Destined for a Dirt Road
Dirt Road Summer Series, Book Two
By: Ashley Johnson
Destined for a Dirt Road
Copyright © 2015 by Ashley Johnson. All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: March 2015
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1508851165
ISBN-10: 1508851166
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To my readers, you’ve made this all worthwhile.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Prologue
Beau
A year ago, I moved abruptly from my comfort zone in Lake Charles, Louisiana to Springfield, Missouri. Why would I make such a sudden move? I did it for her. I let her walk out of my life without fighting like I should have. My gut twists now just thinking of how easily I let her slip through my hands. When she wouldn’t answer my phone calls or texts, I knew something had to be done. Life as I knew it would never be the same without her. She wrecked me and I’d let her do it again if it meant I could hold her in my arms one more time. That’s why I’m in Springfield.
Shay’s best friend, Sienna, has helped me immensely with this whole move. She gave me Shay’s address. I admit, I felt like a creeper the first time I drove past her house, but knowing she was merely a few feet from me made my heart pound relentlessly against my chest. I have to see her, but not yet.
A few days pass and after a phone call from Sienna, I decide it’s time. I can’t live my life in the shadows lurking around and watching her every move. Hell, I’m practically a stalker and that shit isn’t cool. I need to see her and see if she still feels what she said she did last year. Just seeing her from a distance awakens all those feelings and without a shadow of a doubt, I know I still feel all those things.
I park my truck in front of her driveway and let out the breath I’ve been holding. I’ve only been holding it for a few seconds but it may as well have been a lifetime. It’s now or never. My feet touch the ground and begin moving forward all on their own. I know what I want and I’m here to get it.
“Can I help you, son?” My eyes look over to see an older man approaching me. There’s no doubt this is Shay’s dad. They are spitting images of each other, the blond hair is almost a dead giveaway.
“Yes sir, my name is Beau Granger,” I say, extending my hand to him. He takes my hand, giving it a firm shake. His lips curl up into a smile as he tells me it’s nice to meet me. “I’m a friend of Shay’s from Louisiana and I was wondering if she was home.”
He looks me up and down. He looks at me the way you would expect a father to look at the guy interested in his daughter. Concern laces his eyes and the smile is replaced with thin pursed lips. Yep, he’s wary of me but I would expect that from any father. “She’s here. Would you like to come inside?” he offers.
Panic hits me for a second. She has no clue I’m even here, so I don’t want to startle her by just walking into her house. Standing outside doesn’t make it any better, but this feels safer. “No sir, she isn’t expecting me and I don’t want to barge in. I’ll wait out here if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure…Beau, you said?”
“Yes sir.”
“I’ll send her out here. It’s nice to meet you,” he tells me.
“Nice to meet you too, sir.”
My hands find my pockets and I begin to rock back and forth on the balls of my feet. It took a lot of guts to finally get me here and I can only hope this was a good decision. Will her eyes light up when she sees me? Will she be surprised? Only time can tell.
The sound of the doorknob turning churns my stomach. The churning is almost more than I can bear. This is it, it’s now or never. She looks more beautiful than she did a year ago. She still has the power to take my breath away. Her eyes lock with mine and they widen. She’s obviously shocked but I’m hoping it’s in a good way.
After moments of silence and me still rocking on the balls of my feet, she finally speaks. “Beau, um…hey. What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
I swallow a gulp as I get ready to speak. This moment has me so nervous, a little more than I expected to be. The palms of my hands are sweating inside my pockets and my heart is racing at record speed. “Don’t be mad at Sienna, but she gave me your address. I had to see you. I spent the last year feeling sorry for myself and about how things went down.”
Her eyes widen like she can’t believe I’m here. Hell, I can’t believe I’m really here. “You drove all the way here?” she asks, her brow scrunched.
“I did. I only stopped once. I had to get here as soon as possible,” I lie.
“Why?” she asks.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I pull my hands from my pockets and run them through my hair. “Because I love you, Shay. I love you so damn much and I needed you to see that this is real. That it wasn’t just some dirt road summer love, this is the real deal for me. You’re it, Shay. You are everything I want and need, and if that means I move up here for you, then dammit, I will.”
The tears that form in her eyes make me want to wrap my arms around her and hold her tight but I don’t want to overstep any boundaries. Shayleigh takes a deep breath and begins nervously rubbing her hands together. “Beau, this scares the shit out of me. I’ve never loved anyone in my life. I met you and you turned all that around. I thought it was easier to shut you out and leave because of the distance, but I do love you.”
