The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (16 page)

We were all three too drunk to be discussing any of this.

He turned to face me and moved a piece of hair out of my face. “I am an asshole, Van. For what it’s worth, I will always love you. You know I told you all those stories about Colt because I wanted you to think he was the asshole. Every girl wants him and he doesn’t even care. I figured one day he would come visit and I wanted to make sure he never had a chance.”

We both laughed. “Yeah, I wasn’t very nice to him at first. He took it really hard too. Asking me who the heck told me such crap.”

“At least it worked for a little while,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I saw a car pulling into the lot. Ty turned to me as Colt walked over with his other crutch. “I can’t believe this is really happening,” I said.

Ty took my hand and kissed it. “I always said I will give you your forever.” He pointed to Colt. “If it wasn’t for my accident you never would have found it. I love you, Van. See you tomorrow.”

I held my hand up and watched as he climbed into Heather’s car. I didn’t know what hurt worse. The fact that he had cheated so many times, or that she was the one to come save the day. I turned around and saw Colt holding out his hand. I didn’t waste any time. My hand met his and we walked to the truck. I had to laugh when I got to the door and saw my underwear on the seat.

“Well, that would have been a riot,” Colt joked.

We sat there for a second. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth? Would you really have left knowing I was making the wrong choice?”

He put his head on the steering wheel. “Savanna, at first he was my family. I couldn’t betray that. I was trying to protect you both. Once I had told you one thing, I couldn’t go back and tell you something different. Besides, I didn’t want you to choose me because he cheated. I wanted you to love me because of who I was to you.”

“I get it. It sucks, but I get it.”

“Savanna, I need to know if you will consider comin’ home with me next month. I can’t stay here. I have a house in Kentucky. My parents are there. I know you are in school here and I can’t ask you to quit.”

He was right. Ty was actually the smallest problem. I couldn’t finish college without my scholarship. This wasn’t something I could decide after everything that happened tonight. “Take me home. We can talk tomorrow.”

Chapter 28

Colt

Savanna and I didn’t talk much on the way home from the bar. It was only about a ten-minute ride and I knew she had a lot on her mind. Mix that with a bunch of alcohol and her emotions were all messed up. We got out of the truck and noticed that the lights were off in the main house. I put my arm around her and walked her straight into the carriage house. Sam greeted us and then went flying outside to relieve herself.

Savanna walked inside like a zombie and plopped down on the couch. She stared at the television, even with it turned off. I kneeled down in front of her. “Darlin’, you okay?”

She nodded her head but wouldn’t speak. I stood up and picked her up in my arms. She wrapped her arms around me as I carried her to the bed. I sat her down and started taking off her shirt. Once I had it off, I grabbed a t-shirt. She let me unhook her bra and put the t-shirt on her. She even stood up and let me take off her skirt and replace it with a pair of boxers.

I reached over and pulled down the covers so she could climb into bed.

After letting Sam back in and checking on Savanna, I decided to get a shower. I wanted this whole charade to be over, but I had no idea it was going to go down the way it did. Savanna was in shock. I hated her hearing that I had kept Tyler’s secret life from her. He was my blood though and at first I had no idea that she and I would become involved.

Once I got in the shower, I stood there letting the water fall down on me. I knew I still had to deal with the repercussions of getting involved with Savanna. Ty wasn’t going to wake up tomorrow and be as calm as he appeared to be tonight. He was drunk, and although a bunch of truths came out, the effects of the alcohol kept either of them from rationalizing.

When I turned off the water and opened the curtain, I found Savanna with her head in the toilet. The sound of her throwing up filled the room. She must have just come into the bathroom because her vomiting was pretty loud.

I grabbed a towel before sliding down on the floor behind her. I held her hair, and even held my nose, while she continued to throw up all of the liquor she had consumed,

When she finally seemed like she got it all out, I grabbed a wet rag and rubbed it all over her face. She smiled and stood up. I reached in the cabinet and found what she was looking for. Her toothbrush was one thing I hadn’t packed.

She stood there watching me as she cleaned her teeth. After her final spit, she turned to me, wrapping her arms around me. “You always take care of me.”

“It’s because I am crazy about you.”

We walked back into the bedroom and lay down side by side.  After a few minutes, Savanna came closer and put half of her body over mine. I liked having her so close, especially after everything tonight.

