My Paper Heart (12 page)

He groaned. "Fine, I'll be right back." He let go of me and headed toward the bar.

That was my chance, if I ever had one; I probably had enough liquid courage in me to really do something stupid.

"I'll be back boys." I called without even looking back at Marcus, Ryan, and Don.

Slowly I slunk my way over to the table where Julie and her friend were sitting. For a moment I just stood there in front of him. The girls stopped their conversation. Julie just looked at me with her top lip curled up in a look of disgust.

"Um, can I help you?" Ugh, even her voice was cute, like something a teenage country singer would have.

I smirked. I hadn't gotten as far as to thinking what I was going to say.

"Um, hello?" The girl sitting next to her questioned, trying not to laugh. I probably looked like an idiot, a giant blonde idiot.

"Hi." I squeaked and thrusted my hand out to the two girls. "I don't think we've met, I'm Libby Gentry, Dee Badeaux's niece. I just moved here about a month ago and well." I shrugged with that shit eating grin still plastered on my face. "I thought with it being a pretty small town I'd met everyone here, but I guess I haven't."

"Oh, well I’m Dani and this is my friend Julie, but she doesn't live around here anymore. She just came to visit for the night from New Orleans." The chubby redhead said in the friendliest voice she could utter. She was definitely Julie's wingman, or wing woman, if there is such a thing.

"Oh, Julie." I turned my body completely toward her. "Yeah I think you know my boyfriend, Blaine Crabtree."

"Uh, yeah." Julie took a drink of her drink and rolled her eyes. "Come on Dani, I think it's getting a bit crowded in here." Julie grabbed her purse and began to stand.

Here was my turn to make an even bigger ass of myself. I slammed my hand down on their table and that startled both of them to sit back down. "I'm sorry?  Did I just crowd your space or was that some sort of a tall joke?"

"Um excuse me?" Julie put her tongue in her cheek and crossed her arms, shooting lasers at me with her dark green eyes.

The room was spinning. I leaned in, and I thought I could almost see Julie cringe at the smell of Tequila on my breath.

 "Listen bitch, you may be prettier than me and have better hair."

Julie smirked at that.

 "But I know I am a hell of a lot better dresser than you and make Blaine a hell of a lot happier than you ever could." I leaned in even closer, a definite invasion of personal space. "And if I ever see you or your fake ass Chanel earrings around here again, I will shove my very real, very pointy Jimmy Choos up your prissy little ass. Do I make myself clear?"

Julie opened her mouth to say something, but the quickly closed it. I think she knew in my state I would probably do something stupid. I got up from the table and turned toward the guys. Jackson, Don, and Marcus were all staring at me in amazement, but Blaine was just shaking his head. I tried to walk back over to them with some swagger. Then the worst thing that could happen, happened. I felt my heel get caught in the wooden planks of the floor, and then it all went dark.

∞

I woke up with my head pressed against the glass of Blaine's truck. My head was throbbing. I opened one eye and could see Blaine just staring out the window, a clove in his hand. He knew I didn't like him smoking, so he tried not to do it around me. But just from his body language, blank stare, and hand gripped on the wheel, I knew he was pretty upset.

I slowly sat up in the seat, still holding my head and groaning loudly. I opened both eyes slowly and looked out the front window. I didn't recognize where we were at all. I just knew it wasn't the bar or either of our houses.

"Mmmm...Where are we?" I rubbed the back of my head. I could feel a big knot where my hand was.

"Real nice, Libby. You see my ex in a bar and decide to cause a scene. I mean, that's class right there." Blaine didn't even look at me, just took that long slow last drag of his clove and then tossed the butt out the window.

I rubbed my head and shifted my body completely toward Blaine, very slowly, but eventually my whole body was facing him, with my hand still on the back of my head.

"You make a scene in a bar." Blaine finally turned his attention toward me, his eyes were that same angry steel blue. "Not only do you go and talk to my ex-girlfriend, but then you threaten her. It wouldn't have been so bad, that is, if your drunk ass didn't fall on the floor and pass out."

