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Amber deserved better than that. She deserved better than some asshole who had given his heart to his high school sweetheart and never gotten it back. She deserved better than to live a lie.
After Liv ran off, I polished off the rest of the six pack I’d bought so that I could forget about what had just happened. The night had been perfect up until then. Liv and I always had a natural chemistry, and the spark between us could never be replicated. I’d tried many times after she’d left me all those years ago, but no one could compare to her. That night just solidified what I already knew—I still loved her. From the moment I met her, even though I was a young, stupid fifteen-year-old boy, I knew she was the one for me. That would never change; I would love her until the day I died.
I just had to convince her that she felt the same. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at me. She might try to bury her feelings and pretend they didn’t exist, but they were still there. Liv was stubborn that way. Once she got something in her head, there was no telling her otherwise.
But I wouldn’t give up like I had the first time. I shouldn’t have let her go back then, but I tried to give her what she wanted. I should’ve realized she needed me to be there for her no matter how hard she tried to push me away.
I laid back on the blanket in the bed of my truck and stared up at the stars. Why hadn’t I figured that out back then?
I took the final swig of my last beer and closed my eyes. My head was starting to hurt from thinking so much. I’d fix everything when I woke up. I’d end things with Amber and start over with Liv. I just hoped it was as simple as it sounded in my head.
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining brightly in my face. I blinked a few times for my eyes to adjust and sat up slowly, trying to figure out why I was sleeping outside in the bed of my truck.
I rubbed the back of my stiff neck and glanced around. Empty beer bottles littered the area around me and what had happened the night before slowly started coming back to me.
I groaned and laid back down, shielding my eyes with my hand from the sun. I’d hoped that last night had been a dream, but I wasn’t that lucky. Now I had to fix the mess I’d made.
My phone vibrated next to me, muffled by the blanket I’d been lying on. A few choice words crossed my mind as I thought about how many missed calls I probably had from Amber.
I picked up the phone and glanced at the screen, expecting her picture to greet me, but it didn’t. “Hello?” I answered.
“Bro, where the hell are you? Amber has been blowing up my phone looking for you,” Tommy answered, his voice tight with irritation.
Shit. “Fuck,” I grumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose. “What’d you tell her?”
“That you were passed out on the couch.”
I grinned. Tommy always had my back. “God, I love you.”
“Yeah, well, you owe me one. Big. What happened last night, anyway?”
I sighed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.” I pulled the phone from my ear to glance at the time and groaned. It was almost noon. “I need to get home.”
“Is everything okay, Linc? This ain’t like you.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah. Just got a lot going on right now. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Okay. Hit me up later.”
“Okay, bye.”
I ended the call and inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh, country air. I really didn’t want to see Amber, especially after what had happened last night, but I needed to. I needed to let her move on with her life and not waste any more time on me. I’d never be able to give her what she wanted.
I sat up and slid off the bed of the truck, then trudged to the driver’s side door and hopped in. I thought about calling Amber but decided against it. I didn’t want to answer twenty-one questions over the phone, and it would take me less than ten minutes to get to her place.
As I pulled up, the door opened, and she practically flew outside. I was barely out of the truck before she was in my face. “What the hell happened last night? Why didn’t you answer any of my calls or texts?”
I glanced around. We lived in a small town, and I didn’t want the world witnessing our breakup in my driveway. I placed my hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the house, ignoring the looks of people passing by and neighbors peeking through the windows. “Let’s talk about this inside.”
She huffed and puffed, but let me usher her in the house. After I closed the door, she spun around and crossed her arms over her chest. “Where the hell were you last night, Linc?”
“Tommy’s. Playing poker just like I told you I was going to do,” I lied, hoping she didn’t call my bluff. I didn’t want to hurt her, but that seemed almost inevitable.
“Then why didn’t you answer my calls or texts last night or this morning?”
I chuckled, taking a few steps toward her. “Sweetheart, it’s called alcohol. I got drunk and passed out on Tommy’s couch.”
Amber’s tense posture relaxed. She exhaled a breath of frustration. “I was so worried about you. Don’t do that to me again, Lincoln.”
