Live for You (8 page)

“
Please. I scared you a
lot,” I tease, but her smile falls away and those baby blues blink
up at me, ten shades of anxious in them.

“
Yes you do.” She rises to
her feet, brushing off the back of her shorts and scooping up her
socks and shoes. “It was nice seeing you again. Bye
Kelly!”

“
Bye, Rae!” Kelly shouts,
running and splashing through the water.

Dammit. “Don’t go. I’m
sorry for the scared you shit stuff.” Motioning for Kelly to come
closer, I grab her towel and help her out of the creek. “Wrap this
around you and sit right here. Don’t go in the water.
Understand?”

Kelly smiles at me, her
lips blue-tinged from the frigid water. “Yep.”

I hurry after Rae, catching
her before she disappears down a path. “Wait.”

She looks up at me.
“Yes.”

“
Go out with me,’ I blurt,
like a first-rate asshole. What am I, fourteen?

“
I don’t think that’s a
good idea,” she says and my heart sinks. “But, I might be back
here, at this very spot tomorrow at eleven.”

I grin, keeping the
excitement all tampered down. If I don’t watch it, I’ll be doing
jumpy claps while shouting
ermaigawd
. Instead I make a big
production of rubbing my chin and jaw. “That so?”

Rae shrugs, then walks away
again. “Have a good evening, Cole.”

Watching her ass shake as
she walks away, my grin turns into a full on smile. I throw a fist
in the air and hear a giggle. “Didn’t I tell you to stay put?” I
ask, with a mock frown on my face.

Kelly giggles again. “Cole
and Rae sitting in a tree—”

I charge after her,
catching my sister easily and swinging her up in my arms. “You’re
in for it now, missy. No
Simpsons
for you tonight.” Yeah, another mark of bad
parenting, but whatever. Kelly’s heard and seen worse than any
quasi-family cartoon could ever broadcast.

She sticks out her bottom
lip, little hands going to my face. “Puh-lease, Cole. Let me watch.
I’ll be good.”

For the first time in a
really long time,
I
feel good. I feel excited and hopeful. I don’t dread tomorrow
and what it may bring, because tomorrow
will
bring Rae.

“
Puh-lease, Cole?” Kelly
asks again. “With sugar on top!”

“
All right. You win.”
Winking at her, I set her down and hold out my hand. “Let’s go
home.”

Chapter Eight

Violet

By taking the chance to
confide in Cole, I’ve either done something incredibly brave or
stupid.

Sighing, I chase the
chicken casserole on my plate with a fork.

I’m hungry, but my stomach
feels as though butterflies and hummingbirds have joined forces to
conspire against me. Usually I don’t get this nervous except right
before I go on stage. But revealing who I was felt exactly like
being in the spotlight.

I sigh again.

“
Three sighs and you’re
out,” Nana says and I glance up at her. “Anything you want to talk
about?”

“
I saw Cole Morgan today,
down by the creek.”

“
With his sister,” I
hastily add, though I’m not sure why exactly.

Her shrewd eyes study my
face. “And how did that go?”

I give her a wry smile. “I
wasn’t rude to either of them, if that’s what you mean.”

She inclines her head to
one side. “He’s a nice young man, with a lot on his
shoulders.”

Nice young man? That nice
young man
licked
me a couple of hours ago. Although, I’d have to concede it
was more than nice. My skin had tingled. I’d grown damp between my
thighs. Every part of me felt alive.

But that wasn’t what had
threatened my defenses. Oh no. It was the way he held my hand, had
gently pried the rock away, and kissed my palm, my wrist. He had
touched me, not just my skin, but
me
. Inside.

“
Mmm-hmm.” I shiver, goose
bumps appearing along my arms and legs. “He takes good care of his
little sister.”

Nana nods, finishing the
last bite of casserole on her plate. “If you’d like to invite him
over to dinner one night, be my guest.”

Before I can answer, she
adds, “If you’d like to go out with Cole, on a date, all I ask is
that he comes over and picks you up properly. No honking the horn
from the driveway.”

“
I didn’t come here to
date anyone.” But I was planning on meeting Cole
tomorrow.

“
Then make some female
friends.” Nana rises, taking her plate to the sink. “It’s not
healthy for a body to be alone.”

I place my fork on the
table. “The last female friend I had ended up screw— er, sleeping
with my boyfriend. So, I’m not real keen on finding another
one.”

“
Painting everyone with
the same brushstroke, huh?”

Setting my elbows on the
table, I cup my face with my hands and rub my temples. “Sometimes
you have to do that in order to guard your heart.”

She turns on the water,
filling the sink with hot water and dish soap. “So you plan on
sitting around here, with a senior citizen for company?”

“
Maybe I like hanging out
with senior citizens.”

Nana snorts. I mean, she
actually snorts, then turns around and rolls her eyes. What’s
gotten into her? “Violet Rae Givens, either you make some friends
or I’m kicking you out.”

My mouth falls open.
“What?”

She crosses her arms. “I
love the company and appreciate all the help you’ve given me, but
enough’s enough.”

“
And just how do you
expect me to make friends? Put out an advertisement on Craig’s
List? Down in the Dumps Country Music Singer Needs a BFF. Stalkers
need not apply. I’ll totally find some winners that way,” I
snap.

“
Facebook should work.”
She turns around again, cutting off the water.

I’m completely at a loss as
to what to say next. My sixty-five year old grandmother is
lecturing me about making friends and wants me to use Facebook. I
want to stomp my feet and throw a temper tantrum like a three year
old. Instead I clear the table and help her with the
dishes.

