“Yeah, but that ain’t skin.”
“Whatever. If I’m going to be dressed like one of your cheery people from down here, I’m gonna do my best to act accordingly. I wouldn’t want to insult Daisy’s wardrobe,” she says with a laugh.
“It’s like that bump to your head gave you a mood lift or somethin’.”
“Nah, I just feel a little freer.”
Maybe it’s because she let out what she was keeping in last night, or maybe it’s because I was still there for her even though she isn’t sure she can stay here. Whatever the case, I can’t help but look forward to whatever comes out of this girl’s mouth next. She’s like a jack-in-the-box, just waiting to jump out and surprise the hell out of me when I least expect it, and I love that part about her. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I tell her.
“Me too. Thank you for staying with me last night. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know I didn’t. I asked you if I could stay, though, and you said yes.”
“I don’t remember that,” she says.
“I’m guessing there are quite a few things you don’t remember about last night then.”
“It’s probably better that way. I still remember I got run over by a blue-ribbon-winning pig, though, and that’s enough for one night.”
“True that,” I agree.
“Oh, and I remember telling you why I have control issues.”
“Noted that too. All is good, Scarlett. No need to worry, darlin’.”
“Austin?”
“Scarlett?” She keeps on walking, even though I can hear there’s something loaded moving through her head just by the way she said my name.
“I know I’ve known you for just a little while, but I think I might love you, and I just wanted to tell you that.”
I grab her arm. “Hold up. Maybe your concussion is worse than we thought. You’re going to tell me you love me a day after getting pissy that I didn’t ask you to be my girlfriend?”
“I already said you’re too late,” she says.
“For what?” I ask, kind of baffled. No, I’m more than a little baffled. Where is this coming from?
“The order in which things usually happen,” she says, schooling me on relationships.
“Well then, get this, Miss I Control Everything. I think I loved you first, and there ain’t nothing you can do to change that.”
Scarlett stops walking and turns to face me. “I’ve pushed you away, teased you, tortured you, acted kind of nice a few times, then repeated all those things, and you think you love me?”
“That’s the thing, Scarlett … you think that’s what you were doing, but all along, you were just being you, and yeah, that’s why I—know I love you. You are an amazingly strong woman, and sometimes I just want to watch you because there’s never a dull moment.”
“Well, not every woman in this town is lucky enough to be knocked off her feet by a pig named Betsy Blue, so I’ll agree with you on that.”
She is never going to let this poor pig off the hook.
