The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (17 page)

I couldn’t help but smile. I knew what he saw. Savanna and I had been too drunk to care, but the truth was written all over our actions. I remembered feeling like it was just us there on that dance floor.

I also knew that Ty never really respected Savanna. For years he had cheated on her and disrespected her. As much as I wanted to feel bad about what I had done, I couldn’t. It may not have been right, but I didn’t do it alone.

“I’m not sorry for lovin’ her. You also know that technically she wasn’t yours when we were together. She never cheated on you, except for the past two nights when she was wearin’ that ring.” I realized what I said too late. Ty’s fist came up and got me right between the eyes. He fell back against the wall, while I wiped away the gushing blood coming out of my nose.

“You deserved that, you dickhead.”

I smiled and held my nose up, pinching it. “Yeah, maybe I did.”

“You going to hit me back?” Ty asked.

“No, you can have that one for free. I deserved it.”

“Did you do her before or after the proposal?” he asked.

“You seriously want to know?”

“Yes! Dammit, just spill. All the shit I have done. I need to know she ain’t that perfect,” he spat out.

I was trying to keep the blood off the floor, so I grabbed my shirt and pulled it over my head. I held it up to my face as I talked. “It was during the storm, after you put that ring on her finger. I needed to get the hell away from the both of you. I went out to the combine with a six-pack of beer. I was already half lit when it started storming. I heard someone crying and found Savanna standing out in the storm alone.” There was no need to give details. I was sure he didn’t want them.

“So what was she crying about? How did it turn into having sex? Because, she slept in my fucking bed that night. Now I get why she rejected me so much. She was all filled up already.”

I stuck my finger in his face. “Don’t talk about her like that, Ty. She was upset because of you, because of everything. You were so caught up in your friends that you never even came lookin’ for her. Your own fiancée.”

“So you had sex in a combine. You one upped me there,” he laughed.

“Actually…” I held my hand up. “Never mind!”

“Well, now I want to know,” he ordered.

“It doesn’t matter. Just drop it.”

“You know I am really trying to be understanding. I wish everyone would realize that it still feels like last year to me. Even back then I didn’t really have Van. She was already slipping away. I was stupid to think I could go around behind her back forever. She deserved better,” Ty admitted.

“Well, I am tryin’ to do right by her, Ty. It hasn’t been easy for us so far. Between trying to deny our feelin’s and me livin’ so far away. Hell, I don’t even know what she’s goin’ to decide. I can’t very well ask her to give up her life here,” I explained.

“Well, I have to warn you. She puts school before everything. It’s really important to her.”

We were interrupted when my aunt came walking to the door. She opened it up and looked from Ty to me. “What’s going on here?” she asked.

“Just let us come inside and we’ll explain,” Ty said.

We walked in the house and I sat down at the kitchen table. My aunt brought over the paper towels and a wet rag. “Which one of you is going to start explaining?” she asked.

I looked at Ty and then back to my aunt. “I think you should tell her.”

Ty laughed. “You would.” He looked down and for a second before he started talking. “Mom, there is a bunch of stuff that I need to tell you.”

My aunt cut him off. “Son, after seeing you dropped off by some girl this morning, I am going to assume that I already know what’s going on. From the look of Colt’s nose, I have to ask. Where does this leave the two of you?”

She was referring to Ty and me. That was a question for him, more than me.

“We are blood. Nothing is going to come between that,” Ty explained.

“I am guessing the broken nose helped with the hard feelings?” she said sarcastically.

“You could say that.”

She gave my nose a good look. “I don’t think it needs to be reset. It may not even be broken.” She was sticking an icepack on it before turning around. “So where is the reason for all this fighting?”

Ty chimed in. “We left her in the carriage house for protection.”

I chuckled and shook my head. Even Ty seemed to laugh at himself.

“I am not even going to ask. I am just glad you boys are okay with all of this,” she said.

I stood up and excused myself from the conversation. Ty held out his hand before I left. “Will I see you guys later?”

“I reckon if you want to. We can have a serious game of Rummy if you’re up for it,” I said.

“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll knock before I come in,” Ty said.

At that moment, I caught my aunt shaking her head. I kept walking. She could baby her son all she wanted but I was a grown man.

Chapter 29

Savanna

Colt came back from the main house with two black eyes and a very swollen nose. He insisted that he and Ty were on good terms and that he deserved the punch that Ty had given him. I didn’t feel very comfortable with them making plans to spend time together, but Colt insisted that it was important to him. I thought they were crazy, in fact, I thought them insane. Who makes up that fast?