My memory was starting to come back. I remember falling and Blaine's friends cheering me on. Then I remember a man coming over and telling Blaine to get his drunk-ass girlfriend out of the bar and not to bring her back. From there I didn't remember anything else.

"I had to carry you out of the bar, with everyone staring." He practically spat. "Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?  What if your Aunt Dee finds out, or even worse, my parents?"

"Blaine, I was just..." I stammered.

"You were just what?" He clenched his teeth. "Trying to embarrass me in front of my ex?  Make it even worse for me?" His knuckles were almost white since his hands were gripped so hard onto the steering wheel. "I’m sure she really thinks highly of you, slobbering all over her. That really makes her think I’m moving up in the world."

I didn't know what else to do or to say and I was still pretty drunk, so I did the only thing I could do. I cried. Oh, and not a pretty cry, It was an all-out sob. My tears were black from my makeup and snot dripped out of my nose.

Blaine took his hands off the wheel and pulled my toward him, burying my face in his chest. "Baby, don’t cry." He ran his fingers through my hair, which was a big fluffy mess from the humidity and falling down in the bar.

"I'm…I'm…SORRY," I blurted between sniffles.

"Shhh. Libby, it's okay." He kissed the top of my head. "It was kind of funny, you should have seen the look on her face."

I looked up at Blaine, my face completely tear streaked. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. "Are you still mad at me?" I blabbered.

Blaine groaned. "I don't know if I can stay mad at you when you pull the crying card."

"Hmmm." I traced my fingers down his shirt to the top of his pants. "Maybe I should do that more often then."

He stroked my cheek. "Well I hope I'm not making you cry all the time."

"Hey, I did get my alone time though." I slowly undid his belt buckle.

"Libby. Do you really think this is the time or the place?"

I reached my head closer to his. "I think you need to stop thinking." Then I closed his mouth with my own and enveloped him into a kiss.

∞

Well we both didn't think our first time together should be in the front seat of his car, but I really thought that I should make up my stupidness of the night to him.

"Libby, I don't think we should be doing this out here." Blaine stammered, trying his best to keep his attention away from me.

"Come on Blaine. We are out in the middle of nowhere and no one will have to find out." I looked up at him, batting my eyelashes and pursing my lips.

"Well…if you insist…"  He grinned.

I tried to lean back, but realized that I was caught. Okay I was actually, really caught and something was pulling on my hair.

"OW." I screeched as I furiously started yanking my head back and forth.

"What the hell, Libby?" Blaine's eyes widened as he lifted his arms in the air.

"I'm caught on something." I stammered, finally stopping to inspect what I was caught on.

Blaine looked down and covered his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter. "Honey, your hair is caught on my belt buckle."

I looked down to see a big chunk of my hair wrapped around his bright green John Deere belt buckle.

"Ack!" I waved my arms in the air, like I was scratching at nothing. "Get it out, get it out!"

He laughed again, but this time he stifled it quicker. "Alright baby, calm down." He put his hand on the top of my head. "Now you are going to have to lean back down, so I'm not ripping your hair out."

I leaned my head back down on his lap as Blaine finagled with the belt buckle, trying to pull out the blonde strands without hurting me.

"Oh shit." he mumbled.

"What?" I looked up, hoping not to see a huge clump of my hair in his hands.

"COP. COP. COP." Blaine screamed as he stared into his rearview mirror.

I tried to lift my head up, but then he pushed it back down, hitting the exact spot I had hit on the floor at the bar on the steering wheel. "OW!" I screeched, ripping that last piece of my hair out of Blaine's belt buckle.

"Aw baby I'm sorry." He kissed the top of my head quickly and tried to straighten out his belt.

I slinked over to my side of the seat. "I thought you said we were pretty far off the beaten path and that no one would find us."

"Well I thought we were!" He was shaking as he fiddled with his belt buckle.

"What are we going to do?" I was still drunk and was crouched up on the seat on all fours like a cat. My face was still completely black and tear streaked. I could only imagine what my hair looked like.

Blaine shook his head and was actually laughing. The cop was still sitting in the car behind us with his lights on and Blaine was laughing his ass off.

"Blaine, what's so damn funny?" I spat between gritted teeth.

