The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (15 page)

Chapter 26

Savanna

I spent the rest of the afternoon with Daisy. We rode out to the hole and then back to the barn. I gave her a good hose down and then cleaned out her feet. She loved it when I brushed her and I decided to braid her mane too.

When I finally headed back into the house, everyone was heading toward the dining room. Ty’s mother had made her famous fried chicken. We all sat at the table and started making our plates. Colt walked in just after me and I saw Ty’s mother shaking her head. Good thing Ty wasn’t paying attention. Everyone else at the table knew I had been in the barn for the past hour with my horse.  Sam came running in the room. She found me immediately. Colt tried not to noticed, but I saw the crooked smile on his face before Ty said something. “She really likes you. That’s the second time she ran right to you. Guess I need to get you your own lab.”

I smiled and tried to just keep eating and ignoring the obvious time bomb that was ready to blow up in my face.

I insisted on doing the dishes while all of the men went into the living room. Ty’s mother came into the kitchen with more dirty looks. I turned to her with dripping hands. “Can we please talk?” I asked.

“What do you have to say, Van?”

“You are wrong about me. I have loved your son since I was a child. I have done everything to make him happy and when he was partying too much I broke up with him to try to make him stop. What happened to him was horrible, but I never cheated on him. I swear to you.”

She shook her head and folded her hands across her stomach. “You forget that I caught you more than once,” she whispered.

“We didn’t plan that. It just happened. I am so sorry. I can’t take you hating me like this. Please!”

She shook her head. “Do you know why I am so angry with you now, Van? It isn’t about the accident. My son explained what happened. I know what he did that night.” She leaned over the counter, as if it was hard to talk about. “Never in all the years that you have been with my son have I ever seen you look at him the way you look at my nephew. It’s not just you either. He looks at you the same way. Now I love Colt, but my son is the most important thing in my life. He’s going to figure it out. How long do you think you can hide it? How long before he catches you together? Do you know what it will do him?”

I put my head down. “I’m trying. I don’t know how to tell him. Either way it will crush him.”

She got closer to me but I was no longer afraid she was going to hurt me. “I said things I shouldn’t have said to you, but I was just so damn angry. I see that this is hard. I wish I could tell you to stop seeing Colt, but you are both adults, and I can tell that it’s never going to happen.  He’s a good man. He’s honest. Figure out a way to tell him the truth, before you both rip out his heart. He has been through too much already. He looks up to Colt, idolizes him even. This will crush him.”

She scrunched up her face and walked away before I could respond. I refused to cry. Instead, I finished the dishes in silence and made my way to the bathroom to get ready to go out. We decided on going straight to the bar since we already had dinner. I grabbed a short jean skirt and a shirt that buttoned up that I could tie around my waist. I was going to wear flip-flops, but my boots were better to dance in. I straightened my hair and applied makeup to my face. I hadn’t done it in months and my tan was darker than the cover up, so I only did my eyes. When I stood back and looked at myself, I realized Colt had never seen my hair like this. I unbuttoned the top three buttons and let my cleavage hang just a bit out of the top.

I looked down at my ring and felt myself getting upset. I should have said no. Things would have been over with. Now they were harder.

When I walked out into the living room, the guys stopped talking. They stared at me with their mouths open. “Do I look bad?” I asked, knowing damn well I didn’t.

Ty started whistling while Colt kept his reaction to himself. I watched Ty throw a pillow at his cousin. “Dude, get your own,” he said.

They exchanged a laugh, and I couldn’t help but feel awful. Colt said nothing after that comment.

We got Ty situated with his crutches and headed out toward the pickup. I climbed in first and felt Ty reaching his hand up my skirt when I crawled in the seat. I could see Colt clinching his jaw when it happened. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. I pushed his leg with mine for him to calm down.

The bar was packed but we found a table in the corner. We got Ty situated and then went to the bar to get drinks. While waiting for the waitress, Colt didn’t waste any time telling me how jealous he was. “I didn’t like watching him touch you.”

“I know.”

“You look beautiful. Meet me tonight. I can’t be with you all night like this and not be able to touch you, Savanna.” He grabbed a beer and took a drink. “I can’t stop picturing you naked.”

I pushed him before grabbing two more beers and heading back to the table where Ty sat. “One for you and one for me,” I announced, handing him a beer.

