The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (18 page)

Chapter 30

Colt

When I woke up and Savanna wasn’t anywhere around, I knew exactly where she would be. After walking into the bathroom and taking a look at my face, it was worse than I first expected. Both of my eyes had turned purple and the bridge of my nose was swollen. I was lucky it was still pretty straight.

After assessing the damage, I headed out toward the barn. I wasn’t prepared for walking in and hearing the two of them confessing their love for each other, and when I saw my cousin closing in on Savanna’s lips, I had to turn and walk away. I wanted to kill him, but before I could turn around and head in there to do it, I saw Savanna. All I had to do was see the look on her face to know she was telling me the truth.

We got within inches of the house before I decided that I had enough of Ty’s shit. I turned back around to head in his direction and when I did, I saw him standing there, leaning on one crutch, just waiting for me to come at him. 

Savanna was already running after me but I continued moving. In the distance, I saw my uncle walking up the lane. If I wanted to get a punch in, I needed to take it right away. Ty was ready for me. He dropped his crutch and used all he had to jump on me as I approached him.

I had to give it to him; it was his only chance of getting the upper hand. Even before his accident, he had never been as strong or big as I was.  As we started tumbling to the ground, Savanna was screaming and trying to yank us apart. Ty attempted to head butt me, but I managed to move out of the way. I gave him a good fist to his side and heard him gasp when I did it. His arm came up and tried to hit me on my head, but I grabbed it and used my legs to flip us over. Once I had him pinned, I punched him right between his upper cheek and nose. It felt good, there was no denying it.  He had it coming.

After that first punch, I felt someone dragging us apart. “Goddamn it! I am not havin’ this shit between you two. Break it up!” my uncle yelled.

Savanna was standing back. She had her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. My uncle looked like he was going to kick my ass himself. After helping up his son, he cornered both of us. He took one look at my face and shook his head. “You guys been at it all day?”

Ty got all serious. “Pretty much.”

“I ain’t havin’ this on my watch. All this over a damn girl? You both know better,” my uncle said. He shook his head and waited for me to say somethin’.

“She made her choice,” I stated while looking to my cousin the whole time.

“Fuck you, Colt. You stole her while I was down and out, you pussy bitch,” Ty yelled.

“You weren’t even together. Stop your damn cryin’ and get over it. She picked the better man. Move the hell on with one of the little sluts you bedded while you were with your girlfriend.” He deserved everything I said. I just didn’t care about saving our relationship. I knew this was goin’ to happen. Everyone else might have been fooled by his calm reaction last night, but I wasn’t. He was still pissed and lashing out. That was what he did best.

“I said cut it out!” my uncle yelled.  He shook his head and started pacing between us. “You two are the closest thing to brothers that you are ever goin’ to get.” He turned to look at me directly. “Colt, did you know your aunt used to be obsessed with your father?”

“He mentioned it before,” I admitted.

“We were thirteen. She would hang out with me to watch my brother. She told me she would never be with me. Finally, he got an older girl pregnant and crushed all of her dreams about them getting together. The rest is history. I know your situation is more involved, but I know what it’s like to want something that you can’t have and have your heart broken while you wait.”

He stood between us and looked at Ty. “I don’t know everything that you’ve done, but I saw you the other night with that blonde. Then I saw Van here soakin’ wet, runnin’ back to the farm later that night. At first I thought she saw you and ran away upset, but yesterday mornin’ I watched Colt here, walkin’ home with wet clothes. I tried to wake him that mornin’ and he wasn’t asleep in his bed. So, I am just assumin’ you two were together. I don’t want to know what happened. It doesn’t even matter. I tried to keep you apart but, obviously, you didn’t listen. Now if I didn’t need the help, I would send you packin’, but I do need it. This shit needs to be worked out. I can’t have this goin’ on.”

Ty and I just kept giving each other dirty looks. I tried to be nice to him and consider his feelings, but it just wasn’t going to do a bit of good. Ty was as stubborn as they come. “I will do whatever it takes, except let her go. I just can’t do that.”

Ty crossed his arms across his chest, while Savanna sighed and shook her head. Finally, she threw her hands in the air and started walking away from all of us. I should have been ashamed for fighting like I was a teenager, but I was sick of his ass.

“I’m done here!” I said to my uncle before running after Savanna.

Neither of them said anything as I walked away.