I stroked her back with my fingers. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

She shrugged. “I always pictured being married to Ty. I figured we would start a family and live close to our families. He was always a part of my plans so I never considered I had other choices.”

“When I graduated college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to run a company and live in the city for as long as I could remember, but when the time came to do it, I wanted to make my family proud. I do the books for my father and a few other farms back home. I have my own house and my own parcel of property off my parent’s farm. I will never be rich, but I do well for myself considering I don’t have a mortgage. Savanna, whatever you decide, I want you to know that I never thought I was missin’ anything in my life until I got to know you.”

“I turn twenty-five next month. I see you and I know I am ready to settle down and start a family, but I also know that you are only turnin’ twenty and askin’ you to make a decision like this ain’t very fair. If you need to stay here and finish school, I will understand. It will be hard, but we can get through it.”

Savanna finally smiled. “I believe you.”

“Does that mean you would consider having that future with me?” I asked.

She smiled and looked up at me. “Are you offering?”

“I think I am.”

“Then maybe I will consider it,” she said as she leaned up and kissed me.

A few more minutes passed. I started to let myself fall asleep, but Savanna startled me. “Will he be okay?”

“Who? Ty?”

“Yeah.”

I kissed the top of her head. “He will be fine, darlin’. He just needs some time. I think you both need time to assess everything that happened last night.”

“I can’t believe he caught us, or the fact that we walked out to that parking lot and got it on. God, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t love me. Seeing that with your own eyes has to hurt.”

“Yeah, it does. I feel really bad about it too. I mean, it had to be a real kick in the balls for him. When it happened to me, well at first I wanted to kill my friend, but then I realized it wasn’t just him in that bed. For the longest time I felt like I wasn’t good enough, like I wasn’t doin’ somethin’ right. I ended up havin’ a girlfriend and treatin’ her really badly, because I didn’t want to get hurt again.  You need to understand that you are worth fightin’ for, Savanna. I’m not gonna sugarcoat things. When we first started messin’ around, sure I wanted to take care of you, but we were just friends. I promised myself that I wouldn’t ever have feelin’s for you. But, somewhere down the road, I got to know all of the little things about you. Your favorite foods. Your favorite color. The way my touch tickles you. The way you blush when I take off my shirt. How your hair looks when you first wake up.”

I stroked my hand through her hair and she giggled. “How you are the most carin’ person I have ever met. Most of all, how you made me want to love again.” I squeezed her tightly with my arms. “I fell in love with you, Savanna. With all of your quirks, habits, and everything else you had to offer. I just wanted you.”

“You always say the right things,” Savanna said as she giggled and looked up at me.

I got ready to say something else but I heard the door opening. Now since I knew I had locked it when we got back, it could only be one of three people. Without moving an inch from the spot I was in, I watched Ty walk into the bedroom.

“You have a lot of nerve, cuz,” he said, standing over the bed.

I gently pushed Savanna to her side of the bed and stood up. Although, I think being in just boxers wasn’t how my cousin wanted to approach me. He stopped and gave me a once over before heading in my direction. “You need to check yourself, Ty.”

He came at me and threw the first swing while leaning on a crutch to keep his balance. I took the hit in my shoulder, but only to be able to grab him and throw him down on the bed. Savanna stood up and started yelling.

“Stop it! Ty, you can’t fight him. You aren’t strong enough. Just please stop!”

We ignored the little lady. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up to my face. “She ain’t yours.”

Ty tried to shove my hand away. “Wrong! She will always be mine.”

I knew this was going to happen. My cousin got all calm and lovin’ when he drank, but when he was sober he was a hellfire. “We went over this already last night. Don’t you remember? It was right before you got picked up by the little blonde,” I added.

Ty smacked my hand away and I backed away. “She picked me up because I caught my fiancée red-handed banging my cousin in my own father’s truck. What the fuck? This shit isn’t happening,” Ty said as he started rocking back and forth on the bed, holding his hands over his head.

Savanna didn’t shock me at all when she climbed up behind him and hugged him. Her eyes were fixed on mine the entire time.

“Ty, you can’t keep doing this to me. It isn’t fair to either of us.”

I clenched my fists, knowing that with having Savanna’s arms wrapped around him, Ty felt like he somehow had the upper hand in all of this. He forgot he used to tell me all about his schemes, I guess to somehow try to impress me. He wanted Savanna to feel sorry for him so that she would think about giving him another chance.

