The Vincent Boys 1 [Extended & Uncut] (2 page)

“I miss that girl, you know. She was exciting. She knew how to have fun. This perfect little preacher’s daughter who took her place sucks.”

His words hurt. Maybe because they were coming from him or maybe because I understood what he was saying. It wasn’t as if I never thought about that girl. I hated him for making me miss her too. I worked really hard at keeping her locked away. Having someone actually want her to be set loose made it so much harder to keep her under control.

“I’d rather be a preacher’s daughter than a drunk whore who vomits all over herself,” I snapped before I could stop myself. A low chuckle startled me and I glanced over as Beau sunk down low enough in his seat so his head rested on the worn leather instead of the hard window behind him.

“I guess you’re not completely perfect. Sawyer’d never call someone a name. Does he know you use the word whore?”

This time I gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. He was trying to make me mad and he was doing a fabulous job. I had no response to his question. The truth was, Sawyer would be shocked I’d called someone a whore. Especially his cousin’s girlfriend.

“Loosen up, Ash, it’s not like I’m going to tell on you. I’ve been keeping your secrets for years. I like knowing my Ash is still there somewhere underneath that perfect facade.”

I refused to look at him. This conversation was going somewhere I didn’t want it to go.

“No one is perfect. I don’t pretend to be.” It was a lie and we both knew it. Sawyer was perfect and I worked hard to be worthy. The whole town knew I fell short of Sawyer’s glowing reputation.

Beau let out a short hard laugh. “Yes, Ash, you do pretend to be.”

I pulled into Nicole’s driveway. Beau didn’t move.

“She’s passed out. You’re going to have to help her,” I whispered, afraid he’d hear the hurt in my voice.

“You want me to help a vomiting whore?” he asked with an amused tone.

I sighed and finally glanced over at him. He reminded me of a fallen angel with the moonlight casting a glow on his sun kissed blonde hair. His eyelids were heavier than usual and his thick eyelashes almost concealed the hazel color underneath.

“She’s your girlfriend. Help her.” I managed to sound angry. When I let myself study Beau this closely, it was hard to get disgusted with him. I could still see the little boy I’d once thought hung the moon staring back at me. Our past would always be there keeping us from ever really being close again.

“Thanks for reminding me,” he said, reaching for the door handle without breaking his eye contact with me. I dropped my gaze to study my hands now folded in my lap. Nicole fumbled around in the back of the truck, causing it to shake gently, reminding us she was back there. After a few more silent moments he finally opened the door.

Beau carried Nicole’s limp body to the door and knocked. It opened and he walked inside. I wondered who opened the door. Was it Nicole’s mom? Did she care her daughter was passed out drunk? Was she letting Beau take her up to her room? Would Beau stay with her? Crawl in bed with her and fall asleep? Beau reappeared in the doorway before my imagination got too carried away.

Once he was back inside the truck I cranked it up and headed for the trailer park where he lived.

“So tell me, Ash, is your insistence to drive home the drunk guy and his whore girlfriend because you’re the perpetual good girl who helps everyone? ’Cause I know you don’t like me much, so I’m curious as to why you want to make sure I get home safe.”

“Beau, you’re my friend. Of course I like you. We’ve been friends since we were five. Sure, we don’t hang out anymore or go terrorizing the neighborhood together but I still care about you.”

“Since when?”

“Since when what?”

“Since when do you care about me?”

“That is a stupid question, Beau. You know I’ve always cared about you,” I replied. Even though I knew he wouldn’t let such a vague answer fly. The truth was I never really talked to him much anymore. Nicole was normally wrapped around one of his body parts. And when he spoke to me it was always to make some wisecrack.

“You hardly acknowledge my existence,” he replied.

“That’s not true.”

He chuckled. “We sat by each other in History all year and you hardly ever glanced my way. At lunch you never look at me and I sit at the same table you do. We’re at the field parties every weekend and if you ever turn your superior gaze in my direction it’s normally with a disgusted expression. So, I’m a little shocked you still consider me a friend.”

