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Samantha wouldn’t have left because I got hurt. She would have stuck by me. Hell, she stuck by me for weeks after. It also wasn’t about school. If that had been the case, she would have moved on campus, not twelve hundred miles away.
The only thing it could have been is Dakota. Pregnancy must have been the reason she left. But that doesn’t fit either. We talked for hours about raising a family. We both wanted that.
I had loved Samantha for years. Ever since the night I caught the barn on fire and she told me she hated me. It was an innocent type of love, puppy love maybe. It grew over the years into a soul-burning, constant need type of love.
I tried to stay away, knowing I was no good for her. It was easy to acknowledge that I was too old for her. But my heart didn’t care. There’s no rational explanation for it. I just knew that I wanted her, needed her.
She was sixteen, and I was twenty-two. She’d just come home from a summer trip with Brianna and Autumn. That day, the love of a boy turned into something I never saw coming.
“Sammy’s home. Sammy’s home.” Matt sings as he rushes out the door.
I follow at a slower pace. Samantha has been gone all summer. She’s been off jet-setting to the beach with her friends while we’ve been busting our asses here on the ranch.
I don’t begrudge her for it. She’s been so sheltered here, that it was good for her to get out from under her dad’s thumb. Even though it was only for a month.
When I reach the driveway, I see Brianna’s Audi sitting there. Brianna’s family is the richest in the state. Her dad made his money the old-fashioned way; through his family before him.
The passenger door opens and I watch as a long tan leg makes its appearance right before a woman steps out. No, not a woman. A very grown-looking Samantha.
What did they feed her at that beach? I wonder to myself as I take her in. She got taller, and she filled out. Her hair is a lighter shade of blonde and I wonder if she had it dyed or if it was from spending hours on the beach.
Where before she was a gangly teen, and now she’s a goddess. She even carries herself differently. It’s as if she has lifted a fog from in front of my eyes.
Matt makes it to her first, lifting her and spinning her in circles. She laughs and hugs him back when he welcomes her home. Once she’s done greeting him, she moves to Oli.
“Hey, stranger.” He greets. “How was your trip?”
She smiles at him. “It was good, Oli. But I’m glad to be home.”
She notices me last. I’m used to it so I stand back and wait for her to come to me. I’ve never been like Matt and followed her like a lost puppy. Or even Oli, who’d taken it upon himself to be her protector. I’m the boy that she’s hated for years for something I didn’t mean to do.
Yes, we’ve developed a truce as the years have passed. She no longer looks at me with disdain. But there’s never been a genuine friendship between us.
She walks up to me and stands directly in front of me. My eyes take her in from the top of her head to her pink-painted toes. On my way back up to her face, my eyes get stuck on the cleavage that’s bursting from the crop top she’s wearing.
Samantha leans in and offers me a hug. I accept it. I hold her a little longer than necessary, but no one seems to notice. When I pull away, I notice the top of a tattoo poking out above the waist of her jean shorts.
“You may want to hide the new ink,” I warn as I run my finger just above the hem.
Samantha’s eyes flare with the touch, heat in her gaze. I step back quickly. What am I doing? She’s sixteen, for Christ’s sake.
I clear my throat. “Welcome home.”
“Um. Yeah. Thanks.” She responds, her cheeks and chest flushing red.
I wonder what else turns that shade when she’s flustered? Will her whole body flush when she’s turned on?
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never viewed Samantha as anything more than a kid sister. It has to remain that way.
When the front door opens, Samantha puts more distance between us. She pulls on the waistband of her shorts to cover the tattoo so Wayne doesn’t see.
While she’s greeting everyone else, Autumn sidles up to me. I look at her and give her a smile and a greeting.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Hey, handsome.” She replies.
Autumn is eighteen and we’ve hooked up a few times. Mostly when we’ve both been drinking. She’s fun and easy.
