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“Not if you’re taking care of yourself,” Donna purrs and runs her hand up my chest.
I take a step back and swipe her arm to knock it away. She frowns and that fake smile falls from her face. This, this right here, is why Lynn was such a breath of fresh air.
Donna is just the prototype for the girls I’ve dated while in college. They have stars in their eyes and can’t help showing what they really want. I’ll gladly wait things out with Lynn—at least I know her love is real.
In two months, my parents will know I don’t intend to declare for the draft. Then and only then will I tell anyone else. I’ve been holding off disappointing my daddy yet again.
If I tell him now, he’ll have time to talk me out of it. Not a chance. I’ll wait until January, the day after the deadline, and then I’ll tell them. This is what I feel is best for me.
Just as Donna goes to pout at me, I look across the room one more time to check on Cliff. He stands as my eyes land on him. He stumbles a few steps and looks like he’s about to fall on his ass.
“Where are you going?” Donna calls after me.
“I need to get my cousin out of here,” I grumble and keep moving without looking back.
I make my way over to Cliff and catch him under the arm before he plants right on his backside. I toss his arm over my shoulder and allow him to lean his weight on me.
“There you are,” he slurs. “I don’t like these girls. They’re not my Pook.
“She smelled so pretty. I miss her. She would have lit this room up with that smile. Don’t mess things up with Cakes. Give her a call, Trev.”
“She wants space,” I mutter.
“That’s an excuse and you know it. Ain’t a darn thing wrong with checking in. You were friends first.”
“I was her sister’s friend.”
“More bullshit. I lost the love of my life, thinking I had all the time in the world. You ain’t got that much time, Trev. In the blink of an eye, it can all change and be gone.”
I keep him moving out of the party to get him back to my apartment. I hear him, but I’m terrified of making things worse between us and her daddy. Moses hardly speaks to my daddy these days.
“I hear you, bro.”
“Do you? It all means nothing if you have no one to share it all with. The pain, the good times, the grief. You need someone to share that burden with. Babycakes is your one like Pook was mine.
“God, I loved her. She was so pretty and smart. Her daddy was so stubborn. It took a while, but I got through. Don’t give up, Trev. Don’t allow him to scare you away.”
“I won’t.”
“Oh God, I’m gonna be sick,” he groans.
We stop and I help him over to the curb. We just barely make it before he empties his stomach all over the place.
“Well, this night just got fun,” I mutter to myself.
Lynn
I sit lookingat my menu as I wait in this fancy restaurant for Elise to come back from the bathroom. She’s here in New York for a visit. A much-needed visit on both our parts.
Elise has been having trouble at home with her family. She finished her degree earlier than expected and now her family has been applying pressure for her to work for the family business, something she’s not sure she wants to do.
I get it. I understand what she’s going through more than she could imagine. In my father’s head, Pook and I were going to go to school for a skill we could bring back to the ranch.
Brooke went to law school. Daddy thought I would go for something in business or veterinary school. None of that has worked out the way he thought it would.
Sometimes, I think he was open to the idea of Cliff because he knows the ins and outs of ranching so well. He could have passed the ranch down to Pook and Cliff would have been there to help her.
Not to mention, Cliff loves being a rancher. It was a win for everyone. Or so Daddy thought.