Hearing her say those words ignites my soul. Those are the three words I’ve been longing for. I pull her hand into mine and remember just how electrifying her touch is. I remember how perfectly it fits in mine. Only mine.
“I want to make you happy, Shay. I want to be the reason you smile every day. I want to be everything you want and need—will you let me be that for you? This past year has been fucking miserable. I can’t do it without you.”
“I can’t ask you to move up here, Beau, that’s selfish. You have a life down there,” she argues.
My head cocks to the side and I grin. If only she already knew…but she doesn’t. “Shay, you aren’t asking me to. I told you I will because I want to. I’ll get an apartment and start my own damn business here. If it means I’m with you, I’ll move the damn stars in the sky.”
Tears cascade down her porcelain cheeks. I can’t fight it anymore. I step forward and wrap my arms around her. I hold onto her tightly as I tell her, “Shh, Shay, don’t cry. I’m here and I’m never leaving you again. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did that night, but
I didn’t know what else to do. I never thought I would end up falling for you like I did, but it just happened.”
“Trust me, I know all about that.” She sniffles. “I thought I could just go down there and have fun, and then you came along with your amazing self. Who the hell would have thought I was going to fall in love with Busty Beau?” she jokes before turning serious. “But Beau, I have to tell you something…”
I can’t hear another word. I have to taste her soft kiss. It’s been a year since those lips have been on mine and my body is craving that sweetness. My lips crash against hers and my insides explode in a fit of anticipation as our tongues collide. Her kiss is like honey. It’s so damn sweet and I can’t get enough. Her arms wrap around my neck as the kiss deepens and I can’t help the growl that escapes my throat. Shayleigh breaks the kiss, leaving me completely and utterly breathless. We’re both standing there trying to regain our composure.
“Beau, this is unexpected. I really need to tell you something,” she says, still trying to regain her control.
“I know it is, Shay, I’m sorry.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “I just want you. I’ll be here until the day you tell me to leave. Just please, don’t leave me again.”
“Beau, listen please,” she says with a shaky voice. With the kiss we just shared, how can she be so on edge? It’s almost like she’s treating me like a complete stranger and I’m not sure how to take this.
A voice breaks through before she can say another word and it startles me. It’s the voice of another guy. “Shay?”
I turn to see a guy standing behind me. My heart begins the slow descent from this insane rollercoaster. My heart isn’t strapped in and it’s plummeting at a dangerous rate.
“Shay,” he says again. “Is everything okay? Who is this?”
My heart just hit the damn pavement and I look between a very uncomfortable Shay and whoever this guy is. The guy continues to look me up and down. Shay is speechless so I take matters into my own hands.
“I’m Beau. I’m a friend of Shay’s from Louisiana.” I extend my hand to whoever this is in a friendly manner.
He gives me a strange look before raising his eyebrow, “Do you kiss all your friends like that?”
“Wyatt, it’s not what you think,” Shay tells him. My eyes meet her in a strange look as I nervously run my hands through my hair. Her feet shuffle nervously and her hands become just as restless.
“I hope it’s not what I think,” he says. “If it is, then I’ll be going.”
“No. I’m ready. Beau was just stopping by to say hi, right?” She looks at me as if my heart hadn’t just hit the damn ground. Shayleigh is now stomping on it in an unforgiving manner. Who does Wyatt think he is and why is he with my Shay?
“Uh, yeah. I’ll let you two get going.” I step forward, pulling her in for a hug. As I hold her body close, I breathe in every ounce of her sweetness. I moved all the way here to be with her without telling her and some douche has moved in on my territory. I can’t let this happen. Before I break the hug, I softly whisper into her ear, “I moved here for you, Shay. I let you go once. That damn summer changed my life. I need you and I love you. I won’t stop until you’re mine. We belong together and you know it.”
I break the hug and give Wyatt a polite grin before walking to my truck. As I drive away, I shake my head. This sure as hell isn’t how I imagined this would go. We were supposed to see each other and everything was supposed to be scripted perfectly. She’s supposed to be my happily ever after. I’m defeated, but not for long. Shayleigh belongs with me, my heart knows it. My damn heart led me miles away from home just to be with her. She’s the only one it beats for and I meant every damn word I told her. I won’t stop until she’s mine.
Chapter 1
Beau
A year has passed and I can’t recall ever seeing her with a guy, but then I guess I never looked that hard. Defeat comes creeping in but I won’t let it win. She belongs with me, I know it. I pull into my apartment complex and park my truck in front of the door. For a brief moment I sit there in complete silence, continuing to torture myself with what I just heard and saw with my own two eyes. She’s moved on. Maybe what we had should have just been left in the summer.