I found Savanna on the couch. I could tell she was pissed from the look on her face. Ironically, she looked sexier than I had ever seen her. I sat down next to her, but she wouldn’t look at me.  Like a little kid, I danced my face in front of her and made silly faces. She tried to hold in her laugh, but finally she broke.

“Stop doing that. I am trying to be mad at you,” she said as she pushed me away.

I didn’t know why, but I felt determined. My night’s agenda was to make Savanna smile and forget about the crappy day. I stood up and pulled off my shirt. She tried to ignore me by turning on the television, but I got up and started dancing in front of it. I flexed my chest like some wrestler would do. She kept attempting to look past me, even closing her eyes, as I got closer. When I could clearly see that she wasn’t giving in, I knelt down in front of her and kissed her hand.

“How are you doin’, darlin’?”

She moved her shoulders. “I actually think I should go home. I mean, I am causing too much stress for your family right now. If I took myself out of the equation, maybe you and Ty could work things out.”

“Savanna, I will only be here for another month or so. I really don’t want to lose any time together, especially when you haven’t decided what you want to do yet.”

She stood up and walked away from me. “Would you just stop talking about it? I can’t take it anymore! I can’t take the yelling and the fighting. I feel awful inside about everything.”

I sat down on the couch and looked at her, really looked at her. “Savanna, I don’t understand. What are you sayin’?”

“Please just take me home, Colt. I need time to think about everything. This is all just getting to be too much for me. I just need to breathe.”

Women can be impossible, every man will say that, but Savanna was makin’ absolutely no sense. One minute she was all about being with me no matter what, and the next she just wanted her space. I shook my head, got up, and grabbed my keys. “Let’s go then.”

She didn’t say a word as we walked out to the truck. I looked over and saw her focused on the ground. She never looked my way. She never shed a tear. She was just quiet.

We got a mile down the road and I just couldn’t take the silence. “Savanna, please talk to me, darlin’. I know things happened fast for us, but you make me feel better than anyone else ever has. I just want to take care of you.”

I noticed how far away she sat from me. The distance was killin’ me because usually she sat with her legs up against me. She looked out the window and refused to answer at first. When she finally did, it wasn’t what I expected. 

She waited until we pulled up at her house. I got out to walk her to the door, but she stopped me halfway up the sidewalk. “I never expected to feel the way that you make me feel. I never even thought it was possible to love someone the way that I love you.” She paused for a moment. “Colt…Ty was right. I can’t leave with you. I am so sorry.”

I reached out for her, but she had already turned and ran into her house. I stood there just waitin’ for her to run back into my arms. To tell me that she was just joking. But, she never did.

I waited a good ten minutes, flabbergasted about what had just happened. Whatever Ty said to her in that barn got her thinkin’. I wasn’t even sure, at this point, where we stood. I was sure about one thing though. I had a little over a month to convince her to change her mind. I was not about to give up on her that easy. It would be a cold day in hell before I walked away from Savanna Tate.

After tryin’ to call her three times, I finally gave up and drove straight to the liquor store. I didn’t have anyone to talk to, so a bottle would be my best friend tonight. I headed straight into the carriage house only to find my cousin sitting in front of the television, playing a video game.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?” I asked.

“I saw you both leave. I figured you wouldn’t be back for a while and, honestly, I was sick of the fucking third degree I am getting inside the house.”

I shook my head and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass. While I was pourin’ one for myself, I decided to grab one for Ty. “What are they sayin’ about me?”

“You don’t want to know. They pretty much hate you as much as they hate Van right now,” he said while laughing.

“Fantastic.”

“Lighten up! They really don’t give a shit. They are trying to appease me. I even told them how I was hittin’ a new piece of ass whenever it was available. They know the truth.”

I sat down next to Ty and slid a glass in his direction. “Guess it’s just you and me then.”

Ty hit pause on the game and leaned back, taking the first sip of his drink. “You got hard shit. What’s up, cuz? She leave you already?”

I cocked an eyebrow. “She wanted to go home.”

“I know her, man. She’ll be back.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I don’t think so. She said she couldn’t leave with me. I guess I never should have gotten involved with her. I feel like shit now.”

My cousin held up his cup. “I hear ya, cuz. Trust me when I say that she will drive you insane. She’s so goddamn driven. All she cares about right now is getting that degree. It means everything to her.” He played around with his glass. “I’ve seen how she looks at you. Even when you aren’t looking, she is. That girl has it bad. Never in all the years we were together, did I ever get that look.”