Ty didn’t waste any time waving down some of his friends. Within minutes of us being there, our table was surrounded by people. After a half hour, I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back, my seat was occupied by no other than that bitch Heather. She smiled as I approached, but Ty knew how pissed I was about it. Heather on the other hand refused to take a hint. I grabbed Colt by the arm and pulled him out to the dance floor.

I never turned around to see if Ty was watching. He had given me enough reason to go out and have a good time. Colt responded right away and we started dancing together, trying to keep a good distance so we wouldn’t be too obvious. The truth was that I wanted to grind my ass right into him, until he couldn’t take it anymore. After three songs, we walked up to the bar to order two beers. I looked back and watched Ty doing shots with all of his friends, including the blonde bitch. I changed our order to shots and Colt cocked his eyebrow. “Not a good idea, Savanna. I can’t get drunk around you and you can’t get drunk around me. It’s fuel to the fire.”

Before he could protest anymore, I grabbed the shot and downed it. “Fuck it!”

He looked down at glass and then back at me. I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed his, sucking it down before he could respond.

“Savanna,” Colt said when I signaled for two more shots.

“Do the shots and then come dance with me. Your cousin is over there groping all over the girl. He isn’t even paying attention to us.”

“Are you mad about it?” he asked.

“Colt, please shut up and dance with me.”

A slow song came on and everyone started gathering up someone to be their partner. I looked toward Ty out of habit and saw him gesturing for Colt and I to go ahead. I didn’t waste any time reaching up and touching his strong arms. We started swaying to Luke Bryan singing, “Do I”. I couldn’t stop looking into Colt’s eyes even when he looked the other way and warned me to stop.

His hands were around me. He did manage to touch the exposed skin on my waist. Slowly he moved his fingers as we swayed around to the song. In my ear, I heard him singing the song. I wanted to melt.

His deep southern voice sang… “Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you, baby? Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy? Do I have your love? Am I still enough?...Baby do I?”

I closed my eyes and listened to him. The alcohol was taking effect, and we were probably getting way too close, but I couldn’t help it.

When the song ended, we broke apart and headed back to the bar. Colt got three beers and we made our way back to the table. I thought Ty would at least be mad, but he never even noticed.

He held up the beer. “Thanks. You guys having a good time? You keeping my girl safe out there, cuz?”

Colt put his hands on my shoulders. “She’s safe with me.” He nudged me and pulled me back out to the dance floor.

After a few more songs, I couldn’t help but notice Ty had a serious look on his face. He seemed to be involved in a conversation with quite a few people at once. Every once in a while, I caught him looking up at me. “Colt, I think he’s talking about me.”

We kept dancing. “Quit worrying. He’s just catching up with people. Relax.”

We both finished off the beer and I was really starting to feel tipsy. Another slow song came on. Colt didn’t waste any time pulling me into the dance. I was really feeling the alcohol. This time the song was Brantley Gilbert, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do”.

I hadn’t ever listened to the words to the song much until Colt started singing them. “You don’t know her like I do. You’ll never understand. You don’t know what we’ve been through. That girl’s my best friend…”

He took my hands and pulled them up to his chest. I watched him singing the song to me. Then he pressed his cheek on my forehead and continued singing. I was obviously feeling the effects of the alcohol more and more as I didn’t see anything wrong with our embrace, but as the song started coming to an end and Colt continued to sing, something told me to look over at the table.

I could see Ty’s breathing from all the way across the room. His fists were clenched as he stared at the two of us. Colt leaned down. “Don’t freak out,” he said before walking over to the table.

I followed behind him almost scared to look at Ty again. The people he was sitting with started to get up. Ty seemed to relax when we sat down and waited for him to explain.

“What’s up? You havin’ a good time?” Colt asked him.

“Why didn’t either of you tell me about the bonfire?” he asked.

I tried to talk but Colt held up his hand. “The day I came into town I ran into Brina. She conned me into gettin’ Savanna to come out with us. I didn’t know that everyone in town treated her like she killed you herself. We no sooner got to the damn party than she got jumped. I carried her out of there and got her cleaned up.”

He turned to look at me and then back to Colt. “Let me talk to my cousin alone, Van.”

I could see the fire in his eyes and was reluctant to get up from the table, but Colt nodded and I walked away. I watched them talking and then I could tell they were yelling. I started walking back but neither of them said anything.

“Everything alright here?” I asked.