“Dammit,” I growl to no one in particular. There’s no one else inside the truck with me besides God himself. I can’t help but wonder if he’s up there laughing at me for being such a damn idiot. I moved here on a whim thinking true love could prevail and here I am with a crushed heart that I’m not sure can be repaired.
Exhaling, I drag myself from the cab of my truck and slowly let myself inside the apartment. Feeling sorry for myself, I walk straight to the refrigerator and grab a beer. I still want to know who the hell Wyatt is. Sienna must have not known about him because I doubt she would have allowed me to come running into this shit blindly.
My phone rings, snapping me out of my daze and it’s like her damn ears must have been burning because it’s Sienna.
“Hello?” I answer rather grumpily.
“Well geez, hello to you too, Beau. Are you still sitting around trying to figure out when to go see her?”
“No, Sienna, I just came back from seeing her and apparently she’s seeing someone. Did you know that?”
“Fuck. No, I didn’t know that. That little bitch didn’t tell me anything about a guy. I’m so damn sorry, Beau. What are you going to do?”
“Well, right now I’m going to drink myself into oblivion and then I’m going to fight for her.”
“Damn straight. I can’t believe this shit.”
“You can’t? Shit, I had my damn tongue down her throat right before he walked up. She seemed tense but I seriously didn’t think it was because of a guy. She kept saying she needed to tell me something but he fucking said it all.”
“Do you need me and Rob to come up for a little and help you?” she asks.
“No. I’m a big boy, I can handle this.” I sure as hell hope I can.
After a few more minutes of Sienna trying to convince me to let her either come down here and kill Shay or call her, we finally hang up. I finish the beer in my hand and reach for a few more. Carrying all my drinks, I walk over and plop down on the couch. My heart aches with every sip I take. The beer isn’t doing anything to help mask the pain, it’s making it more painful than it was before. I stare at my phone on the coffee table and almost will Shay’s name to pop up on the screen but nothing happens. Who am I kidding? She’s not going to call me. She’s got Mr. Perfect Wyatt taking her God knows where and doing God knows what with her. The thought of his lips and hands on her body makes me furious. My eyes see red just thinking of it and I want to punch something. Unfortunately I have to fight that urge. I don’t want to pay for any damages to this apartment.
This was supposed to be one of the best days of my life, but here I am drinking alone. She should be in my arms. I should have been making love to her right now. My hands should be running up and down her sweet body. I should be buried deep inside her, claiming what is supposed to be forever mine. Being a glutton for punishment, I know that I’ll wait for her. I don’t care how long it takes. Shay is mine.
***
Shayleigh
Seeing Beau after a year awoke every fiber in my body. He ignited all those feelings from last summer and his kiss literally took my breath away. Sienna could have told me he moved up here. I talk to her almost every damn day. She knew about Wyatt so she could have said something to stop this happening. What am I saying? I would never want Beau to know I’d attempted to move on. I’m sure that would hurt him immensely. Of course it would, it already did. I saw it with my own eyes. Hell, if I knew he had moved on it would have gutted me.
I know I don’t have the best record with men. I run when they reveal their feelings. That’s not new to me. I should have never run from Beau, but I thought it was just summer love. To hell with summer love. It’s ruined me. Beau Granger has ruined me completely and I’d let him do it all over again.
I’m brought back to reality when Wyatt grabs ahold of my hand and gives it a light squeeze. “So do you want to tell me what that really was back there, Shay?”
I really don’t want to talk about Beau at all. I’m terrified Wyatt will see right through me. I draw in a deep breath and reply, “He’s just a friend from Louisiana. I didn’t know he was even in town.”
“You know I get crazy jealous when guys even look in your direction. You’re beautiful, Shay. The guy had his tongue down your throat and honestly, I didn’t expect to see someone doing that to my girlfriend.”
I turn to face him raising my eyebrow. “Since when do we have a label, Wyatt? You’re the one who always said we shouldn’t label anything because of your role in the hospital.”
“I can’t jeopardize my career, sweets. I can’t have everyone in the hospital think I’m playing favorites. I have to treat you differently in there.”
“So taking me into the closet and practically ripping my scrubs off isn’t playing favorites?” I ask.
“No, it’s getting what I want from you. I can’t resist you.”
Laughing, I roll my eyes and turn to look out the window as he drives. “I just wasn’t aware we had a label.”
Destined for A Dirt Road (Dirt Road Summer #2) Page 1
