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“I have to leave after this. Plans tonight.”
“Oh, okay. Have fun, then.”
He must have seen the hurt in my eyes. “If you want to come, a bunch of us going to hang out at Cord’s Place. Nothing fancy.”
With a smile, I said, “I’d love to go. I haven’t seen anyone in forever.”
“We’re all meeting there around eight, if you want to join.”
I tried not to let my smile slip, but I felt positive I was doing a shitty job of hiding my disappointment. Before Easton and the engagement, Rip would have offered to pick me up, and we would have gone together. That would have been a given. Now…
Things really were going to be different, not only between me and Rip, but with everything and everyone.
Rip
CORD’S PLACE WAS packed, which wasn’t unusual. As I made my way through the crowd, a few people stopped to say hello.
When I finally caught sight of Bobby McMillan, I smiled. Mike, Alyssa, and Chloe were really the only people I had stayed friends with since high school. Since moving back to Oak Springs, though, I’d caught up with a few friends, and we would hang out once a month or so.
Bobby held out his hand, and I shook it.
“Myers! It’s good to see you. I heard the news. I’m sorry, bro.”
I frowned. “What news?”
“Chloe getting married to some rich dude from Houston.”
Laughing, I replied, “News travels fast.”
He nodded. “We’re still a small town, no matter how much they try to make us grow.”
I clapped him on the back. “Gonna get a beer.”
The next thing I knew, a beer appeared in front of me. And Chloe was the one handing it to me.
“Hey, thanks.”
She smiled. “No problem. We just got here.”
“We?”
“I came with Alyssa and Mike. I didn’t feel like driving in alone.”
Ouch, that jab hurt. I instantly felt like an asshole. “I should have offered to pick you up. Sorry about that. Guess I wasn’t thinking clearly after the offer your dad made me.”
She shrugged and took a drink of her beer.
“I can give you a ride home if you want.”
Chloe grinned, and my fucking knees wobbled.
Will this ever go away? Christ.
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Congratulations, Chloe. Heard you are getting married. Gotta say, we all thought it was going to be you two tying the knot,” Bobby shouted.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…if I hear that one more time.
Chloe gave him a polite smile. “That seems to be the opinion of almost everyone in town.”
I took a long drink of my beer and looked around until I spotted Mike and Alyssa dancing.
“Want to dance?” I asked Chloe before I even had time to think about it.
“Yes! It’s been forever since we’ve danced.”
We set our beers down and headed through the crowd. Once we got to the wooden floor, I took her in my arms and we started to two-step to the music. It was a fast song, so we took off flying. Dancing with Chloe had always been one of my favorite things. I couldn’t stand dancing with other girls. It never felt right. They fit wrong in my arms every single time. I told myself it was because we had learned to dance with each other and that made it awkward to dance with other women.
I was lying to myself even back then.
“You know, I can’t seem to dance with anyone but you,” she said.
“That so?” I asked with a smirk.
She laughed. “Yeah. I often wonder if it was because we figured it out together.”
Tossing my head back, I laughed. “I was just thinking the same damn thing, I swear.”
The song changed, and the beat slowed. It was an old song by Elvis called “Love Me Tender.” The words almost brought me to my knees. It was everything I wanted to say to Chloe…but couldn’t.
“My grandmother loves this song,” I said, pulling Chloe in closer to me.
She didn’t say anything as she laid her head on my chest. We glided across the dance floor, neither one of us talking. Fuck. I loved how she fit against me. My heart started to beat faster as I thought about what Jonathon had said to me yesterday. I knew I would never be able to live with myself if I didn’t tell Chloe how I really felt.
Before I could work up the nerve, the song changed to Keith Urban’s “Coming Home.” I chuckled.
“Welcome home, Chloe Cat.”
A wide smile spread over her beautiful face.
She looked around before looking back at me. “Let’s show them what real dancing looks like.”
I took her hand and spun her around a few times. Before I knew it, people were moving out of our way as we cut up the floor. A few people cheered us as we passed them by.
This felt like home. How in the hell could she leave all this for him?