“It’s fine. There is this party I wanted to stop by. If you don’t want to go, Colt said he would take you home,” Ty announced.

His words were cold and he looked upset. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“I need to go to that party to deal with the little tramps that attacked you. You can come with me or stay here, but either way I am going. Colt seems to think you should stay,” he explained.

“If I never saw Heather and her bimbo friends again I would be fine with that,” I admitted.

“Can you guys help me out of here?” Ty asked.

I found his actions odd, but he had been drinking so I didn’t try to over think it.

We got him out to the parking lot and one of his friends helped get him in their car.  He leaned over and kissed me before closing the door and speeding off.

I looked to Colt. “Was that weird?”

“My cousin does a lot of weird things.”

He held out his hand and pulled me back inside. It was getting late and the slow songs were becoming more frequent. After all of our drinks and Ty leaving, we weren’t worried about how close we were dancing. Colt’s hands slid down over my butt and he rocked our bodies together to the rhythm of the music. When the songs got faster, he turned me around and let me grind my back into him as his hands played with the skin on my stomach.

We were both sweating. Our eyes were only on each other. We were being too obvious, not thinking anyone would ever find out. When the last song of the night came on, we were too caught up in each other to realize our hands were everywhere they shouldn’t have been.

I had forgotten about everyone else in the bar, in fact all I could see was Colt.

He reached down to my ear and whispered in it. “Let’s get out of here. I need to be inside of you.” His lips whispered over my ear. I pulled away and licked my lips. He took my hand, led me out of the building, and straight to his truck.

Chapter 27

Savanna

We didn’t bother leaving the parking lot.  Colt slid over and took my lips into his mouth. Our skin was soaked with sweat and we tasted like salt. The first thing I reached for was his shirt. I had been so close to his chest all night long. I needed to feel it, to see it. I ran my tongue across each of his nipples before he pulled me back to his lips again. His hand slid up my skirt and I felt his fingers enter inside of me forcefully. I let out a loud moan when I felt them penetrating me. Our kisses got rougher and so did the way he thrusted inside of me. I grabbed the dashboard with one hand and the headrest with the other, trying to push his fingers inside of me even harder. His other hand untied my shirt and pulled it open, revealing my bra. He didn’t bother unhooking it; instead, he pulled it down and took my nipple into his mouth. I could feel his teeth dragging over it. I cried out in the night as I felt my body start to tremble.

As soon as he removed his fingers, I slid over and unbuttoned his pants. He moved over so that I could straddle him. I leaned up and removed my underwear with one hand, while I stroked his hard shaft with the other. I practically jumped right on him, sliding down perfectly over it. He groaned at my first thrust and held my waist. I leaned back against the dashboard so that he could touch my chest and guide me up and down. In just minutes, we were both crying out in ecstasy.

Colt held me tight even though we were both soaked with sweat. “Sorry it was so fast, darlin’. All that grindin’ earlier really got to me,” he admitted.

“You think it was easy for me? I wanted you when I saw you walking back from the field this morning,” I confessed.

“We need to figure out what we’re doing, Savanna. I can’t keep hiding this. I want you in my life, not temporarily either. I want you to come home with me. I will do whatever it takes; just say you will consider it.”

I leaned down and kissed him again. When I went to say something, I heard something loud hitting the truck. I jumped off of Colt and tied my shirt before opening the door. Ty pulled me out of the truck by my hair and stood there staring at his shirtless cousin.

“You motherfucker! How could you do this to me?” he yelled toward Colt.

Colt jumped out of the truck and threw his shirt back over his head. He didn’t back down to Ty though. He kept walking toward him.

I jumped up and tried to get between them. “Please don’t fight!” I screamed, but Ty pushed me out of the way.

“Shut up, Van!”

Colt pulled me behind him. “Don’t you touch her like that.”

“You don’t tell me how to touch my girl,” Ty yelled back.

“Do you think she would have run to me if you were treatin’ her good before your accident? Do you think she deserves to be lied to?” Colt yelled. His chest was rising and falling and I really thought he was going to hurt his cousin.

“Oh, is that how you got in her pants? You told her all of my dirty little secrets, didn’t you? I looked up to you and you used all of my secrets to get into my girlfriend’s pants. You fucking asshole. I wish you were dead, you common bastard.”

“I didn’t tell her shit!” Colt yelled.

