Page 13 of Cold Snap
“I’ll get her…as long as you promise not to do something stupid that would force me to have to kill you.”
We stare each other down for a moment before I accede.
“Yeah, okay, alright.”
He walks away, leaving the door open with me half in and half out of it. Oakley looks at me a moment and then steps back with a sweep of her hand, telling me to come on in.
“How old are you?”
“Me? I’m nineteen.”
“Nineteen-fucking-years-old! Unbelievable!”
“I’m guessing Terry lied about our ages to you, how old did she say we were?”
“She said she was twenty-six at first.” Her brows go way up. “When I caught her in the lie, she said she was twenty-four.”
“And you believed her?” I give her angry eyes before her eyes go big. “Oh my God! That’s how she was getting all the alcohol! She wasn’t blackmailing you about watering your beer down at all.”
“What?! What the fuck?! I have never!”
She giggles a little bit, but then turns serious. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but I do know she likes you…a lot. She’s been crushing on you for years, so…go easy on her.”
“She’s a baby!”
She looks me up and down, and I realize little Oakley Nesbit sees a lot more than she lets on.
“Maybe, but who do you want to be there when she’s not a baby anymore, if you know what I mean?”
God damn it! God damn it!
Before I can tell her all the reasons I can’t be with her friend, Waylon is coming from the back with his head down and a frown on his face.
“She’s gone.”
“Gone!”
“She left out a back window.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
He shakes his head.
“You can probably still catch her if you go now.” Oakley looks at me before pushing me out the door.
“Take Willow Street. That’s the way she goes when she doesn’t want to be seen.” I give a quick nod to her brother for hisextra help and turn to go. Only to reverse directions. It’s going to be easier if I have wheels.
Chapter Ten
Teresa
Escaped just in time! I slow down the farther away from Waylon’s I get. I knew. I knew who was on the other side of that door. And I just didn’t want to see him or hear what he was going to say. Not that he was stopping by to see me. He didn’t even know I was there, to be fair. Once I went home and had a good cry, I pulled myself together enough to go check on Waylon and Oakley.
He called, but I ignored it. There’s nothing he can really say to me that he hasn’t already made devastatingly clear. And the last thing I want is for Waylon or my family to find out how stupid I was for lusting after him. Stupid, immature…dumbass! That’s me! A stupid girl who thought her silly crush would become the hero of her dreams and sweep her off her feet once she nailed him down!
Thinking about it, I'm aware of how silly it is now. I can also relate to why Landry doesn’t want to fool around where he lives. It’s going to be so embarrassing having to live with this, knowing every time I go to the bar with family -because I’m not going there by myself anymore- I’ll have to relive that moment all over again. Every time I want someone to take me out, I’ll have my first kiss right there beside me. Not that I’m going to be out on any dates for the foreseeable future. Who the hell would I even ask? Aarons? Oh yeah, the last thing I want is to go to Land’s Endand fake interest under the watchful eyes of the man who has my heart but doesn’t want it.
Will it be like this forever? Have I ruined…everything? Not going to the bar is one thing, but pulling away from my dad and my brother so I don’t have to listen to anything about Land is another. Yeah, I made the mistake, and I have to live with it, but I’m going to need some advice or a How-To book or something.