“Maybe it’s just the sex,” I said sarcastically.

“Fuck you, man. I’m trying to be nice here.”

“Sorry.”

“Whatever! What I was going to say is that I know she really does love you. I don’t know what she went through, but you came into her life when she didn’t even want to live anymore. You gave her something to live for. You saved her, Colt. Van isn’t someone to let that just go. I may have been a shitty boyfriend, but I do know her. Maybe not the way you do, hell you probably know her favorite color and what music she likes. It doesn’t matter. I know she won’t just let you go. Give her time. Being around both of us has to be fucking confusing. Especially considering our love/hate relationship right now.”

I finished my drink and got up for a second one. Ty managed to get himself standin’, “This fucking metal in my leg is giving me hell.”

I grabbed his glass and filled them both. “I hope you are right about Savanna.” After taking a few big gulps, I looked over at my cousin. “Her favorite color is blue. Not light blue. Not dark blue. Just a medium blue.”

Ty shook his head. “You do realize you sound like a teenager?”

“I ain't never felt this way, Ty. I know in the pit of my stomach that she is it. Maybe the timing is bad, but she’s the girl for me.”

“Want me to call her?” Ty asked.

“Hell no! You did enough. She wanted to leave because of some shit you told her. Thanks for that, you little prick.”

He started laughing, “You deserved as much. If we are being honest here, you were a shitty cousin.”

“I tried to resist, cuz. I swear I did.”

He picked up his controller and started playing his game again. “I bet you did. How long did it take her to get to you?”

“About twenty-four hours.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know how long she made me wait to have sex with her? You lucky son of a bitch.”

I shook my head and laughed. Finally, I picked up a controller and played football with my cousin, as if nothing had ever happened between us.

Chapter 31

Savanna

Walking away from Colt was not what I pictured myself doing. I wanted to come home for a few reasons. The first being that Colt and Ty needed to work things out. If I told them that is why I left it never would have worked, but I had a feeling that by tomorrow they would at least be on speaking terms. The second reason I left was because I wanted some time alone to think about everything. Colt and I had spent pretty much the past seven weeks together. The first month we were hot and heavy as much as we could be, but the past two weeks were focused on Ty. When I thought that Colt didn’t want me, it was the hardest thing for me to deal with. I felt empty inside and I knew that no matter how much I tried, Ty could never fill the void. By some miracle, Colt was just as in love with me as I was him.

After Ty found out, well, everything had been crazy since. I just wanted some me time. I need to talk to my mother. My parents weren’t the richest people. They barely made ends meet and I knew that their one wish for me was that I would graduate college. My mom also knew how I felt about Colt. After the shortest engagement in history, I figured I should sit down and tell her what all was going on.

When I got into the house, I broke down and started crying in the foyer. My mother came running out of the kitchen and managed to sit me on the steps. “What’s wrong, Van?”

“Oh Mom, everything is a mess,” I cried. “Ty and I are over. He has been cheating on me since we first started going out. I gave him back the ring and everything.”

My mother sat beside me. She stroked my hair and held me close to her. “I am so sorry he hurt you, honey.”

I shook my head. “That isn’t the worst part, Mom. It isn’t the worst by a long shot.”

She pushed the hair out of my face. “What’s wrong, honey? What happened?”

“It’s Colt. He loves me. Ty knows. They won’t stop fighting. I just can’t take it anymore,” I admitted.

“Well, after Ty confessed to cheating, I would imagine you made your mind up about who you want to be with?” she asked.

“Actually, I made my mind up right after I said yes to Ty. I saw him with a bunch of girls and got upset. I went running during the storm and ran into Colt. He told me the truth about how he felt. I had been so stupid not to know.”

“Oh honey. Forgive me, but I am really confused. Are you upset because of Ty? Did Colt say he couldn’t be with you?”

“No, Mom. Colt wants me to be with him. He wants me to move home with him this fall,” I explained.

My mother stopped rubbing my back. When I looked up, she was looking straight and rubbing her face, something she did when she was thinking.

“Mom, I told him I can’t go. I have to finish school. This is my only chance. I have to stay.”