“Bullshit! There is no way she would have fucked you if she hadn’t found out how many girls I was sleeping with the whole time we were together. She told me a long time ago that it was the only reason she would ever leave me. I know you told her,” he screamed back.

This time I jumped in the middle of them. I was so shocked. All of this time Colt knew that Ty had cheated on me. I felt betrayed by both of them. “He never told me…but you just did,” I said as I walked away from both of them and leaned on the truck. I was so hurt and angry that I didn’t care if they beat the shit out of each other.

“I don’t understand. Van, wait!” Ty called out.

I wouldn’t look at him.

I heard Colt clear his throat. “ Leave her alone!  Look Ty, it started out as just friends. We didn’t mean for it to turn into more, but I never told her anything. I didn’t want her to love me because she hated you. I wanted her to choose me on her own. I am sorry. I know you think I am the worst cousin ever but I swear to you, I love her.”

I turned to look at them when it got too quiet. Ty took his crutch and threw it at the back of the truck. “All my life I wanted to be you. You could get any girl you wanted. Hell, they always wanted you. Why couldn’t you just tell her no? It takes two people, even I know that. Which one of you made the first move?”

When neither of us said anything, he asked again. “Tell me who started this,” he screamed.

I walked toward them. “I did. Colt told me no, several times.”

Colt’s face was all scrunched up. Both of them were still breathing like they had just ran for their lives. I stood there looking at the pain on both of their faces. “After the accident everyone blamed me. Your friends and even your parents called me a murderer. Everyone on campus stopped being my friend. I had to see a shrink after I tried to kill myself. I spent every day in the hospital because I believed I put you in there. I felt so guilty that I couldn’t let myself live.”

I looked up at both of them and then continued my story. “When Colt came to town, he didn’t judge me like everyone else. After the party where I got jumped by Heather and her slutty friends, Colt took me back to the carriage house and stitched up my face. He took care of me for days so nobody would see what happened. He listened to me and let me cry over and over about you. He never judged me or asked for anything in return.”

Colt had his eyes locked on me. He was clenching his jaw, trying to control his temper. I looked back down to the ground. “He never hit on me. We were just friends, Ty. He was just doing it for you. But, as the days passed and I finally was able to be around someone that didn’t hate me, things changed. I can’t tell you exactly when, but I just wanted to feel wanted.” I walked over to Ty and grabbed his hand. I put the ring in his palm and closed it. He closed his eyes and when they opened, they were full of tears. “I’m sorry, Ty. When you woke up we tried to fight our feelings, but I can’t stop wanting him. I can’t marry you. I hope one day you can forgive me.” I started crying and walked away from both of them. Colt looked at me as I walked past him, but I was still angry.

“What am I supposed to say?” I heard him asking Colt. “So, you meant well. At some point, you went too far, man. Did you think about me when you were fucking her? Did you feel bad at all? Because, you don’t have to tell me you couldn’t stop yourself. She’s hard to deny. I just can’t understand how you couldn’t stop yourself for me.”

Obviously, Colt had just had enough! He moved forward, depleting the distance between them. “Just stop with your sob story, Tyler! For years I have listened to you go on and on about all the girls you were sleeping with behind her back. As she lay there every night cryin’ to me about you, I kept the truth from her. I felt like an asshole lyin’ to her. She felt horrible for sleepin’ with me, when all the while you had done it to her over and over. Oh and by the way, I really liked how you told her about the women, but made her think they were my conquests and not your own. What the fuck, cuz? How could you make me out to be that guy? For someone that wants to be with her forever, you sure have a shitty way of showin’ it.”

At this point, I had turned all the way around. My mouth hung open. Everything made sense now. My tears dried up and I felt so angry.

“Is it true? All of it?” I turned to face Ty.

He threw his hands up in the air. “You know what? I am tired of lying. Yes! It’s all true, Van. I fucked them all and they kept coming back for more too. You were always too caught up in yourself and school to notice I had needs. If you would have been there for me, it never would have happened.”

I ran toward him, throwing my body at him. He fell down to the ground but I continued to beat on his chest until I felt strong hands pulling me off. “Get off me!” I screamed.

Colt didn’t let go. With one hand, he held me back, and with the other, he pulled his cousin back up to his feet.

Ty looked so mad.

“I hate you. I went through hell for you,” I screamed.