It would be easier to believe this was the alcohol talking but I knew it wasn’t. We hadn’t been alone in over three years. Since the moment I became Sawyer’s girlfriend, our relationship had changed.

The large oak trees signaled the turn into the trailer park Beau had lived in all his life. The rich beauty of the southern landscape as you pulled onto the gravel road was deceiving. Once I drove past the large trees, the scenery drastically changed. Weathered trailers with old cars up on blocks and battered toys scattered the yards. More than one window was covered by wood or plastic. I didn’t gawk at my surroundings. Even the man sitting on his porch steps in nothing but his underwear and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth didn’t surprise me. I knew this trailer park well. It was a part of my childhood. I came to a stop in front of Beau’s trailer.

I took a deep breath then turned to look at Beau. “I never talk in class. Not to anyone but the teacher. You never talk to me at lunch so I have no reason to look your way. Attracting your attention leads to you making fun of me. And, at the field, I’m not looking at you with disgust. I’m looking at Nicole with disgust. You could really do much better than her.” I stopped myself before I said anything stupid.

He tilted his head to the side as if studying me. “You don’t like Nicole much, do you? You don’t have to worry about her hang up with Sawyer. He knows what he’s got and he isn’t going to mess it up. Nicole can’t compete with you.”

Nicole had a thing for Sawyer? She was normally mauling Beau. I’d never picked up on her liking Sawyer. I knew they’d been an item in seventh grade for like a couple of weeks but that was junior high school. It didn’t really count. Besides, she was with Beau. Why would she be interested in anyone else?

“I didn’t know she liked Sawyer,” I replied, still not sure I believed him. Sawyer was so not her type.

“You sound surprised,” Beau replied.

“Well, I am actually. I mean, she has you. Why does she want Sawyer?”

A pleased smile touched his lips, making his hazel eyes light up. I hadn’t meant to say anything he could misconstrue the way he was obviously doing.

He reached for the door handle before pausing and glancing back at me. “I didn’t know my teasing bothered you, Ash. I’ll stop.”

That hadn’t been what I was expecting him to say. Unable to think of a response I sat there holding his gaze.

“I’ll get your car switched back before your parents see my truck at your house in the morning.” He stepped out of the truck and I watched him walk toward the door of his trailer with one of the sexiest swaggers known to man. Beau and I had needed to have this talk. Even if it meant my imagination was going to go wild for a while where he was concerned. My secret attraction to the town’s bad boy had to remain a secret.

The next morning I found my car parked in the driveway as promised, with a note wedged under the windshield wipers. I reached for it and a small smile touched my lips.

Thanks for last night. I’ve missed you
. He had simply signed it ‘B’.

Chapter 2

Ashton,

Hey baby. I’m sorry I am just now responding to your email. Our internet here’s not real dependable and 3G is non-existent so my phone is no help. I miss you like crazy. I think about you all day and wonder what you’re doing. We’re spending most of our days hiking. The trail we took yesterday led to an amazing waterfall. After five miles uphill in the heat the ice-cold water at the falls felt great. I kept wishing you were here.

It is safe to say my future is not in fishing. I suck at it. Cade is kicking my tail in catches. He told me yesterday I needed to stick with football. LOL. I am enjoying my time with him. Thanks for understanding how much I needed to do this. He needs me right now. His big brother will be leaving in a year and I’ll be a phone call away but I won’t be there to watch his football practice or help him with his first crush. I’m trying to share all my wisdom with him now.

I love you, Ashton Sutley Gray, so very much. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

Sawyer

Sawyer,

I figured your delayed response had to do with internet issues. The connection up in the mountains can’t be that great. At least not up in a secluded cabin like y’all are in. I miss you too. I’m glad you’re getting in some big brother time with Cade. I know it means so much to him.

As for me, I am working at the church a good bit. Nothing much to do with you gone. I haven’t been going to the field on the weekends. I clean the church mostly then rent a movie. Leann and Noah are together officially now. When she isn’t working she is with him. So, that leaves me without anyone. I’m so used to spending all my time with you. Give Cade and Catherine a hug from me.

I am counting down the days until I see your face again.