I wasn’t about to argue with them. Their family handled things differently than normal society. Blood always came first, no matter what the issue was. I could tell that Ty was more tore up about things than he was admitting, but as long as he seemed calm around me, I wasn’t going to worry about it.

After getting Colt a new icepack, we laid down on the couch, watching movies. Neither one of us said much. I knew Colt wanted me to give him answers about what I wanted to do, but I honestly didn’t know. I loved him, I was sure about that, but I was determined to finish school before I made any decisions regarding my future.

Colt would be here for at least another month; I had time to make my decision, and make sure it was the right one. He had everything figured out in his head, but I just wasn’t ready to give up everything yet.

After the first movie, Colt fell asleep. His face looked terrible and I had to laugh at how similar it was to when I got jumped by those girls. He was sitting up with his arms draped over me. I grabbed them and scooted myself to the side. I loved watching him sleep, even sometimes when he snored. I sat back against the other end of the couch and really looked at him. His brown hair was starting to curl up a little on the ends, especially when he had his hat on. He didn’t bother shaving this morning so there was a shadow of stubble all over his face. His full lips were parted just enough for him to breathe out of his mouth. I loved the small freckles that traced over his nose from the sun. I also couldn’t help but love the fact that he was more than sexy when he didn’t have a shirt on.

He was the whole package; the kind of guy that every girl says doesn’t exist. Sure, he was rough around the edges when it came to talking about feelings. He had refused to talk about our relationship, even though he and I both knew it had been turning into more.

Still, I knew the real Colton Mitchell, the one who risked his own family’s approval to be with me. I still hadn’t discussed Ty’s mother, but she clearly wasn’t freaking out, otherwise I wouldn’t still be on her property. I didn’t know how Ty had come to terms with Colt and me so quickly. One minute he was flipping out and the next he was calm and understanding. Was it that easy to just walk away?

Ever since I got involved with Colt, the fact that we were hurting Ty tore me up inside. He made me feel like such a blind idiot for not seeing all the signs. All of the times I caught him with girls numbers, or talking to them in private. I was so stupid. Ty was gorgeous himself. Of course, maybe I was partial, but Colt had a more adult look to him, while Ty was just an average college football guy. Colt’s chest was broad, from years of working on the farm and playing sports. Ty was getting there, but he was shorter, at least by four or five inches. His arms weren’t as defined, and now they were pretty small considering he hadn’t been out of a bed in months.

Still, I knew that Ty would be back to himself in no time. I wasn’t worried that he would be alone for long. He may have rejected Heather, but she wasn’t the only skeleton in his closet. There obviously were plenty more to choose from, not to mention ones that he hadn’t given a turn yet.

Thinking about it made me feel like I got kicked in the stomach. I had invested my whole teenage years into our relationship, and never once was he that serious. No wonder we fought all of the time.

I stood up and decided to go out to see Daisy. I just wanted some time alone to think about things.

I no sooner got into the barn when I saw Ty standing with Daisy. He was petting her, talking to her. I approached them and he smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” I answered. “What are you doing out here?”

“I was waiting for you actually,” he confessed.

I smiled, but felt really weird about that. He couldn’t have known Colt would fall asleep. “Did you want to talk?”

I stood on the other side of Daisy and ran my hands down her braided mane. Ty looked over at me. “Yeah. I wanted to talk to you without Colt. You see I may have stepped back to give you guys a chance, but I know for a fact that you won’t leave. I know you, Van. You won’t leave school for him. I also know that somewhere in that head of yours, you still love me. You may think Colt is great now, but what happens when it’s just you and me again? What happens when you get so lonely and I am here waiting for you? This new romance with him might be great right now, but it can’t last and you know it.”

“Screw you, Ty. I can’t believe I never noticed how much of an asshole you are. You have no idea what I am going to decide and frankly it’s none of your business anymore. You lost that when you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.”

He hopped over to face me and grabbed my arm. “That’s where you’re wrong. You will always be my business. I don’t give a shit who you are dating. My cousin included. If you didn’t love me, you wouldn’t have stayed in that hospital room for all those months.”

“I felt terrible for what happened to you. You’re right; I stood by you because I thought you were my future. Things changed, Ty. I am not proud of how they happened, but they did. I fell in love with Colt. I love him because he’s everything you never were!” I argued.

I’d never felt scared of Ty. We had our share of throwing things at each other, and screaming until we lost our voices, but he had never hit me. When his hand came over and grabbed my throat, I didn’t react fast enough. He pushed me against a beam in the horse stall. “You little bitch! I gave you five years. I asked you out when nobody else would. I let you be my girlfriend even before you had tits. Do you know how many other girls wanted to have the title of my girlfriend?”