Colt continued to hold me back. “Ty, you and I are family. I am really sorry for what I did. I just have to ask. Do you love her enough to want her to be happy? Do you want that for her? After everything? I’ve watched you both grow up. I know you want her to be happy.”

“Fuck you, Colt.” Ty ran his hand through his hair. “Van?”

I turned to look at him but refused to speak. Everything I had ever known was shattered into pieces.

“I’m sorry.” His eyes were full of tears. “God, I can’t believe I am saying this… Is he really what you want? Do you really love him that much?”

I slid my fingers into Colt’s and he immediately tightened his grip. I couldn’t speak. I was too choked up between the pain, anger, and the alcohol. I nodded my head up and down.

He looked to Colt. “If you hurt her I will fucking kill you. This is wrong in so many ways.” He held out his hand to his cousin. “We are blood. I might hate you both right this second, but I also love you. This shit hurts, but I guess I deserve it.”

“Ty,” Colt tried to say something, but Ty stopped him.

He shook his head. “Van, Colt’s right for you. I was never ready to settle down. Shit, I couldn’t even be faithful after I proposed. That’s why I was leaving the bar tonight. I got halfway down the road and told them to bring me back. I had this feeling in my gut that something bad was going to happen. I came back in the bar and I watched you.”

He pointed from me to Colt. “I saw you looking at him the way you never once looked at me. I saw your hands all over each other. I’ve danced with my fair share of women, but none of them remotely came close to that show. I don’t even think it was the touching. You were both so in sync with each other. As if that wasn’t enough, I hid and watched my cousin take you in that truck. I should have stopped you, but I couldn’t believe it. For the past week, I have tried time and time again to get you to touch me. You just kept pushing me away. I knew there was someone else, but I never realized it was my own family. Someone that I think of as a brother.”

He pointed to Colt. “And you… I asked you if you knew who she had been with. You lied right to my face. I should have known though. The signs were there. My God, even the fucking dog was a sign. No matter how many people were around, all she wanted to do was be around you. How could I have been so damn blind?”

I put my hand over my mouth. Ty was only about a foot from me and Colt was standing in between us.

Ty held his hands up and just started yelling. “DAMMIT!”

He covered his face with his hands for a few minutes while we just stood there quietly. Everyone in the parking lot had been gone even before Colt and I were done with our little bit in the truck. We were all alone.

Finally, Ty looked up. “I just can’t believe this!”

“So what happens now?” I asked, trying my hardest to change the subject. I knew Ty was confessing his deepest secrets and even though I was very much over him, I felt so betrayed. The last five years were a lie. I needed to get away from him. He was in pain, but right now more than ever I felt like he deserved it.

“You go home,” Ty announced.

“What about you?” To be honest I was afraid to be with them in that truck.

“Van, I just told you I loved you both. You may not want me, but you will always be a part of my family. The best man won, right? He knows it’s the truth. How long do you really think I could have gotten away with it? With lying to you and cheating on you? Colt may have kept his mouth shut, but Heather threatened to tell you tonight.” He grabbed my arm and made me look at him. “Van, I am sorry, for everything. When you almost die, you look back at your life and wonder if you are on the right track. I can’t keep lying.  It hurts so badly right now, I’m not going to lie, but I will get over it.”

As angry and confused as I was, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Me too.”

“Now if you all don’t mind, I would really like to be dropped off at that party. I need to forget about everything that I saw and heard tonight and I’m done with stealing cars,” Ty joked.

Was he really just going to go out and pick up someone after Colt and I broke his heart? How could I have not seen this side of him? I had been so worried about hurting him.

I turned to walk toward the truck, but Ty said something so we turned around. He was on his cell phone. “Just come back and get me. No, that isn’t an issue anymore. It doesn’t matter if you pick me up. Hurry up please.” He looked over at us. “You guys don’t have to wait. I have a ride coming.”

I looked at Colt and then back to Ty. “We’ll wait. Right, Colt?”

Colt nodded. He started to pull me against him, but Ty held up his hand and started shaking his head. “Guys, please. I have seen and heard all I can take tonight. Just wait until I pull away for shit’s sake.”

I looked at Colt and then walked over to Ty. I reached out my hand and helped him walk with the one crutch he still had against him. “We have been friends since we were little. I need to know that we are going to be okay. I know I hurt you, Ty. You have no idea how bad I feel, but you hurt me too. I should have known about the other girls, but I didn’t want to believe it. I feel like such a fool.”