She shook her head and started to tear up. “Van, the past year has been horrible for you. I can’t imagine everything that you have gone through. We didn’t even know if Ty was going to make it. Now, it turns out he wasn’t the guy we all thought he was. I just want you to know that when you first told me about Colt, I saw a sparkle in your eyes that I had never seen before. He does something to you. I never thought I would ever say this, but you are my daughter and you being happy is more important to me than any kind of diploma. If you want to be with Colt, give him a chance. If you don’t then I know you will regret it.”

“How did you know that Dad was
the one
?”

She shrugged. “He gave me you.”

I pushed her shoulder. “That isn’t funny.”

“Okay. I guess imagining my life without him makes me feel like I can’t breathe. We have had tough times, but always managed to stay together.  Relationships are hard work, honey. It doesn’t matter how old you are.”

“Even though I met Colt when I was around ten, we have only been together for a little over a month. I just don’t want to rush into something that I am unsure of.”

My mother put her hand on my knee. “This past year has been the worst of your life. I am just wondering if you wouldn’t be better off going to another school. Nobody is telling you that you have to quit. Half of your tuition is through federal grants. Most are transferrable. I am not saying you should or shouldn’t leave, but sometimes starting somewhere fresh can make life a while lot easier.”

I leaned my head on her shoulder. “Sometimes, I feel like you are trying to get rid of me.”

“Savanna, you act like it’s far away. Kentucky is only a car ride away. It can’t be more than a five hours drive to that farm.”

“It’s all just happening so fast. I mean, I want to hate Ty for all the years he lied to me, but I just can’t. I want to tell Colt that I want to be with him, but I am so afraid of change. I just don’t know.”

I got up and walked up the steps to my room. I just wanted to be alone for a little while and think about everything.

My bedroom was just how I left it. The bed was always made. Posters of scholars filled my walls and books covered the shelves. I sat down on my bed and looked around. I had dedicated every moment of my life to one certain goal and after just the small amount of time I had spent with Colt, none of this seemed right anymore.

My phone continued to ring and vibrate until it finally died. I didn’t bother charging it, because there wasn’t anyone I wanted to talk to right now. Ty and Colt were still probably beating each other to a pulp. I didn’t blame either of them for having hard feelings. Colt and I had jumped into something with no regard for what it would do to anyone else, mostly because we never thought it would become something so serious.

Ty really did a number on me. When I sat back and thought about it, I hated myself for not realizing what a cheater he was. He always seemed to love me, but now I wondered if he even knew what the word meant. He clearly used his other head to do his thinking. Colt on the other hand, was almost too perfect. I didn’t deserve him; in fact, I had no idea why he loved me. Even the fact that he took the risk and slept with me that first time seemed strange.

At any rate, I couldn’t deny the way that man made me feel. Everything made sense when we were together. He brought me out of the darkest part of my life. Maybe my mother was right. Maybe I did need to just start a new future. Doesn’t everything happen for a reason? Maybe all along I was supposed to be with Colt.”

I woke up the next morning still lying on top of my covers and in my clothes. After a good stretch, I reached over to check my phone and remembered I let it die. I plugged it in and waited for it to power up. I had a bunch of missed calls. I started to feel bad as I dialed into my voicemail. Hearing Colt’s deep voice sent chills down my body. He didn’t say much in his first messages, but the last one was different.

“Darlin, I have to go home. My father got hurt yesterday and is in the hospital. I tried to call you on the way to the airport. Please call me when you get this. I love you.”

With shaky hands, I dialed Colt’s number. It went straight to voicemail.

I tried three more times.

Reluctantly, as I contemplated calling Ty, my phone started ringing. Thinking it was Colt, I picked it up before looking. “Hello?”

“Hey babe, it’s me, Ty. Listen, Colt had to leave and you wouldn’t answer your phone.”

“When is he coming back?”

“I don’t know if he can. If my uncle is bad off, I imagine he won’t leave.”

Tears started running down my face. The last thing I said to Colt was how I wasn’t going to go home with him.

“Ty, he thinks I don’t want him. You have to help me.”

I heard him laughing. “Seriously? Do you know how fucked up that request is?”

“Please.”

“He will call you when he lands.”

“How do I get to his parents farm?”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Ty, please! I need the address.”

“You can’t drive all that way yourself. Come pick me up. I’ll go with you.”

I didn’t even question it. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

I kissed my mother before running out of the house. She saw my bag packed and just shook her head, smiling. She had no idea I was about to drive out of state to prove to my boyfriend that I was ready to let go of my past and have a future with him.

