“Yeah, she moved.” Sienna pipes up. I’m hoping that ends the conversation, but Rob looks at me a little harder.
“Oh, shit.” He says loudly. “I fucking know who you are now! This just made my fucking night. You’re the one who used to call my man here, Busty Beau.”
The color drains from my face and I suddenly want to down every single cup of beer on this table. Sienna cuts Rob a look, but the damage is done. I’m afraid to look over at Beau, but my eyes betray me and land straight on his. I knew this was too good to be true.
Chapter 7
Beau’s eyes don’t leave mine for a good few minutes. I’m not sure how to feel right now. Everyone is laughing around us, but Sienna grabs ahold of my arm and pulls me close to her.
“I had no clue Rob knew who you were Shay.” She whispers.
All I can do is nod my head. There are no words I can think of. Beau finally breaks eye contact with me and it feels like I’ve been punched in the stomach. Like nothing happened, he picks up one of the ping pong balls and throws it towards our cups. Like always, it goes straight in and I grab the cup like it’s the last drink on Earth and down it. Rob goes next and misses. He hasn’t stopped laughing since he figured out who I was. Hell, I don’t even recognize him from when we were younger.
“Fuck, I can’t believe I missed that.” He says still laughing.
The rest of the game seems absolutely torturous. Beau hasn’t looked at me since Rob’s outburst and I am pretty much wanting to go back to Sienna’s. She’s having fun so I don’t want to ruin her night. I can suck it up and for her, I will.
Of course Rob and Beau win leaving us a few cups of beer to drink. I’m feeling like shit so I tell Sienna I’ll drink them all. Beau disappears into the crowd. I have no clue where he’s going and part of me wants to chase him, but I don’t. Rob walks up to Sienna and pulls her in for a kiss. Ugh, stupid love birds. I guess I won’t ever know what Beau Granger’s lips taste like now.
“Hey Shay, I’m so sorry. I didn’t introduce you to Rob earlier.” Sienna says proudly showing him off. She should be proud. He is hot, just like she said.
Rob smiles and pulls me in for a hug. I almost want to jab him in the ribs for ruining everything, but I don’t. “I don’t think I knew you when we were younger.” I tell him.
“No, we didn’t know each other well, but I remember the Busty Beau shit. That was hilarious.”
“I seriously didn’t think anyone would have remembered that. I didn’t even know that’s who he was until Sienna told me.” I tell him.
“Well fuck, this is crazy because all he’s talked about was you since the day he changed your flat tire.” He tells me.
Beau has been talking about me? Hearing that makes my heart flutter but it stops when I realize he probably doesn’t give two shits about me now. “Where do you think he went? I probably need to talk to him and try to at least smooth things out.”
Rob stretches his neck to look around the crowd. There are more people here now than before, so I pretty much expect it when he turns back to me and says he doesn’t know. A song comes on that Sienna loves and she grabs Rob by his waist and begins grinding on him. I lean towards her and tell her I’m going to find Beau. I’m fixing this right now.
It takes a minute or two to maneuver through the countless bodies, but I finally make it through. No luck on finding Beau though. Seriously, how hard is it to locate someone that looks that damn good? Pretty damn hard, obviously.
The urge to pee hits me and I begin to walk towards the house. I’ll resume my search in a few minutes. There’s a few girls standing outside the bathroom waiting in line and I can’t help but groan. I shouldn’t have drank all that beer and now it’s begging to exit my bladder. I stand there bouncing on my feet trying to get my mind off of it. When the door opens, I can’t contain my excitement when the next girl goes in. After what seems like an eternity, it’s finally my turn. I all but run into the bathroom and the minute I sit down, I’m instantly relieved. As I wash my hands, I hear a voice in the hall that sound familiar. It’s him. My palms begin sweating even after I dry them and I wipe them on my shorts. It’s now or never.
I open the door and can’t find him. What the hell? I just heard him. I don’t see anyone inside, which is weird considering just a few minutes ago there were a ton of people just waiting to use the bathroom. I’m aggravated and I can’t help but groan. I guess I’ll go find Sienna and be the third wheel.
I walk towards the door ready to be greeted by the hot summer air again, when a hand reaches out and grabs mine. I nearly jump as I turn around to see who it is. My heart somersaults in my chest when I see it’s Beau. He leads me into the kitchen and corners me in front of the cabinets. My heart is beating so wildly, I can barely think.
His blue eyes are burning holes in mine, but I don’t care right now. He’s so close I can smell everything about him and he smells like pure country heaven. I open my mouth to try to speak, but he puts his finger in front of my mouth. I swallow and try to regain control of my breath, but nothing is working. I almost wish someone would walk in here right now but at the same time, I don’t want them too.
“You,” he says. “Do you even feel sorry for what you did to me?” he asks quietly.
“I swear, I had no idea that was you.” I squeak out.
“I have no clue why I never recognized you. You made my life hell even after you moved away.”
“I’m sorry Beau, I really am.” I tell him as sincerely as possible.
"Why did you move anyway? Couldn't take the guilt of possibly ruining a boy’s life?" He almost spits out with his face continuing to harden.
I'm slightly taken back by his words, but that doesn't stop me from replying, "My mom left my Dad alone and we made a fresh start, if you really want to know."
He stands there for a minute analyzing me. I don't know what he's waiting on. His hardened face slowly starts to return to the Beau I love looking at.
“I really want nothing more to be mad at you, but honestly Shay, I don’t give a shit about back then.”