Page 28 of Why We Break

“Of course I didn’t. God, you’re such a smart ass. I meant why are you out here by yourself in the dark? I mean, I’m not complaining…but this fence is decades old, an extra day or two isn’t gonna hurt it,” she says, moving to help me stretch the roll so it’s easier to attach.

“Just thought I’d get some of this knocked out,” I mumble, trying to change the topic. We work in comfortable silence for a few moments, until I try to move around her the way I need to, and I catch a whiff of her familiar vanilla scent. Suddenly, the fence is the last thing on my mind and all I can think about is pressing her hot skin against me. She moves closer, trying to make sure the wire is straight, and her mouth hovers close enough to mine that I feel her breath against my cheek.

I shift, without even thinking, until our mouths are centimeters away from each other, and we both freeze, waiting to see if either of us will breach the short distance. We stay like that for a long moment, and just when I’m about to say fuck it, I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. Both of us turn to see one of the cows walking over, inspecting the work we’re doing. It’s nothing out of the norm around here, but it’s enough to ruin the moment we’re having and I want to growl in frustration.

“Hey, Cletus,” Hannah coos, reaching out and patting the bull’s head. “Buddy, whatcha doing, huh?” She steps closer and wraps her arms around the animal’s neck, and I have the fleeting thought that I’m really fucking losing it because I’m jealous that a cow’s getting her attention rather than me.

“Jesus, Hannah. You do realize that these aren’t little pets. That bull weighs over three thousand pounds, and you just dote on him like he couldn’t trample you in a fucking second,” I sneer, sounding much more annoyed than I intended.

“Will, I swear. You act like I don’t know how to run this place. Newsflash, I can. Spending a few weeks here that summer doesn’t mean you know every damn thing. I don’t need your help for fucking everything,” she growls, and we both stop because it’s the first time either of us has referenced anything that happened that summer since the night she tore it all to shit in my truck.

We stare at each other for a moment, and I think she’s going to finally acknowledge the way we used to be but instead, she just turns back to the bull. “Plus, Cletus would never hurt me, would you baby? No, you know you’re my favorite, don’t you? I know, but don’t tell the others I said that.”

Turning my back to her, I make quick work of finishing up the section of fence line I tore down earlier and throw all the tools in the bucket they were stored in. There’s really no reason for me to still be standing here, but I can’t force myself to leave. Between visiting her in her room at school today and now, this is the first time in years we’ve been alone, and I can’t ignore the desire I have to try to force her to talk to me. This secret between us has been like a cancer, spreading through our lives and keeping us both from moving on. I open my mouth, trying to decide what to say, but just before I start, her phone rings.

She steps back from where she was still petting Cletus and answers. “Hey, Caroline. The paper with the new counts for those stunts? Yeah, it’s in my backpack from practice. Let me grab it.”

And just like that, she walks away, barely throwing a hand up in my direction as she heads to the house. Shaking my head, I grab my tools and throw them in the truck, pausing when I realize the spot in the driveway looks familiar. I push down the pang in my chest as I stare at the place that used to be ours, before turning and slamming the tailgate closed in frustration.

God, how the hell did we fuck this up so bad?

CHAPTER 22

WILL

SEVEN SUMMERS AGO

God, this feels like a bad idea.

It’s after eleven and I’m sitting halfway down the driveway to Hannah’s house, waiting for her to sneak out and meet me. Tomorrow is her twenty-first birthday, and when I’d told her I wanted to start the day with her, she’d immediately suggested a late-night date by the creek.

Part of me feels ridiculous, acting like a couple of high schoolers when I’m about to start my senior year of college, but I have to admit that there’s something a little exciting about sneaking around with her. In reality, I know her gramps really wouldn’t care, but telling him we were spending time outside of work would also come with more questions. Plus, he’s technically my boss for the summer, so I can’t help feeling like we might be playing with fire.

But, judging by the fact that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Hannah since I started, I don’t think I really care if I get burned. Something about these last few days have been a special type of torture. If I’m really honest, I have to admit that I’m falling fast for this girl, and I don’t know what to do about it. The more time I spend with her, the more I want to know about her. Not to mention the fact that she’s hot as hell and the way she’s kissed me has had all sorts of fantasies running through my head.

Before I can let that train of thought go for too long, I see Hannah running toward my truck in the moonlight, and I can’t help but smile when she jumps in the truck and immediately leans over to plant a quick kiss on my mouth.

“Hey, birthday girl,” I tell her, smiling as I reach out to pull her to me, wanting another taste of her, but she pulls back and winks in my direction.

“Uh-uh. Not too fast. If we start all that up here, I won’t want to stop. Let’s get down to the creek, then we’ll see about another kiss,” she teases, before leaning over and dropping another peck on my cheek.

I let out a groan before turning on the truck, leaving the headlights off as I turn off the drive and cut through one of the pastures to avoid getting too close to the house. We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes as we bump through the fields until I can’t stand it. Keeping my eyes on the field, I reach out and pull her across the front seat of my ancient crew cab Ford. She slides across eagerly, sliding herself under my arm and leaning against me as I drive.

“So, where’d you tell your mom you were off to?” she asks, sliding her hand across my lap to pull herself closer to me.

“Just told her I was going to see some friends. Honestly, with all four of my siblings, she’s got her hands full,” I tell her, slowing as I pull through the opening of the trees to get to the pond.

“I bet. How are your siblings? Gosh, I bet they’re so old now.”

“Yeah, it still catches me off guard sometimes. They’re good. Ollie’s getting ready for his senior year, and then Andrew and Luke are starting their sophomore year, and Kit’s about to be in the ninth grade.”

“That’s wild. I know they’re happy to have you home for the summer,” she says, and I nod.

“I guess so. You know the middle three are typical teenagers so I don’t know that they’re happy about much of anything, but I’ve enjoyed it. We’ve tried to do dinner all together at least once a week despite everyone having an incredibly busy schedule, and I’ve enjoyed spending time with them. At least Kit’s always excited to see me.”

“I remember when she used to dress up in a little Springside cheerleading outfit and cheer with us at the games. She is so precious,” Hannah says, and I laugh at the memory.

“God, I remember that. Mom used to have to bribe her to take the stupid thing off long enough to wash the grass stains out.”

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