“He’s gonna be fine, Chloe. We’ll all be fine.”
I wasn’t sure if I was saying that because I needed to hear those words, or because she needed to hear them.
The sinking feeling inside my gut told me once we left for college, everything, including everything between us, was going to change.
Chloe
I SAT IN the stands and watched as Rip hit a homerun. Jumping up, I cheered for him as Jonathon and Rip Senior did the same. My father walked up with a bunch of hot dogs and beers.
“Shit! I missed a homerun, didn’t I?” he asked, handing Rip Senior and Jonathon their food.
“Sure did. That’s my son!” Rip Senior cried out while Jonathon rolled his eyes.
“Dad, what did Rip say you needed to stop doing?”
Rip’s dad sank back down on the bench. “Calling out ‘that’s my son.’”
We all laughed. My father handed me bottle of water as he said, “Looks like we’re going to have to be road tripping it when he plays for A&M.” He turned to me and winked.
I smiled. My father treated Rip like his son and never missed his football and baseball games. Once upon a time, when I was much younger, I was open about my crush on Rip and it drove Daddy mad. Now I keep it to myself—ever since the time he caught us kissing. Yeah, that had been my idea, but that wasn’t my last kiss. I had been kissed by a boy or two in high school. Nothing that sparked a flame inside of me. I also wasn’t the least bit interested in dating anyone in school. The idea of being with someone other than Rip wasn’t even a thought in my head. My life revolved around a very tight circle of people—and goats—and I liked it that way.
Rip was running back to the dugout and glanced up at us. I waved and he waved back before the other players all started to congratulate him.
“That boy will be snapped up within weeks of heading to college.”
All of a sudden, I picked up on some chatter that had me on high alert. My gaze moved to a few women sitting below us on the bleachers. They were mothers of two of the other players on the team. I had no idea who they were because Rip played for a select team. There were guys from all around the area who played with him, all from different schools.
I tuned into their words. “Mary has the biggest crush on him. Look at her down there.”
Following their gaze, I saw group of girls younger than me standing above the dugout, trying desperately not to act like they were looking at the boys. I couldn’t help but smile in relief because I initially thought Mary was someone our age who could possibly catch Rip’s eye.
They soon drifted off into another conversation about redecorating or something, so I tuned them out. I let my thoughts wander as I looked at Rip in the outfield now. Chewing on my lip, I made a mental list of pros and cons in my head for telling Rip how I really felt about him. Did I tell him now? Prom? Maybe graduation. Or did I wait until we were away from the watchful eye of my father and freer to do things while at college?
In the end, I decided I’d have to be patient and wait. If Rip was afraid of making a move because of Daddy, he wouldn’t be once we were in College Station and on our own. That is, if he decided to go to A&M. If not, I’d have to tell him before we left for college.
With a wide smile, I dared to let myself believe that soon I would have Rip Myers all to myself.
SPRING BREAK SENIOR YEAR
“Come on, Alyssa! Just do it!” I said with a laugh.
“I can’t!” she cried as she swung from the rope swing over the water and then back.
Laughing, I shook my head. “It’s spring break. You know you have to jump in at least once. It’s tradition!”
She was now back on solid ground, holding the rope and gnawing on her lip.
“Come on, Alyssa! Do it!” I shouted. “Do it! Do it! Do it!”
“Stop peer pressuring me, woman!”
“Hey, Chloe!”
Turning around, I found Justin Rivers walking over to me.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
He was going to ask me to prom again, I just knew it.
I smiled and waved. I was not looking forward to hurting his feelings, but everyone knew Rip and I went to all the school dances together. That was Rip’s idea, not mine. If he had wanted to ask someone else, I would have dealt with it, but he always asked me, and I always said yes. Except this year, he hadn’t asked yet. Alyssa said he probably assumed I knew we were going together, but then Rachel said he had hinted about asking her.
