Cane’s sober face turns dark. “You know how it is.”
“Guess we can be single together.”
“You ever ask your followers what you should do?” Cane jerks his head toward my phone.
“Regarding Rory? Nah, but they give me free advice all the time. Do you want me to ask about your situation?”
He hesitates and then shakes his head. “No. No one can solve my problem unless you know how to bring a horse back from the dead.”
“Probably someone knows, but it’ll come back mad and haunted and eat up the entire town until there’s nothing left but empty corpses and shit.”
Cane snorts. “Tyson, Halloween is over. It’s Christmas time.” He points to the main street where the wreaths and lights got hung last week. “Can’t you see?”
“Zombies don’t care about the holidays. Every day is an eating day for them.” I snap my fingers. “That’s actually some good content. I’ll see what the followers think. Why don’t you walk like the undead for me and I’ll post it.”
Cane obliges because what else does he have to do? Like me, all his time is spent waiting for his woman to join him by his side. It’s not really living, though. You can’t really live unless you have your soulmate next to you, but I can—and will—be patient. At some point, Rory will figure out that I’m the man for her. It might not be today or tomorrow, but it’ll happen. No doubt in my mind.
CHAPTER 2
RORY
He’s driving me insane. But even worse, he’s actually wearing me down. From the very start I’ve had no idea what to do with Tyson Carter. Growing up in somewhat of a small town, everyone knows Tyson. He graduated last year, but still he lingers around Edison.
He could have gone off to any college he wanted. Not only because of his skill on the football field but also his family name. But I guess when you don’t have to worry about money, you can do whatever your heart desires. I don’t have that privilege.
Needless to say, he’s still in Edison making social media videos and becoming more famous with each day that passes. The girls online swoon over him, and all the boys want to be him. The recent comments on his posts are all about how he stays in Edison because of me. That thought had never once occurred to me. I still find that hard to believe, but with each passing day I start to think maybe it is actually true. And I’m not sure what to do with that.
I pull out my phone when I park outside of my next delivery and do what I always tell myself I’m not going to do. I check to see if Tyson posted again. He has. It’s a video of me from a few minutes ago. I notice that the likes and comments are rolling in already. Lately he’s been posting more and more that pertains to me.
I glare at the one from Jessica saying she's more than willing to be Tyson’s girl. That he wouldn’t have to ask her twice or chase her. I shouldn’t care, but I can’t help but be pissy about it. I don’t want Tyson, but no one else should have him either. It’s a ridiculous way of thinking, but it’s all in my head, and no one will ever have to know.
I scream when an unexpected knock sounds at my window. Astor holds her hands up, mouthing the word sorry. She takes a step back so I can open the door.
“Didn’t mean to scare you.” She gives me a warm smile. I always admire that about her. Astor understands hard work too. She’s worked on her family's farm since she could walk. There is nothing that she loves more than horses. Well, out loud at least. It suddenly dawns on me that we actually have a shit ton in common. Even though she’s a handful of years older than me.
“I was playing with my phone. Sorry. I’ve got your delivery in the back.” I jump down from my Jeep and go around to grab her order from the hardware store.
“You’re fine. Sorry for the last-minute delivery. I couldn’t get away.”
“Anytime. You know that.” I hand her over the box. She doesn’t actually get deliveries from me often. I know money can be tight for her too, so she usually runs her own errands if she can. Every penny matters when you don’t have family money to fall back on.
“You hear we might actually get snow?” I drop my head back to look up at the graying sky.
“It might be nice,” I admit. Astor makes a noise, clearly not agreeing with me. Then again, I don’t have horses to worry about and whatever else they have going on here. I know she does the bulk of work on the land, and I’m guessing snow would only make things harder for her.