I grabbed his hand, and at the same time, he realized exactly how he had reacted. He pulled his hand down and I could tell he was sorry for it. I backed away, enough that he couldn’t reach me. Then I went into detail, because he deserved it. “I can’t tell you when I started loving him, but I wanted him from the first moment. His touch did things to me. He didn’t fight me very long. All I had to do was get him tipsy and he gave into me. That night was the best sex I ever had. He became my addiction. I wanted him all of the time. I needed him to touch me.”

Ty put his head down. I could tell I was getting to him. “Stop, Van. Please don’t say anymore.”

“After a while, I felt like I couldn’t be away from him. I missed him so much when we weren’t together. After your parents finally caught us, and we were forced apart, I felt empty inside. He shut down and wouldn’t talk to me once you woke up. At first, I didn’t know he felt the same about me. He wouldn’t ever talk about it, but after your proposal, he confessed his feelings when he found me crying in the rain. He took me into his arms and made love to me in the middle of that field. He did things to me that you could never do.”

“ENOUGH! Goddamn it, Van! Shut up!”

A small smile formed on my face. “You asked for it. Don’t you ever touch me like that again! I can’t believe I ever loved you.”

I should have left right then, but I didn’t. Ty slowly slid down until he was sitting on the ground. He put his hands over his head and his head between his legs. “Go! Get out of here, Van,” he said with his head still down.

I turned to leave, but I heard sniffling. Ty never got upset. He never cried. I had seen him tear up, but he never cried. Not since we were kids. I couldn’t be heartless to him, even after he went off on me like he did. I couldn’t be as low as him. My words had intentionally crushed him. I had stooped to his level.

I knelt down beside him and reached out to touch his shoulder. “Ty, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that stuff. You just made me so mad.”

He pulled away from my touch. When he looked up at me, I saw the tears. “I never thought I would lose you. I know I cheated. I know I lied. I just never thought you would ever leave me.”

I kept kneeling next to him, but kept my hands over my knees. I was thinking of what I could say, but nothing came. I had left him. I wasn’t ever giving him another chance.

He wiped his eyes and his nose then looked up at me again. “I don’t blame you for wanting Colt. I could tell you he’s a piece of shit, but we all know it’s a lie. He’s a fucking awesome person. I actually felt bad for hitting him today. Do you believe that? He took you away from me and I felt bad for hitting him.”

“Ty.” It was all I could get out.

He reached over and touched my arm. I let him, this time not feeling threatened. “We were drunk last night; otherwise I would have denied everything. I don’t know how long you would have believed me anyway. It seems like me being in that hospital for months has caused everyone I know to get their feelings out. At any rate, I want you to know something, Van. I want you to know that I don’t blame you for moving on. I can’t believe you stuck around for as long as you did. I love you, but it isn’t the way you want to be loved. You already know that.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“I want to hate you so much, but I just can’t. I shouldn’t even be mad at either of you. It’s just too new. I am really trying here,” he explained.

“I meant what I said about being friends, Ty. I know that’s such a cliché, but it’s true. I need to know we will always be close. Maybe someday you can tell me all about your secret life,” I said, trying to break the mood.

He looked up and showed his dimples. Those deep brown eyes looked up into mine. Suddenly, all of his indiscretions were put aside. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him so tight. “I will love you forever,” I whispered, trying to put aside the fact that he had grabbed me and called me a bitch.

He put his arms around me too. “I love you too, Van.”

Before I knew what was happening, he put his lips over mine and held me so that I couldn’t pull away. When he finally let go, due to the fact that I was smacking him, he had a smile on his face.

I heard the barn door slamming shut behind us and my heart dropped. I stood up and smacked Ty. “You asshole. What have you done?” I asked while running out of the barn.

Ty was actually laughing behind me. What a dick!

I found Colt walking away from the barn. I know he heard me running toward him, but he didn’t turn around. I grabbed the back of his shirt, forcing him to stop. He turned around with a grin on his face.

“That was not what it looked like.”

His hand came up and brushed against my cheek. I saw him taking a deep breath as he looked into my eyes. “I can’t blame him for tryin’. I don’t know how long I could have stood back and let you be with him.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist. “You believe me?”

He kissed the top of my head. “Savanna, I trust you, besides, my cousin would never give up that easy. We have the same blood, remember?”

I pulled away and reached up to touch his face. His beautiful eyes looked directly into mine. “You really are the perfect man.”

He started laughing. “Who says that?”

“Ty.”

Colt grabbed my hand as we started walking toward the carriage house. “He would say that.”