Ugh. Why do I have to have feelings for Rip? My life would be so much easier if I wasn’t in love with him.
As Justin got closer, my heart sped up a bit. If he asked, maybe I should say yes.
The only problem was, I didn’t want to say yes to Justin. I wanted to say yes to Rip.
Rip
CHLOE STOOD ON the edge of the river, chanting for Alyssa to let go of the rope swing. Mike laughed as he came and stood next to me.
“Why does she do the rope swing when she is deathly afraid of it?” he asked.
“Beats me. It’s your girlfriend. Why don’t you ask her?”
He laughed. “I’ve long ago stopped trying to figure out Alyssa. I love her, weird quirks and all.”
I nodded.
“Listen, Rip, I know you say you and Chloe are friends only…”
“We are.”
“I know. I know. Just hear me out, okay. I heard Justin Rivers asking her to prom.”
I screwed up my face. “What? Why the hell would he ask her? He knows we always go to prom together.”
“Rumor has it, you asked Rachel.”
“Lewis?”
He nodded.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well, Alyssa said Rachel was bragging in gym class to everyone that you were going to be asking her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Goddamn it.”
“Did you? Hint that you might ask her?”
“No! I was in her mother’s flower shop asking about flowers for my mother’s birthday. Rachel asked me if I had a date for prom and I… Oh, shit.” My entire body sagged.
“What?”
“I winked and told her not yet. I guess she could take that as a hint.”
Mike shook his head.
“What did Chloe say? To Justin,” I asked.
“She didn’t say anything, according to Alyssa. I think she was stunned he asked.”
“Asshole. We both know why he wants to ask her.”
“Yeah, he wants in her pants, like every other guy in Oak Springs. You know the only reason they’ve stayed away is because they’re afraid of you, especially after you beat up Mark for making that comment about Chloe’s ass during sophomore year.”
I laughed. “He deserved it.”
Mike chuckled, too. “He did, but that scared the shit out of everyone. I sort of feel bad for Chloe. I mean, maybe you should ask Rachel and let someone else take Chloe.”
I shot him a dirty look. “I’ve taken Chloe to all the school dances since middle school. She’s my girl, and no one else can have her.”
Mile’s frowned. “That’s what I mean, Rip. You want her all to yourself, but you won’t give her what you should. You.”
I rubbed the back of my neck in frustration. “You don’t understand. If something went wrong…”
He let out a gruff laugh. “What could go wrong? Everyone sees the way you two look at each other. Rip, you admitted it to me, you love her. Why can’t you tell her?”
“I can’t. I just can’t, Mike. If it ruined our friendship, I don’t think I could handle it. She means everything to me, and I’d fuck something up and hurt her. I can’t risk hurting her.”
Mike shook his head and looked around. “What if someday she gets tired of waiting for you and moves on? Finds someone? Hell, gets married? Then what are you going to do?”
I swallowed hard, not wanting to think of that day.
He sighed. “Well, you better do something soon. Justin’s here, and he’s walking right over to Chloe.”
My heart raced when I saw Chloe wave to Justin and smile. I pushed past Mike and started toward Chloe. She was up next on the rope swing and was about to walk away to talk to Justin. I ran and grabbed her, throwing her over my shoulder before launching us off the cliff together. Chloe screamed and all I could hear were a few guys calling out my name. I was sure Justin was going to be pissed, and I didn’t care.
When we landed in the water and came up, Chloe screamed again.
“Rip Myers! The water is freezing and I wasn’t ready!”
Laughing, I took her hand and made her swim out to the small rock we always sat on together. We’d been swimming out to this rock for as long as I could remember. After I climbed up, I sat down and she sat between my legs as we watched our friends jumping into the water.
“You excited about the baseball game next week?” she asked when she couldn’t take the silence between us any longer.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“Have you made a decision yet?”
I’d been offered three football scholarships and two for baseball. All the schools were breathing down my neck to commit to them. I hadn’t told anyone yet, but I had chosen Texas A&M to play baseball for them.
