I'd had enough.
"Ash, come on," I said, my eyes locking with hers. "We need to get out of here before we both choke to death on the testosterone polluting the air."
After grabbing her purse, she moved around Ty, coming to a stop beside me. My heart clenched seeing the tears that still rolled down her face. Whether or not he'd been speaking to her, Weston's words had gutted her.
When he spoke about Ty's family, I knew she pictured Chase, the boy she was head over heels in love with, even if she wouldn't admit it.
She sniffled. "You're using your voice in public. I'm so proud of you."
I shrugged. "I figured if someone gave me a hard time, you'd pop them with the sugar shaker."
A smile crossed her lips. "I would have."
Wrapping my arm around one of hers, I guided her toward the door. I nearly stumbled when I saw Hendrix standing by the exit, his back against the wall, and his arms crossed over his chest.
"I feel cheated," he said when our eyes met. "Thought for sure I was gonna see pretty boy Winslow get his ass handed to him. Now I missed lunch for nothing."
"Oh you poor—"
I yelped when a pair of familiar hands landed on my hips and spun me around, ending the smart comment I was about to sling at Hendrix, and ripping my arm free of Ashley's. "What are you doing?" I asked, my breath shaky.
Ty didn't answer me as he took a step back and bent at the waist. Before I could process what was happening, I was airborne.
Mortification took hold as my hair flopped over my face, blocking my view of everything but the floor moving beneath me.
With me slung over his shoulder, and his arm clamped around the back of my thighs, he carried me out the front door without a single person stepping in to stop him, Ashley and Hendrix included.
Why is no one trying to save me?
Heart pounding, I gripped the back of Ty's shirt tight as I bounced with each of his steps, my head bobbing all over the place. "What are you doing?" I shrieked as he sped his pace, making my stomach roll.
Being that it was quieter outside than inside, I could have deciphered his answer without reading his lips. That's if he'd given me one. "Ty Jacobs you better answer me right this second, or else I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
My control shattered at his unending silence.
Reaching down, I smacked his perfect behind three times, each hit harder than the last. I cringed as sharp pains slithered through my palm. "Jesus," I said, wincing. "Think you could lay off the squats? I almost broke my gosh dang hand!"
Talk about buns of steel.
A car horn sounded, and I jerked my head up, pushing my hair out of my face. I scowled when I saw a pink convertible cruising by at a snail's pace. "Thatta boy, Ty!" Grandmama, of all dang people, shouted as she raised a fist. "I knew you had it in you!"
"I can't believe her," I mumbled as Ty popped open his truck door and deposited me sideways on the passenger seat. I sneered in his direction. "I can't believe you either." I blinked and scrunched my nose. "Actually, I kinda can."
His right eye twitched as he leaned into the truck and placed a hand on each side of my hips. "You and I are going someplace to talk." No, we weren't. The only place we were headed was the ER after I shoved my foot up his behind. "I've had enough of this shit, Heidi."
"I—"
"Seeing you in there with Weston," he said, interrupting me, "was my goddamn breaking point." Turning me so that I was looking out the windshield, he pulled out the seatbelt and secured it over me, double-checking to make sure it was locked in place.
"Are you going to tell me what you're doing? I drove here with Ashley! I can't just leave with you."
He stepped back and placed one hand on the door. Anger still brewed in his gaze, but it didn't faze me because I wasn't who it was directed at.
"I already called Chase. He's on the way to pick her up now." Slipping his fingers into my shorts pocket, he pulled out my car keys. I blinked, dumbfounded by the sudden move. "Cap already knows I'm done for the day, so I'm having Hendrix drive your car to Tuck’s house. Maddie can pick him up there.”
I thought Ty was crazy before, but this was a whole new level of insanity. "And what, you're just going to kidnap me? You can't do that!"
He smiled. "Watch me."
Without another word, he slammed the door.
Eight
Heidi
Ty drove us to the middle of nowhere.
I held my breath as we turned off Route 9 and onto an unfamiliar dirt road that looked like it hadn’t been driven on in twenty years. Though I’d lived in Toluca County all my life, I had no idea where he had taken me.
Madder than a wet hen caught in a rainstorm I glanced over at him, watching as he clenched and unclenched his jaw repeatedly.
He looked ready to explode.
“Why did you bring me out here?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “Because if you’re planning on murdering me, you should know that I will come back and haunt the living daylights out of you!”
His eyes met mine. “You really think I’d hurt you?”
I huffed out a frustrated breath. “No.”
At least not physically, I mentally added.
Ty didn’t say another word as he stepped on the brakes and slowed the truck until it stopped completely. Shifting into park, he ripped the key out of the ignition.
I remained silent as he jumped out and rounded the front end, his eyes locked on mine through the windshield. Once he reached my side, he popped open my door, unbuckled my seatbelt and wordlessly pulled me out. The second my feet hit the red Georgia dirt, he tossed me over his shoulder again.
I gasped in outrage.
“You have got to be kidding me!” I hollered. “Ty, put me down right this—”
“Fuck that,” he snarled, his arm tightening around my thighs as he started to walk through the jungle of weeds that hugged each side of the road. “I’m not giving you the chance to run away from me.”
