Page 56 of The Story We Wrote

“I’m going to grab us some snacks, any requests?” I asked, leaning over the console to kiss Boone.

“Surprise me,” he responded against my lips.

Climbing out of the jeep, I jogged over to get in line at the snack stand. Standing by myself, I bounced from one foot to the other, taking in all the sights. It’d been a while since I came here, and it brought back a lot of good memories from my childhoodand teenage years. Nothing had changed, everything looked just as old as it did years ago. The paint was chipping from the white wood where the stand stood, the old trash cans were a rust color from the weather, and even the grass was so packed down that there was no green left.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by someone calling my name from behind me. “Aspen? Is that you?” a sweet voice sang. Spinning around, I saw Marjorie approaching the line. Marjorie was one of the ladies my mom played dominos with once a week. My stomach dropped when the dread flooded in.

“Oh! Hi Mrs. Winchester!” I said back, trying to sound happy to see her. The lady had a big mouth and couldn’t keep a damn secret. The only thing bigger than her mouth was probably the fire engine red hair that sat on her head. You wanted the town’s gossip, she had it ready to serve on a silver platter.

She pulled me in for a hug, joining me in line. “Congratulations on all the success at the farm stand!” she praised me. “Those muffin jars are amazing. What a perfect idea!”

“Thank you!” I responded, fake smiling at her. “It was nice to see you!” I was trying to dismiss her and avoid having to answer any questions from the nosy woman.

Marjorie looked around, acting like she was trying to find someone. “Who are you here with, sweetie? I hope not by yourself.” She was searching for information to add to her gossip spank bank.

“Uh, no, I’m not alone.” It didn’t matter if I did lie and say I was alone because that would also be talk of the town.

Pathetic Aspen was at the drive-in theater by herself; she must be on drugs. I could see it now.

“A date then? Who’s the lucky man?” she asked, bumping her shoulder into mine.

“Um, uh,” I stuttered, trying to find the right answer. Do I lie and continue the cycle of protecting my parents from finding out the truth, or do I take this newfound confidence and stick up for what I wanted? If Boone and I were serious about seeing where this goes, lying wasn’t going to make anything easier. “I’m here with Boone Cassidy.” I felt the dread dissipate from my body. It felt damn good to say that out loud. I, Aspen, was here, on a date, with the wickedly handsome Boone, and I had nothing to be ashamed of!

“Oh!” Marjorie squealed, bringing her hand to her chest in surprise. “How shocking.” It was now my turn to order.

Before stepping up the counter, I said to Marjorie, “Have a good night, Mrs. Winchester,” to make clear it was the end of our conversation.

With snacks piled in my arms and a Dr. Pepper in my hands, I opened the car door. “I bought one of everything.” I laughed, handing Boone the drink before climbing inside.

“I can see that.” He laughed, grabbing candy boxes from my grip so I didn’t drop the popcorn. “We are covered for many movie nights.”

“Guess who I ran into in line,” I said, opening the bag of sour gummy worms because I needed to stuff my face with candy. Boone looked at me skeptically, obviously clueless. “Mrs. Winchester,” I said, washing the candy down with a handful of popcorn.

Boone huffed, “Oh shit. Did you tell her you were here with me?”

“Yup,” I responded confidently. “Your bachelor status will be nonexistent tomorrow, because it’ll be front-page news by the morning.”

Boone must’ve sensed something in me, worry, anticipation of the inevitable maybe? He took the candy I was inhaling frommy grasp and put it down. “What’s going on up there?” he asked, pointing to my head.

Sighing I replied, “I didn’t want to lie. If we’re going to try the whole dating thing out, I have to be honest and ready for the repercussions. You’re probably sick and tired of hearing me bitch about my parents and how they make me feel. It’s been twenty-five years of the same pattern. I couldn’t break anxiety and dread overnight, but telling Mrs. Winchester is a step in the right direction of claiming my life as mine.” Boone was gentle when he grabbed my hand, giving me a soft smile.

“I know, Darling. Why don’t you go see your parents tomorrow and talk to them? I can come with you if you’d like?” Boone said, bringing the back of my hand to his mouth for a kiss.

“No, no,” I sighed. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to be a big girl and grow up.” I’d go see my parents tomorrow; it was time to quit being a bitch and own up. I appreciated Boone’s support, but doing this alone was what I needed. I knew it wasn’t going to go well, but I hoped I was wrong.

Twenty Seven

Boone

Logan texted us all, asking to meet up. We hadn’t all hung out since the rodeo, and even then, Logan wasn’t there. I was officially a taken man, and I planned on telling the guys tonight. I’ve thought a lot about what they said. I’d been keeping the feelings I had for Aspen a secret, not intentionally. I think I was afraid of what they would think or say. I’m not an emotional guy, but I am an honest one.

I arrived at The Tequila Cowboy first. We chose here because we knew Mac would be working, and it was only fair that if we were all getting together, we had to include him too. The bar was pretty slow, considering it was a random weeknight.

The Tequila Cowboy brought in three groups of people. You had your regulars, the ones who came every night just to get away from their wives, the miserable fucks who didn’t have wives, and the couples who liked the beer and food. Tonight, maybe eight other people were in the bar beside us.

Mac wiped down the bar in front of me. “What can I get ya?” he asked, taking a pull of his cigarette.

The Tequila Cowboy allowed smoking inside, because if they didn’t, the town would’ve rioted ages ago.

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