“Yeah.”
Chloe turned and faced me. I could see the worry in her eyes. She was going to A&M, and although she had never come out and told me, I knew she wanted me to go there.
“I think I’m going to play baseball.”
Her breath hitched. “Baylor or A&M?”
Smiling, I replied, “A&M, of course. I can’t leave my Chloe Cat.”
Chloe screamed and threw herself at me, nearly knocking us both off the rock and back into the water. Wrapping my arms around her, I glanced up and saw Mike staring down at us, with Justin standing next to him. The smirk on Mike’s face spoke volumes.
Fuck ’em all. It was always going to be Chloe and me.
Always.
When Chloe pulled back, we were inches from each other. God, I wanted to kiss her. Hell, the first day I ever met her in kindergarten I wanted to kiss her. The one time I did allow myself to go through with it, though, her father threatened to kill me.
“Chloe?” I asked, my voice sounding breathless all of a sudden.
“Yeah?”
“Will you go to prom with me?”
A wide smile broke out over her face. “I wouldn’t want to go with anyone else, Rip.”
I placed my finger on her chin and lifted her face, my eyes trained on her soft pink lips.
What would she do if I kissed her?
Her tongue swept quickly over her lips.
Leaning in, I moved at the last moment and kissed the side of her mouth, then leaned my forehead to hers. She closed her eyes, and we stayed like that for what seemed like forever before Mike called out to us.
“Rip! Chloe! Let’s go!”
Taking her hand, we jumped back into the water. Chloe climbed on my back and we laughed and joked the entire swim to shore. Both of us ignored what had almost happened. We were good at letting those little moments when it seemed like we both wanted more slip on by without a word of acknowledgement.
Chloe grabbed a towel and started toward my truck, while I dried off at the water’s edge.
“You did that on purpose.”
I looked up and saw Justin standing there. “I did what on purpose?”
“You knew I was going to ask her to prom, and you made sure I wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Grinning, I stood and walked over to Justin. “What made you think we wouldn’t be going to prom together anyway?”
He shook his head. “You’re going to make damn sure no one else can have her, aren’t you?”
Leaning in closer, I got in his face. “You’re damn right I am. She’s mine. Don’t forget that.”
“You want to fuck her first that badly and you’ll keep the rest of us away by acting like a dick. Got it.”
My fist came up, all on its own, and punched Justin. He stumbled back and tripped over a log. He ended up going into the river. Everyone turned toward the commotion, including Chloe.
Mike was right there, pulling me back by my arms.
“You ever talk about her like that again, and I will kill you.”
“Rip!” Chloe shouted, running over to us. “What is going on?”
Justin stood and rubbed his jaw. “I’m not the only one who thinks it, Rip.”
“Fuck you, Justin!” I shouted as Chloe stood in front of me. When her hand landed on my chest, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Her touch instantly calmed me down, while at the same time, it drove me insane.
“What in the world was that about?” she asked, looking from me to Mike.
Jerking my arm free, I answered. “Nothing. He was being a dick. Let’s go.”
Placing my hand on Chloe’s lower back, I guided her away from everyone and over toward my truck. Justin was about to keep running his mouth when I shot him a warning look. He stopped himself and laughed. When a few other guys fist bumped him, I knew he was right. I’d lost a few friends over Chloe. Most of the guys in school thought we were already sleeping together. I didn’t give two shits what they thought about me, but I cared about what people thought of Chloe, and she wasn’t that type of girl to hop from bed to bed with any of these dicks.
Chloe is mine.
When I sat down in the truck, I let my words replay in my mind.
Chloe is mine.
Hitting the steering wheel, I shouted out a few curse words.
Who in the hell am I kidding?
“Rip, you’re scaring me. Why are you so angry?”
I looked at her. “You ever want something so badly that it fucking scared you?”