"You know in the time we've been together, we've been stopped by the cops twice. I think that's a first." He nodded his head like he was proud of himself.

"Well I'm sorry, but I don't think it's funny that there is a cop behind us and we may have just got caught for public indecency."

"Baby." He reached for my hand and gave me an encouraging smile. "Relax, it'll be fine."

He didn't smile for too long as the cop tapped on the window.

Blaine held never let go of my hand as he turned toward the window and rolled it down.

"Hello officer, is everything alright?" The sexy boyfriend hat was immediately off and on came that southern charm.

The police officer looked like a typical small town police officer: a little overweight, a little gray, but a perfect handlebar mustache.

"Evening Blaine, out a little late isn't you two?" The cop leaned in against the window, and then nodded in my direction. "Miss Gentry, good to see you again, maybe I'll get to see you someday not pulled over."

Great, it was the same cop that we saw with my high and drunk little cousin. I had to be making the best impression on the Elsbury police department.

"Now I heard," The cop turned his attention back toward to Blaine, leaning his body against the car door and smacking his lips as he talked. "That there was some sort of a scene at Reesey's that involved the Doddery girl." The officer raised his eyebrows at the mention of Julie's name.

Blaine squeezed my hand lightly. "Well, you know them city girls, Officer Campbell." Blaine threw a smile my way and then looked back at the officer. "Well especially this one in particular." He threw his head back in my direction. "They've got a bit of a temper."

I wanted to pipe up and say something, but I just bit down on my lip, not even moving from my crouching tiger position.

The officer laughed at that and Blaine joined in. "Well, the Doddery girl was none too happy. She wanted to press charges, but everyone there agreed that Julie had started it all and Libby there never raised a hand to her."

The cop leaned his head in closer. "Julie didn't like that too much. I don't think we'll see her around these parts again."

"Good to hear Officer Campbell. Good to hear." Blaine squeezed my hand again.

"But," Officer Campbell continued. "I can't just turn a blind eye to you getting a little…you know..." He put a fist to his mouth and stuck his tongue into his cheek, moving his fist back and forth. "From your girlfriend out here in the swamp."

I was still drunk and tried not to laugh at the hand gesture the cop made. I tightly covered my mouth with one hand and leaned my shoulder against the seat, so I wouldn't fall over.

I didn't hear much more of what they said after that. I don't think they wanted me to know either. They lowered their voices and Officer Campbell did a lot of nodding and glancing over at me. And within about twenty minutes the two men were laughing and the cop was letting us go.

"Now you behave yourself Miss Gentry, next time I see you I don't want it to be because I'm in the cop car, ya hear?"

My eyes were so droopy that I could barely keep them open as I nodded to Officer Campbell.

"Alright now." Office Campbell nodded profusely. "Mr. Crabtree, get this young lady home, we don't want Aunt Dee up all night waiting for her." He patted Blaine on the shoulder and then got in his car and left.

Blaine leaned in and kissed my half open eyes. "We really need to stop seeing Officer Campbell like this."

"And you really need to not let me wear stilettos."

Chapter 15

Fourth of July in a small town is kind of a big deal. Aunt Dee closed the shop down for the day as people lined the streets for the annual parade and fair. Fourth of July had to be kind of a bittersweet day for Aunt Dee. I knew it was the day that everything changed for her daughter. But if she was upset she didn't let anyone see it. She was busy baking pies for the fair and handing out flags for everyone in town.

"What are you and Blaine doing today?" Aunt Dee questioned when I strolled out of the bedroom. She had already been up since the break of dawn baking.

"I think we are going to his friend Jackson's or something." I yawned, shrugging at the end of a big stretch. The truth of the matter was absolutely nothing had still happened with Blaine and I, and I think things had gotten worse since the night at the bar.

Every time I had even tried anything more than making out, Blaine would immediately stop everything all together. Today was the day I was hoping to change all of that. I spent almost an entire paycheck ordering new lingerie from Agent Provocateur, a website that Kristi introduced me for when she was looking for her wedding night outfit. I practically had to tackle the mail man to get to it before Aunt Dee saw it.