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“Usual crowd having all the same usual conversation.” Her gaze roams my face. “What’s troublin’ ya?”
“How do you know something’s troubling me?”
She cocks her head. “It may be hard to believe, but I too was a teenage girl once.” She pushes her palm into the soft comforter. “I know I ain’t your mama, but you can talk to me about anythin’. I hope you know that.”
“It’s just boy stuff. It’s stupid.”
“Lay it on me anyway.”
A heavy breath blows from my lips. “I’ve started to have feelings for someone, and I know he doesn’t feel the same way about me.”
“Troy?”
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and shake my head.
“Ah.” Her eyes go wide. “So someonenotTroy.”
I nod. “Me and this other guy … we’ve had this tumultuous relationship from the start. He’s said and done things to me that were downright cruel, and I think I hate him. But then he’ll do something so unbelievably sweet that I just can’t help but fall for him. I just have all these feelings stirred up inside me, and I don’t know how to compartmentalize them into one specific feeling, ya know?”
“Sounds like you’re on the verge.”
I lift my gaze. “Of getting my heart broken?”
“Of your first great love story.”
“He doesn’t feel the same way about me.”
She leans in, holding me in her warm gaze as if she can read my thoughts from the inside. “Believe me. He does.”
Butterfly wings flap in my stomach. “But how can I know for sure?”
“A man in love tells you straight. A boy in love tells you with actions. A boy in love who’s tryin’ to deny it, welp, that boy’s gonna drive you to the brink of insanity and back.”
“But why deny it?”
She shrugs. “Some boys are just bred hard. My Jackson was like that. Lord, I was a fool for that young man, and he just kept throwing up roadblocks in our way.”
A small smile sits on my lips. “What do you mean?”
“He’d tug on my braids or steal my purse. This one time, he ran my panties up the flagpole for all to see. He was such a little shit, but when no one was lookin’, he’d kiss me like he was goin’ off to war. It was enough to make my head spin.”
“But how do you fall in love with somebody who’s mean to you? It just sounds so toxic.”
She stares off into the distance, bopping her head back and forth. “Yeah, a little. But it was what he did in between that I fell in love with. When I started at The Great Notch, he sat in the corner of that bar, making sure I was okay. He’d walk me home and do it all again the following day. He taught me how to drive. He went up against my English teacher, Mr. Hyland, for making me cry and almost got kicked out of school.
“Ya see, he was hard on the surface, but underneath it all was someone who I knew would do anything for me. And the minute Jackson stopped denying what was in his heart, everything changed. With his defenses down, I was able to see the real him. The sweet, caring man he was hiding behind all that bluster.” She reaches out to caress my cheek. “Jace will come around, too.”
My heart stops. “What makes you think I’m talking about Jace?”
She cocks her head with a tight-lipped grin. “You think I don’t see the way you two look at each other? Y’all remind me so much of Jackson and me. My boy may like to think he’s tough, but you soften all his rough edges smooth as a cue ball.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do. He’ll figure it out. Just gotta give him time.”
I stare down at the faded comforter, trying to organize my thoughts. “You’re not gonna tell him, are you?”
“Course not.” She stands, the mattress springing up in her absence. “It ain’t my story to tell.” She heads for the door but stops and turns back just before walking out. “I do feel compelled to warn you, though. The boy’s a walkin’ hormone. Don’t let him talk you into anythin’ you ain’t ready for.”