Love u Bunches,

Ashton

I stared at the computer screen after I clicked send. The fact I hadn’t mentioned Beau bothered me a little. I started to tell him about giving Beau and Nicole a drive home. We never really talked about Beau anymore. Sawyer does sometimes when he’s worried about him. Most of Sawyer’s life he’s taken care of Beau.

Beau was the son of the Vincent brother who had lived a wild life up until the day he crashed his motorcycle into an eighteen-wheeler. Beau had been in first grade when it happened. I remember his eyes being bloodshot from crying for months. He would sneak out of his trailer and come to my house in the middle of the night. I’d slip outside my window and we would sit on my roof for hours thinking of things we could do to make him feel better. Normally those ideas would lead to serious mischief that Sawyer had to bail us out of.

Sawyer was the son of the good Vincent brother, the oldest of the two. He had gone to law school and made a fortune defending the average Joe against insurance companies. The town loved Harris Vincent and his beautiful church-going, junior-league-member, tennis-playing wife, Samantha Vincent, and of course their talented all-American oldest son.

This town wasn’t big and, like any small southern town, we all knew everyone’s business. Their past was common knowledge. Their parents’ past was no secret. You didn’t have secrets in Grove, Alabama. It wasn’t possible—well, except maybe at the field. In the dark shadows of the pecan grove that surrounded the large open field where the Mason boys held their famous parties I’m sure were many secrets. It was the only place the little ol’ ladies couldn’t watch you from their front porch swing and the only eyes around were too busy with their own mischief to notice yours.

Reaching over, I picked up the picture Sawyer had framed and given to me of us at a field party last month. His kind smile and bright green eyes made me feel guilty. I hadn’t done anything wrong really. I’d just left out the fact I had helped Beau get home safe last night. I should have told him. Setting the picture back down on the desk, I stood up and walked over to the closet to find something to wear. I needed to get out of the house. This summer was going to go by at a snail’s pace if I didn’t find something to do. My Grana was back home from visiting her sister up in Savannah. I could go volunteer at the nursing home, then go visit Grana. That way, when I emailed Sawyer tomorrow, I could tell him I’d gone to the nursing home to see his grandmother. He’d like that.

Once I’d done my good deed for the day and visited with Grandma Vincent, I headed to Grana’s house. I was anxious to see her. I always missed her like crazy when she was away. With Sawyer and Grana gone, I really had felt all alone. At least she was back now.

The minute my car door closed, Grana’s front door opened and out she stepped, grinning and holding a tall glass of sweet iced tea. Her white-blonde hair barely brushed her shoulders, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling. We’d had a discussion about the fact she needed to cut her hair before she left. It was getting too long for someone her age. I’d told her so, and she’d waved me off as if I didn’t know what I was talking about. Guess she changed her mind. The twinkle in her green eyes told me she knew what I was thinking.

“Well, lookie who decided to stop by and visit her Grana. I was beginning to wonder if you were requiring a written invitation these days,” she teased. I laughed and walked up the steps to hug her.

“You just got home yesterday,” I reminded her. She took a sniff of my shirt and leaned back to look at me.

“Smells like somebody stopped by the old folk’s home to visit her boyfriend’s grandmama before she came to see hers.”

“Oh stop it. I was giving you time to sleep in. I know traveling is hard on you.”

She took my hand and led me over to sit down beside her on the front porch swing. The diamonds on her fingers glistened against the sunlight. The cold glass she held was pressed into my hands.

“Here, drink this. I poured it as soon as I saw that little car pull in the drive.”

I could relax here. This was Grana. She didn’t expect me to be perfect. She just wanted me to be happy. “So, you talked to that boyfriend of yours since he’s been gone or are you having you some fun times with another fella while he’s away?”

I spewed the tea from my mouth and shook my head as I began to cough. How was it she always knew what was going on when no one else did?

“Well, who is he? He’s made you spit tea all over my lap. I at least want a name and a few details.”

Shaking my head I turned so I could look her in the eyes. “There is no one. I got strangled on my tea because you ask me such an insane question. Why would I cheat on Sawyer? He’s perfect, Grana.”