Pushing my wild black hair out of my face, I looked around us and extended my arms behind him. “Where would I run?” I shrieked. “We’re in the middle of bumturd Egypt!”
“Doesn’t matter.” He placed a warm palm on the back of my calf. "I’m done letting you slip away from me. It ends now, Heidi.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I’m doing what I should’ve done a long time ago.”
Before I could open my mouth to utter a single word, Ty stepped out of the weeds and into a grass-covered clearing. Loosening his grip on my legs, he slid my body down the front of his until my feet were on the ground.
Teeth gritted in a mixture of anger and frustration, I promptly lifted my hands, pinched his nipples through the navy t-shirt he wore and twisted. Hard.
“What the fuck,” he hissed, batting my hands away.
I smiled triumphantly. “That’s what you get,” I said, rocking back on my heels. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to carry me back through there”—I pointed to the weeds behind him—"so I can get my phone out of your truck and call for help.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Not a chance in hell.”
My hands went to my hips. “So what’s your plan then? You just going to keep me out here in the middle of nowhere? What are we supposed to do? Build a hut in the woods? Oh wait, I know.” A sarcastic grin crossed my face. “You’ve already got a cave out here somewhere, don’t you? How dang fitting since you act like a full-blown caveman!”
“Heidi—”
“Don’t you Heidi me, Ty Jacobs!” I poked him in the chest, digging my sapphire-painted nail into his pec. “You embarrassed me in front of nearly half the town today! First by laying claim to me like I’m a piece of property to be owned, which by the way, I am not. And second by carrying me out the front door of the Hut like a sack of taters you’d just bought from the grocery store!”
“Angel—”
“You drive me crazy!” I yelled,
interrupting him for a second time. My emotions were all over the place, and I couldn’t stop the slew of words that spilled from my mouth, one after the other. “You mess me up so bad I can’t decide whether I want to slap your face or kiss your mouth half the time. Swear to the good Lord above, ever since I met you at Shelby’s bachelorette party three years ago, I don’t know which way is up and which is down!”
“Baby—”
“Oh God,” I moaned, covering my face with my palms. “My poor brain is about to explode.” Shaking my head, I dropped my arms and let them fall to my sides. “Why do you do this to me? Do you enjoy making me insane?” I didn’t wait for him to reply. “Because I am losing my dang—”
“You think I’m not going crazy?” he hollered in return. “Dammit, Heidi, most nights I can’t even sleep because of this shit between us!”
My belly plummeted to the ground.
Him not sleeping wasn’t okay.
At all.
“Why can’t you sleep?” My chin wobbled.
Ty looked down at the ground and took a deep breath. Then his gaze met mine again. “How am I supposed to sleep when the woman I should be holding in my arms isn’t with me?” I sucked in a breath. “Instead, she’s across town, sleeping under another man’s roof, in a bed he provided.”
And there’s the caveman…
I rolled my eyes so hard I was surprised when they didn’t get stuck. “Kyle is my brother-in-law. It’s not like—”
“It doesn’t matter,” he snapped, interrupting me for a second time.
“So, what? You want me in your bed every night, is that it? Because if so, all I can tell you is tough shit. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not the type of girl to jump into bed with someone I’m not in a committed relationship with!”
“Yeah, we’re about to get to that whole commitment part.” His jaw ticked. “But just to be clear, I want a hell of a lot more from you than your body.”
His scent, combined with the warmth pouring off him, numbed my mind and sent me into a tailspin. My hands twitched with the need to touch him, but I refused.
I will not give in.
I took a step back, adding to the space between us. “I can’t do this,” I said, shaking my head as I retreated another step. “Seriously, I can’t.”
“What does that mean?” He advanced toward me, but I put my hands in front of me, warding him off from coming any closer. Thankfully he got the memo and stopped moving. “Answer me.”
Sliding my hands into my hair, I closed my eyes. “You know what this is, Ty?” My eyelids fluttered open, and I met his gaze. “It’s toxic, that’s what.”
“How the hell do you—”
“All we do is argue!” I screamed, my emotions getting the better of me once again. “We aren’t even in a relationship, and yet we bicker worse than an old married couple!”
“That’s because you don’t listen!”
My eyes bulged.
I was going to kill him.
So help me God, I was going to strangle him until his pretty blue eyes popped right out of his head and rolled across the grass. “What did you just say to me?”
“The only reason we ever argue is because you’re too stubborn to give me a chance.”
Of course it was all my fault. “Gee, I wonder why.”
Jaw set in a hard line, he crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s that mean?” he asked a second time.
“It means that you’re arrogant, pigheaded, and a complete pain in my ass!”
“I’m also a former bully,” he stated, his shoulders tensing. “Which is the real reason you won’t give me a chance, isn’t it?”
He took my silence as confirmation.
That was a mistake on his part.
“I don’t hold your past against you, Ty,” I said, before correcting myself. “Well, I do to an extent, but not the way you’re thinking.”
“Heidi, listen to me”—he blew out a breath, seemingly fighting for control—"I know you’ve been hurt, and I know it was someone like me who caused you pain, but I am begging you, don’t make me pay for their sins. I’m paying enough for my own already."
