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“Well, I guess you don’t want to share a burger with me?”
“I don’t eat meat.”
“Already got the memo.”
Again, this couldn’t be any more awkward.
“You know what, everyone walks around you as if you’re made of china or something, and I’m sick of it. You know what, I want to know what your intentions are for my boy,” Buster said.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. It’s kind of hard not to hear me.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do. In fact, I know you do. I want to know what your intentions are with Rusty. You come back into town after doing whatever it is you wanted to do in the big city. I don’t know the whole story, but I know enough when it comes to my buddy. I know he’s been pining away for you for some time. Fuck, he’s wanted you since high school, but stupid shit always got in the way. I don’t know why. Don’t even ask me why. I don’t fucking know. Either way, your parents care about you. Rusty’s have extended their vacation, and well, no one is really looking out for him. I’m his best friend, and I know he’d do the same for me, so I want to know.”
“You don’t have a right to know.”
“I do. You see if this is just a fucked-up joke to you, I’m the one who is going to have to repair him when you walk away, crushing him. I’ll be the one to call you a bitch, and I need to know what you’re going to do so I know how to take care of him.”
“Buster, I’m not going to hurt him.”
“Then why do you run away whenever things get a little personal? Rusty wants everything with you. He wants to marry you. Have kids, a big family. He wants to be everything you need from him, and yet, I can’t help but wonder if you’re a city girl at heart. You’ve come here for some inspiration, and you’re going to run off because that’s what you do.”
Tears filled her eyes. She wasn’t hurt or upset. “He wants to marry me?”
“Yeah. He does. With Rusty, this isn’t a summer fling. This is everything to him. He wants you to stay, but he’s too damn selfless to ask you to stay. He doesn’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“And how do you know this?” she asked. Rather than be afraid, Buster’s confession had felt like … a dream? No, hope.
She now had hope where she didn’t before.
Rusty had told her he wasn’t looking for some fun even though that’s the label he wanted to put on it, only for her though. Everything Rusty did, he did it for her.
She could see it now, more clearly than ever before.
“I know my best friend. I know he wouldn’t want to hurt you, but that’s the truth of it. He loves you, wants to be with you, and he’s scared of you running away because he pushed you too hard.”
“He could never push me too hard.”
“Do I need to lock you in here?” Buster asked. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I’m not going to run away, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“You’re not?”
“No. I’m not. In fact, I kind of need your help with something.”
Buster took a step back. “I don’t know if I trust you.”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Buster, I’m not a monster. I swear. I would tell you what I want to tell Rusty, but I think he’s the first and only person who should hear what I think and feel. At least, he can know that I’m not going away.”
Buster glared at her, and she could tell he was thinking of something. “You’re not going to hurt him?”
“No.”
“Then, so long as it’s nothing illegal. I’m willing to do whatever it takes, so long as Rusty gets his happy ending.”
Chapter Eleven
Rather than go to the town cookout, all Rusty wanted to do was sleep. He’d been driving nonstop for over a week now, trying to get some used, but fully refurbished parts. Vintage cars always had to have the extra effort put in, not that he minded doing the hard work. He didn’t. Working on cars, for him, was always a pleasure. His father had taught him at a young age how important it was to consider the kind of work you were doing for others.
Cars, even though to some they were just machines to get them from A to B, to others, they were an extension of their personality. His father taught him to respect the love a man or woman had for their car, because for them, it meant business.
Regardless of how tired he was, Casey still wanted him to go with her to town.
He couldn’t tell her no.
Well, he could, but it wouldn’t exactly work.
