. I’ll never get tired of seein’ her beautiful face. Without a word I pull her into my arms and kiss her passionately. She can play hard to get all she wants, but I can tell that her knees buckled in that kiss, because she fisted my shirt to balance herself from fallin’.
After releasin’ her from my embrace, I hand her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, hot pink tulips. She pads off to the kitchen to put them in some water before we leave for our date. She is wearin’ a gray sweater with black jeans, and boots. She looks breathtakin’.
“So where we headin’, stud?” she asks, eyein’ me from head to toe. I’m sure the camouflage, boots, and ball hat have her scratchin’ her head, wonderin’ what the hell kinda date I’m takin’ her on.
“Darlin’, while you look stunning, you’re a bit over dressed, so why don’t you go put on some old jeans and a hoodie? You might wanna pull your hair up too.” She cocks her eyebrow, but before she can say a word, I put my hand up, close my eyes, and shake my head from side to side. She knows not to argue with that.
“Colton?” Her eyes are wide, mouth dropped.
“Move your ass, woman. Scoot.” I order and she doesn’t skip a beat, pouncing up the stairs. I can hear her sputtering every damn profanity under her breath along the way, which doubles me over in laughter. She comes down the stairs a few minutes later dressed as I instructed. She walks past me and over to the front door where she pulls on her tennis shoes.
“Ya ready?” she asks, her voice filled with annoyance. I laugh as I toss her over my shoulder, then carry her out to my truck. With every step, she’s cussing, “Damn cock suckin’ son of a bitch! Stupid jackass.”
Damn, such a foul mouth for a beautiful little lady. I set her feet on the ground, and she looks at my truck, then back at me. “Muddin’? You have got to be frickin’ kiddin’ me?”
Reachin’ for her hand, I open the passenger door to help her climb inside. “No, not kiddin’.” I shake my head with a cocky smirk splayed across my face.
“Colton, why the hell would you think I’d wanna go muddin’ for a date? Have you lost your damn mind?”
“Carly Jo, get your ass in the truck. Now,” I reply, walking around to the driver side. She shakes her head and lets out a frustrated sigh. She climbs inside the truck, making sure to stay on the passenger side, out of my reach. I climb inside the cab and notice that she’s sitting too far away. I laugh out loud, wrap my arm around her waist then close the distance between us. Before she can bitch one word, I crash my lips down on hers, biting, nibbling, licking—a breath defying kiss. She melts against my lips. I grasp her head in the palm of my hand and tug her closer to me, causing my pants to get tighten against my suffocating cock. Carly Jo twists free as I try to pull her into my lap, breaking from our embrace, and she slides across the seat away from me.
“Damn you, Colton. Does everything with you have to always be so damn physical?” she yells, her face flamed red with heat. I wrap my arm around her waist, yet again, and slide her across the seat and hold her tight to me as I start the truck, then back it out of the driveway. She releases a gruff sigh and I laugh inwardly to myself. I ignore her little fit, because I know this is just her way of pushing me further away. I ain’t havin’ it.
“When was the last time you were up in the hills?” I ask after her breathing has calmed down.