Her mouth dropped open, before she replied, “I mean, I’ve wanted something badly but never enough that it scared me.”
“Well, I do, Chloe. And if I allow myself to have it, I’m going to ruin everything.”
I hit the steering wheel again. “Damn it!”
“Rip, is this about the scholarships? If you’re picking A&M just for me, I don’t want you to do that.”
Trying to get my breathing under control, I dropped my head back against the seat and laughed. A sort of maniacal laugh, actually. This whole thing was so messed up. I needed to either tell Chloe how I felt or let her go. I couldn’t keep things going the way they were.
“It’s not about that, Chloe Cat.”
“Okay, then what’s it about?”
I shook my head as she reached over and took my hand. Closing my eyes, I squeezed her hand. “Nothing. I’ll figure it out.”
“Rip, I’m here if you need to talk.”
My head lifted off the seat, and I turned to face her. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. I need you to know that.”
She smiled, and my heart felt like it jumped in my chest. “I know. We did the whole blood oath in fifth grade, remember?”
Laughing, I nodded. “I remember. My mother was pissed I got blood on her suede sofa.”
Chloe giggled. “I forgot about that part.”
With a long, deep exhale, I turned the truck on and pulled out of the parking lot. “Come on, I need to get you home. I promised your dad you wouldn’t be late for family dinner night.”
“Family dinner night at the Parker house. I don’t know why my grandmother insists on keeping them up. It’s a total nut house!”
“Is Patches still on lockdown?”
Chloe and Patches were thick as thieves. At times, I thought Patches truly believed he was human. And he lived for annoying Chloe’s Aunt Waylynn, who also lived on the ranch with my older brother Jonathon in one of the guest houses. They were married with two kids. Liberty and Hudson. It was weird to think Liberty and Hudson were my niece and nephew, and Chloe’s cousins, too. We were already sort of non-blood related, which was crazy.
She chewed on her lip. “Yeah. He got into the house the other day and ate all of my grandmother’s plants. It was hours before anyone not
iced he was in there.”
I laughed. “Who found him?”
“Me! And thank God. He was laying on Granddaddy’s favorite chair. You should have seen him, Rip,” she said, laughing harder. “He was sound asleep and the chewed-on remote was sticking halfway out of his mouth!”
“That damn goat. Your daddy says Patches is never going to die because you spoil him so much.”
Her arms wrapped around her body, and her smile faded. “I’m not sure what I’ll do when he does.”
“I promise you, when that time comes, I’ll be there.”
I could feel her eyes on me. “You swear, Rip. No matter what, you’ll be there for me?”
Stopping at a red light, I faced Chloe. “I swear on my life.”
Chloe
“HE HASN’T BEEN able to keep his eyes off you all night.”
I turned to look at Alyssa. “Yes, he has.”
She rolled her eyes. “Chloe, the moment Rip saw you in that dress, he couldn’t form words. Prom is almost over. Are you going to tell him?”
Chewing my lip, I shrugged.
Rip and Mike had been talking to the DJ before heading toward us.
“They’re going to play the last song, Chloe. Just do it.”
Stopping in front of me, Rip looked into my eyes. “You look so serious.”
I shook my head. “Just can’t believe prom is almost over.”
He took me into his arms. I laughed. “Um, Rip, there is no music.”
The way he smiled made my heart leap. An old song from a group called the Dixie Chicks started to play. It was a song that Rip’s mother, Kristin, loved. I wanted to sing the words to him because I wanted him to do the very thing they sang. Cowboy, take me away.
Rip and I started to two-step, which was not easy to do in heels. A part of me wondered if Rip had asked the DJ to play the song. When he held me closer I felt my heart jump to my throat. I rested my head on his chest and prayed the moment wouldn’t end.
When the song finally did, I looked up at Rip. He leaned down and for the briefest moment I thought he was going to kiss me. My breath caught in my throat as he looked down to my lips, then back to my eyes.
Love at First Sight Page 3