“Don’t, Ty. It isn’t going to work. She already made her choice,” I announced.

Savanna smiled at me. “Colt. Give us a minute please?”

Reluctantly, I made my way out of the room. I stood outside the door listening. There was no way in hell I was going to let him take advantage of her kindness.

“Ty, do you remember everything we talked about last night?” Savanna asked.

“I remember everything actually. Especially the visual parts.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he would rub that in.

“I am sorry that you had to see that.”

“What part?” he asked.

“All of it,” she confessed.

I wanted to be in the room. I wanted to answer, instead of Savanna. This had to be horrible.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” Savanna replied.

“How did you know you loved him? When did you know it was real?”

I couldn’t see Savanna’s face or watch her body language as she answered. I just listened. “I suppose at first it was lust. I just wanted attention. I felt so alone for all those months. I yearned for affection. There just came this point where, when I wasn’t with him, he was all I thought about. I tried to picture my life without him and it hurt deep down inside of me. He was always doing things and saying the right things, even when he wasn’t trying to impress me at all. He wanted to know me, in every way.”

“You can keep going. I need to hear it all. Even the parts I don’t want to hear,” Ty announced.

“From the first time he touched me, it was different. He made me feel like I was the only female on the planet. I can’t resist him. He makes me happy, like I could never want for anything else, ever. Ty, I thought I knew what the deepest love felt like. I loved you for so long, and I am so sorry if this hurts you, but I have never felt this way before.”

I was shocked she said all those things. Not shocked she felt that way. I felt the same. I was however, shocked that she told him. Her honest confession kept my cousin from speaking. After a long period of silence, I walked back into the room.

“I get it,” Ty said as he saw me walking in.

“You get what?” I said as I sat beside him.

“You two. Honestly, it makes sense. You are so much alike that I don’t think you even realize it. Not that this changes anything, but after what happened last night, I told Heather I didn’t want to see her anymore. I think seeing what I did, what I caused, made me see what a fool I have been. I need to change. Honestly, I need to admit that I was never happy being with Van. If I was, then I never would have cheated, not once. I let the best girl I have ever known get away.”

I put my arm around my cousin. “You hungry?”

“Nah, I need to get out of here for a while. My parents are going to wonder why Van is in here with you. I need to get this all out in the open,” Ty replied.

Savanna cut in. “They already know. They caught us together… the night you woke up.”

“What the fuck? Is there anything else I need to know?” he asked.

Savanna stood in front of Ty. “They forbid us to see each other. Your mother threatened me and your dad told Colt he had to leave. He only stayed for you.”

Ty shook his head. “You let me propose, hell, they let me propose, knowing all along you were in love with Colt?”

“There were so many people there. You had just got home. I couldn’t hurt you like that,” Savanna admitted.

“I appreciate that. If it’s any consolation, I told everyone at the party that I ended it with you.”

Ty’s confession actually made Savanna laugh. “I need to ask you a favor. Your parents are not going to understand things. Please don’t tell them about the parking lot. They think I am such a whore already. I just can’t live with that.”

“How about my cousin and I go have a family talk? You stay here and get cleaned up. I think if I distance myself from the two of you right now, I will turn around and get all pissed again. I need to just be around you guys for a while. I know it sounds convoluted, but it’s just how I deal.”

I stood up and helped Ty get into a standing position. I didn’t lean over and kiss Savanna. Things were super awkward already. I was still expecting Ty to rip out a pistol and shoot me to death. We walked out of the carriage house, once I got a shirt on, and headed toward the main house.

“If I could stand up long enough, I would have kicked your ass by now,” Ty stated as we approached the porch.

“You could try,” I teased.

“I don’t fucking forgive you.”

“I know.” I pulled the porch screen door open as he hobbled his way inside.

Ty turned around before going in the house. “I was a shitty boyfriend. I lied about the one person I looked up to in life. Honestly, I figured this would hurt a lot more than it does. I think she was more like a piece of property and not a person. Sounds shitty, right?”

“She’s never been that to me,” I admitted.

“Yeah. Thing is… seeing you with her last night, I want to feel that. When I walked back in that bar and saw the way you two were, well, first it was a kick in the gut, but after that I was so jealous that I had never felt like that myself. The way she looked at you…it was fucking insane.”