“
I can’t go on Facebook as
my real self. Who would I send out friend requests to—my
agent?

“
Lacey Evans.”

Our conversation is
becoming stranger and stranger. Who is this woman? “I thought you
didn’t want me lying about my name.”

“
She’s a real person, you
goose,” Nana laughs. “I wanted to introduce you two after service
today, but her mother said she was sick and had stayed
home.”

Figures. The first church
service I finally go to with Nana, and she’s already plotting
against me. Or would that be for me? Either way, I don’t need her
help. I know how to make friends. Well, I know how to lose
friends.

“
If you get’s Lacey’s
number, I’ll text her sometime this week.” I have no intention of
ever doing this. I like being alone. Hanging out with Cole and his
sister doesn’t count.

Nana smiles, wringing out
the dish cloth. “I’ll do you one better.”

“
Oh really?”

“
Yes, really. Lacey’s
coming here tomorrow to pick up the clothes I sewed for them.” She
tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Then you can meet her in
person, like normal folks do.”

I bump her with my hip.
“Weren’t you the one suggesting Facebook?”

“
Desperate granddaughters
call for desperate measures,” she deadpans.

Laughing, I throw my arms
around her. “I love you, Nana.”

“
And I love you.” Her hand
strokes the top of my head. “Now about that Morgan boy.”

“
Nana
,” I groan, hiding my smile. “I’m sorry for being such a
brat.”

She kisses my forehead. “I
know.”

“
And I’m seeing Cole
tomorrow, down by the creek again. Maybe I should pack us a lunch?”
My heart pounds, with my little confession or anticipation, I’m not
entirely sure.

“
I’ll pack it. Lacey will
be by in the morning, before you have to leave.”

“
Thank you,” I
whisper.

“
It’s okay to take a
chance on somebody, Violet Rae,” she says softly. “You’re not
really living, if you don’t.”

Easier said than done, I
think. But I don’t say it. I know she means the best. So, for her
and for me…I’ll take a chance on Cole Morgan.

*** *** ***

Cole

My head snaps back with the
force of Wyatt’s blow.

“
Pay attention,” he
snarls, smacking my face with a boxing glove.

Over the past couple of
days our original four o’clock “appointment” has turned into a
series of me getting my ass handed to me and not giving a
shit..

I shake off the blow and
the smack from Wyatt, sweat flying everywhere. The gym is hot as
fuck and it’s packed. Men and women are getting their boxing on in
every inch of the place. Wyatt and I occupy a ring off to the
side.

“
Let’s go again,” I say
around the mouth guard, then bang my gloves together.

Wyatt leans his neck to one
side, then the other. “Your funeral.”

We go another round, my
best friend doing all his dirty moves and pinning me to the floor
and against the ropes. Then we climb out of the ring, grab our bags
and plop down in the nearest chairs, squirting water into our
mouths and drinking like it’s our last taste.

Wyatt wipes his mouth with
the side of his arm before he pulls one glove off with his teeth,
then he sets to work on the other one. I do the same, neither of us
saying anything as we cool down.

“
Plan on telling me what
got you so off your game?” Wyatt asks, leaning back in his chair as
he stretches out his legs.

I rub a spot above my ear,
not sure if I want to share. But this is Wyatt and he knows
everything about me. Unfortunately. “Met a girl.”

“
Nice.”

“
Yeah.” I drink more
water, then set the bottle in the floor beside my chair.

“
Anyone I
know?”

There’s a very real
possibility that he does know who
Violet
Lynn
is, but I made a promise to Rae. And
unlike some, I keep my fucking promises. “Nah.”

“
Bringing her to my
party?”

“
Thinking about
it.”

“
Good.”

“
You?”

“
Asked Lacey.”

“
Don’t keep me in
suspense.” Lacey has never come to one of our parties. Ever. I
doubt she would have come to The Double Deuce last night, if she
hadn’t known ahead of time Wyatt would be there.

“
She said yes.”

I glance at Wyatt. The
smile on his face is so wide that I think it might split it open.
“Who’s she bringing as her plus one?” The Tanakas had had formal
invitations printed and mailed out to all of their son’s friends as
well as family.

“
Rub it in, why don’t
you?” His smiles falls. “I’m more worried about Lacey changing her
mind between now and then, or my parents conveniently forgetting
that they scheduled her to work that night. Hell, I wish it were
this weekend instead the end of the month. Twenty- three days is a
long damn time.”

“
I thought you were taking
over.” Ever since Wyatt has come home, his parents have promised to
let him run their restaurant in Forrestville. They have three more
locations in Charlotte and are loaded as hell, but they make their
son work. Yeah, he’s got it easier than I do, in a lot of respects,
but the dude works his ass off for them. And he’s just come home
from a fucking war.

He waves his hand in the
air. “New conditions. I have to re-enroll in college and find an
appropriate girlfriend.”

I blink at him. “Are you
kidding me?”

“
No.” His mouth flattens.
“They caught me and Lacey together.”

“
You were
with
her. At work? Holy
shi—”

“
Get your mind out of the
gutter.” He shoots me a look of disgust. “She was holding my hand.
We were doing nothing more than talking.”

If it had been nothing
more, then his parents wouldn’t have made new conditions for him.
“Sucks to be you.”

He grabs his water bottle
and stands. “I don’t know about that.” He glances around, then
looks me right in the face, eyes serious as hell. “First time she’s
ever touched me, on purpose anyway. So, I’d say it was worth
it.”

I stand, then follow him to
the locker room. “But you still can’t date her.” Well, he could,
because he’s an adult and not to mention a veteran. However, he
respects his parents and most of the time, he does exactly what’s
expected of him.