Page 122 of Truck Off

It’s been less than ten minutes since I left Lina alone, crying at the bar. I’ve second guessed my decision to walk away at least a million times.

Seeing her cry nearly broke me. My Lina doesn’t cry. She’s strong and fierce. Those tears meant she was hurting just as much as me.

But if I stayed, and she decided I wasn’t enough for her, then where would that leave me? I’d be hurting far worse than I already am.

I want her to return my love, but if she’s not ready for love, I have no choice but to accept that. But before we can move forward, I need to know if she even sees the possibility of loving me.

If that answer is no, then I’ll be the one crying.

But that’s a problem for later, because I’m late for the Euchre tournament. If I’ve messed up our position and forced a forfeit in the first round, Grams is going to kill me.

After tossing my truck into park, I rush toward the side entrance to the community center. It’s really an old elementary school that the town converted after they built the new school complex a few years back.

Frank, the owner of Frank’s Frosty Kreme, the only restaurant in town, is sitting at a registration table next to the back entrance to the old auditorium. He gives me a smile and pushes to his feet.

“Just made it, boy,” he says as he hands me my number and name tag. “Everyone just sat down, but the cards haven’t been dealt. Better hurry it up and get in there. Mila is about to blow a gasket.”

“Thanks, Frank.” I slap him on the shoulder and rush past him.

As soon as I enter the door, the room falls silent. The Mutter team is always tough to beat, and I’m sure everyone was secretly hoping I wouldn’t show. I scan the room, searching for Grams.

“Get your ass over here,” she yells, making her position known. “I was about to hunt you down and skin you alive.”

I sprint across the room and lean down to kiss the top of her head. She swats at me and tries to spank my ass like I’m a child. I jump out of the way and quickly sit opposite her before she embarrasses me.

“Where the hell have you been?” She narrows her eyes at me.

“Sorry.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “Had to take care of something and it took longer than expected.”

She eyes me for several beats before she lets out a breath. “You fucked things up, didn’t you?”

I furrow my brows. “Why would you say that?”

She points a finger at my face and frowns. “You’re not happy. I can only assume it’s because you’ve messed things up with Lina.”

I glance to my right to see Mrs. Engle staring at me with rapt attention. Of course the town gossip and her husband would be our first opponents. No matter what I say—or don’t say—to Grams right now, rumors about Lina and me will be flying far and wide before the sun sets.

I glare at Grams, something I rarely ever do. “Can we talk about this later?”

“No! We’re talking now. Tell me what happened so I can help you fix it.”

“You can’t, Grams.” I yell, dragging even more eyes in our direction. I drop my head and rub the back of my neck, but it does nothing to relieve the tension knotted up inside me. I look up at Grams and whisper, “Unless you have some magical way to make Lina love me, you can’t do a damn thing. Now drop it. Please.”

She opens her mouth to speak, but the moderator walks up to deliver our cards.

“Game cards,” he says as he lays the playing cards in front of Mr. Engle. “I understand you drew the dealer’s straw.” Mr. Engle nods. “And here are the score cards.” He hands the ten and six of hearts to me and the ten and six of diamonds to Mr. Engle. “The game cards are shuffled. Do not deal until we ring the bell. Good luck.”

He leaves to pass out the cards to more tables. I look around the room, taking in how many teams are playing this year. I count at least fifteen tables which means at least thirty couples entered.

I let out a heavy breath and meet Grams’s worried stare. She pinches her lips into a thin line and shakes her head. “Chase, talk to me.”

I shake my head and look anywhere but at her. If she doesn’t let this go, I’m going to lose it. Between her poking and the number of couples playing, this is going to be a long fucking day.

Chapter 29

Losing control isn’t such a bad thing

Lina

---