When I got to the farm, Ty was standing outside waiting for me. He was now using some crazy looking cane. He hobbled in the car and leaned over to kiss my cheek. When he pulled away, he chuckled. “Sorry, it’s habit.”

“Whatever! You are here to navigate.”

“Just to be clear. I am doing this because I owe you for being a shitty boyfriend. I want you to remember that when you’re in my cousin’s arms tonight.”

I looked over at him just before pulling off the dirt road. I couldn’t help but smile, thinking about being there with Colt.

After driving four hours, I was starving and had to stop to eat. Ty was keeping me good company. He never once attempted to change my mind about Colt. He did, however, ask if we could be secret fuck buddies. That was Ty though. He finally stopped when I started talking about the size of Colt’s package. He made gagging sounds for at least five miles of travel.

When we made it to the Kentucky border, I felt something wrong as I was driving. Ty noticed it too and told me to pull over. “Looks like you got a flat, babe,” he announced.

I smacked him on the arm. “Stop calling me that! You lost that privilege, remember?”

“Yeah, whatever. You going to get out and help me, or pout more?”

I shook my head and got out of the car. I wasn’t even sure if I had a spare tire. We made it to the back of the car and had to remove a year’s worth of crap from the trunk to get to the spare. Ty bitched and shook his head the whole time. There was a bunch of our stuff in there. I still had some of his clothes in bags from when we would sleep out at the barn.

“For someone that wants to move on, you sure have a bunch of my shit.”

“Cleaning out my car was the last of my priorities, you jerk!” I flipped him the finger, while he continued to dig the remaining items from the trunk. I was getting nervous as he lifted up the carpet covering where a spare tire would be.

Thankfully, there was a tire in there. It was a donut, but it would work. “So does it need air?” I asked.

“Probably. Did you even know you had it?” he asked.

“Not really. I never looked for it before.”

He shook his head. “I remember when you got this car. I went with your dad to check it out.”

I smiled and helped him get all set up before I started putting all of the crap back in the trunk. Ty got right to work changing the tire. He even started to sing while he worked. I couldn’t help but giggle and give him funny looks. He was taunting me, trying to get me to laugh at him.

By the time the tire was replaced, we climbed back in the car and started heading for the closest gas station to get some air in it. Due to the fact that Ty moved slower than a slug, I jumped out and insisted on doing it myself. He hopped out and said I didn’t know anything about tire pressure and would do more damage than good. Because he pissed me off, calling me incapable, I stormed into the store to get us some snacks.

When I came back out, I handed him a root beer and a bag of his favorite chips. He smiled and opened them up right away. “Thanks, babe. You always did know me best.”

I shoved him again. “Seriously Ty, stop with the babes. Obviously, I didn’t know you enough; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been repeatedly cheated on.”

He turned to face me while I started driving. “Van, that was always my dick making those decisions. My heart always belonged to you.” His hand brushed my knee and I pulled over the car as fast as I could.

“Don’t touch me, Ty! Did you really just say that your dick made the decisions? Do you know how ridiculous you sound? You made the decisions. I was never enough for you. More than anything in this world, I hate liars and cheaters. Now, I am trying really hard not to hate you, but dammit, you deserve where you are at. How could you be so self centered. If I had found out all of that stuff and didn’t have Colt, I might have just offed myself. Don’t you know how much you hurt me? How much you are still hurting me?”

He slowly set the bag of chips down and lowered his head. I had raised my voice and, even though he had secrets, he did know me. He knew I’d had enough of his games. “Van, I’m so sorry. You’re right. I never thought about what it would do to you. I can spend my while life trying to get your forgiveness, but it will never happen, will it?”

“I loved you so much, Ty. God, when you were in that hospital it was hell. I wanted to take everything back and have the future that we always talked about. I wanted to love you forever. There was never anyone else for me. When we broke up, I never even talked to another guy. I just wanted to focus on school; I never really left our commitment.” I turned off the car and faced him. My eyes started filling with tears and I hated that he was seeing me cry over him. “If Colt hadn’t come into my life, I don’t know what I would have done if Heather or someone else told me the truth. I tried to consider learning it any other way than I did that night when we were all drinking, but none would have been any easier. You shattered me. Even though I already knew my relationship with Colt was what I wanted, hearing the truth about you, well it hurt just the same.  All those years, you lied to me. I was never enough. Why couldn’t you just let me go? Why did you keep me if you needed more?”