When his hands instinctively went to the front of his pants, and he cringed, I narrowed my eyes.
The lightbulb in my head flickered.
Wait a minute… “Is that why some lady kneed you in the balls the other day? Because you’d done something to her back when you were a kid?”
He jerked his head down once in affirmation.
My skin bristled. Not because Ty had bullied someone, but because that someone had come back so many years later and assaulted him. “Who is she?”
His jaw ticked. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” And it did. Come hell or high water, I’d find out who’d touched him and then I’d be paying them a visit. As much as I’d been hurt in the past, I wasn’t about to track down my former bullies and crack their nuts, even if they did deserve it.
Which, trust me, they did.
One or two in particular.
“Why?” Ty lifted his chin. “You going to kick her ass for me?”
I shook my head. “No, but I may just empty an entire bag of sugar in her gas tank.”
“Why?” he asked again.
“Because she hurt you, and whether or not you deserved it, I don’t like it.”
He smiled. “Careful, Heidi. You keep talking like that, and I’m liable to think that you might actually like me.”
He was expecting me to sling a sassy remark in his direction, but that isn’t what I gave him. Instead, I said, “I do like you. More than I should.”
Too bad liking him wasn’t enough.
“Yeah?” I nodded. “Then why won’t you give me a chance?”
The truth poured out of me without hesitation. “Because I don’t trust you.”
Ty stepped forward, and instead of retreating, I remained still, letting him erase the space between us. Bodies nearly touching, I dropped my head back and looked up at him.
I sighed when his rough hands cupped my jaw. “You may not trust me now, Angel, but one day you will.”
My eyes drifted shut as I soaked up his essence. The smell of his skin, the warmth of his touch, the sound of his beautiful voice; I cataloged each piece of him, committing it all to memory.
“I don’t care how long it takes for me to win you over, I’ll never stop fighting for you.”
My eyes fluttered open. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
One side of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Nah, I just know what I want, and there isn’t a thing in this world that I want more than you.”
A tear slipped down my cheek. “Careful, Ty,” I said, parroting his words from moments earlier back to him. “You keep talking like that, and I’m liable to do something dumb and give you the chance you’re asking for.”
Ty pressed his forehead to mine. “That’s what I’m counting on.” Taking my hands in his, he laced our fingers together. “As much as I love standing here with you, there’s something I want to show you.”
It was my turn to smile. “Yeah? And what’s that?”
He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Turn around and see for yourself.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
Pulling my hand free from his, I turned.
What I saw stole my breath.
Nine
Ty
I couldn’t take my eyes off Heidi.
Standing in front of me, she stared out at the rippling lake before us, completely transfixed. “What is this place?”
I moved forward until my chest touched her shoulder blades. Dipping my head, I closed my eyes and inhaled, pulling the smell of her coconut scented hair deep into my lungs.
Needing to touch her, I slid my arms around her waist and held her tight, reveling in the way her body fit against mine.
Part of me expected her to pull away.
Much to my surprise, she didn’t.
My eyes opened whe
n she leaned back against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“It’s called Peace Lake.” Unwrapping one arm from her soft belly, I pointed to the far side of the water. “See that rock cliff over there?” She nodded. “That and this lake are what’s left of the Toluca Rock Quarry.”
“Is that why the water is so clear?”
I wrapped my arm back around her. “It is.”
“Wait.” Turning her head, she looked at me over her shoulder. “Are we allowed to be here? I thought rock quarries were—”
I silenced her by pressing a lone finger to her pink, glossed lips. “Papaw owns this land and everything on it. He bought it after the state shut down the quarry a couple of years back.”
Her brows climbed her forehead. “How much land does Roscoe have? Carissa told me about the private beach he owns near Pawleys Island.”
“A lot. He always says that the only thing God isn’t making any more of is land, so that’s where he invests. Every time a parcel comes up for sale, he grabs it.”
“Smart man,” she mumbled, looking back out over the water.
“He is a smart man.” I rested my chin on her head. “A good one too.”
“That he is. Hey”—her head whipped around; our eyes met—"maybe we could hook him up with Grandmama."
“Hell no,” I said, drawing out the last syllable. “She would give him a heart attack within a week.” Heidi smiled, but I wasn’t joking. “Papaw likes his peace and quiet, and there isn’t a damn thing peaceful nor quiet about Grandmama.”
She giggled, her eyes still on mine. “Good point.” Raking her gaze over my face, she searched my features. For what exactly, I don’t know. “Are you going to tell me?”
My arms tightened. “Tell you what?”
“Why you brought me here.”
“Thought you may want to go skinny dipping.” I was joking, but you wouldn’t have heard me utter a single protest if she stripped down and ran for the water.
Arching a brow, she spun in my arms. “Tell me the real reason, Casanova.”
I chuckled at the nickname. “Thought if I took you somewhere beautiful, it would distract you, and then maybe you’d listen to what I have to say.” My reasoning sounded lame as hell, but it was the God’s honest truth. “Plus I love this place, and a helluva big part of me wants you to love it too.”
Every Wrong You Right: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 6) Page 7
