My phone goes off. It’s a text from Warren, and I groan.
You up for dinner? I get off early tonight. Blue Crab?
“What should I tell him?” That giant ball of granite rolls right back over my chest as I stare at his words.
“Just curious”—she pokes me in the knee—“are you allergic to the truth?”
“No. Maybe.” I type,Not feeling so hot tonight. Some other time, and hit send. “There. That’s not totally a lie. I started my period today. I always feel like crap the first day I start.”
“You do realize that by tacking on, ‘some other time,’ you’re stringing him along.”
“Please.” I pull back to get a better look at her and that blonde, wide-eyed innocence she’s faking just for me. “I’m being nice.”
“Yeah, well, eventually you’ll have to be a lot less nice. Face it, you’re going to have to dump his ass.”
“Mmm.” My dad floats through my mind. “If our lives weren’t so intertwined, I would have put Warren in his place a long time ago. Besides, there are plenty of girls who are after Warren. I’m sure he’s already into someone else. And, if he’s not, he’ll get the hint I’m not interested when I successfully manage to avoid him at all costs this summer.” I thump my finger over my lips. “Hey, didn’t you once say you thought Warren was hot?”
“Yeah, but we were like fifteen, and it was the night I got drunk off wine coolers for the first time.”
“Maybe you should take up drinking wine coolers again.”
My phone blinks to life.Damn girl all this time apart just makes me want you more. Tomorrow you’re mine.
“Told you.” Brylee shakes her head in disapproval. “You should try the truth. You never know, miracles might happen.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
I wish I couldtry the truth. But not any truths I might have to share with Warren.
It’s Ace and our truths that take over my mind and heart. Telling Ace that I love him would be the most amazing thing in the world, especially if he confessed to feeling the same.
It would be magic—a miracle.
Ace
Gavin backed a tractor behind the cabin and dumped a shitload of red fir into the clearing. I’ve been splitting logs since two, and I’m sweating like a hooker in church. My back hurts like hell as if Gavin parked that tractor right over it before he left.
I land piece after piece on the mauler and split the soft wood, easy as slicing butter.
“Ace Waterman.”
I turn around to find Brylee waving, making her way over with two large iced teas from the general store. A short-lived smile pumps from my lips because I know one of them is just for me.
“Thanks.” I take it from her and down it in a few quick gulps, sort of the way I imagine what being with Reese the first time will be like. The other night keeps running through my mind like a dream I was lucky enough to experience firsthand. “Grab an ax,” I tell her. “We’ll knock this out in an hour,” I pant through a smile. I’m teasing. I wouldn’t make Brylee lift a finger around here.
“I’ve got an ax to grind all right.” She purses those ballooned-out lips at me. She’s pissed to hell, and I know I’m in trouble. Brylee and I commuted to Collingsworth Community College all last year to save on gas. I know all of her pissed off expressions, and this happens to be the one she reserves just for me.
“Spill it.” I land on the bench and pat the seat next to me.
“A little birdie told me that you’re having yourself a real good time this summer.” Her sky blue eyes blink in disbelief. Reese and Bry are pretty tight, so I expected this on some level. Hell, I’m hoping the only bird around here is Brylee because, God knows, I’m hoping she’ll sing and let me in on how Reese might really feel.
“And?” I may have mentioned to Brylee on one or more occasions that I was into Reese. Heavily.
“Have you told her how you feel?” The wind picks up and tosses her hair into her face a moment. She hitches it behind her ears, and it trims her face like a haystack.
“Nope.” I swallow hard at the prospect. “Thought about it, but I’m not sure I’m ready to go there. Things are moving pretty good right now. She say anything to you?”
“Yes, and I’m embarrassed to repeat it.”
