Love At First Sight (Southern Bride 1)

“It’s not about that, Chloe Cat.”

“Okay, then what’s it about?”

I shook my head as she reached over and took my hand. Closing my eyes, I squeezed her hand. “Nothing. I’ll figure it out.”

“Rip, I’m here if you need to talk.”

My head lifted off the seat, and I turned to face her. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. I need you to know that.”

She smiled, and my heart felt like it jumped in my chest. “I know. We did the whole blood oath in fifth grade, remember?”

Laughing, I nodded. “I remember. My mother was pissed I got blood on her suede sofa.”

Chloe giggled. “I forgot about that part.”

With a long, deep exhale, I turned the truck on and pulled out of the parking lot. “Come on, I need to get you home. I promised your dad you wouldn’t be late for family dinner night.”

“Family dinner night at the Parker house. I don’t know why my grandmother insists on keeping them up. It’s a total nut house!”

“Is Patches still on lockdown?”

Chloe and Patches were thick as thieves. At times, I thought Patches truly believed he was human. And he lived for annoying Chloe’s Aunt Waylynn, who also lived on the ranch with my older brother Jonathon in one of the guest houses. They were married with two kids. Liberty and Hudson. It was weird to think Liberty and Hudson were my niece and nephew, and Chloe’s cousins, too. We were already sort of non-blood related, which was crazy.

She chewed on her lip. “Yeah. He got into the house the other day and ate all of my grandmother’s plants. It was hours before anyone noticed he was in there.”

I laughed. “Who found him?”

“Me! And thank God. He was laying on Granddaddy’s favorite chair. You should have seen him, Rip,” she said, laughing harder. “He was sound asleep and the chewed-on remote was sticking halfway out of his mouth!”

“That damn goat. Your daddy says Patches is never going to die because you spoil him so much.”

Her arms wrapped around her body, and her smile faded. “I’m not sure what I’ll do when he does.”

“I promise you, when that time comes, I’ll be there.”

I could feel her eyes on me. “You swear, Rip. No matter what, you’ll be there for me?”

Stopping at a red light, I faced Chloe. “I swear on my life.”

Chloe

“HE HASN’T BEEN able to keep his eyes off you all night.”

I turned to look at Alyssa. “Yes, he has.”

She rolled her eyes. “Chloe, the moment Rip saw you in that dress, he couldn’t form words. Prom is almost over. Are you going to tell him?”

Chewing my lip, I shrugged.

Rip and Mike had been talking to the DJ before heading toward us.

“They’re going to play the last song, Chloe. Just do it.”

Stopping in front of me, Rip looked into my eyes. “You look so serious.”

I shook my head. “Just can’t believe prom is almost over.”

He took me into his arms. I laughed. “Um, Rip, there is no music.”

The way he smiled made my heart leap. An old song from a group called the Dixie Chicks started to play. It was a song that Rip’s mother, Kristin, loved. I wanted to sing the words to him because I wanted him to do the very thing they sang. Cowboy, take me away.

Rip and I started to two-step, which was not easy to do in heels. A part of me wondered if Rip had asked the DJ to play the song. When he held me closer I felt my heart jump to my throat. I rested my head on his chest and prayed the moment wouldn’t end.

When the song finally did, I looked up at Rip. He leaned down and for the briefest moment I thought he was going to kiss me. My breath caught in my throat as he looked down to my lips, then back to my eyes.

“Chloe,” he whispered.

Swallowing hard, I opened my mouth to tell him I loved him. That I wanted more than just a friendship, but the fire alarms went off, most likely a prank, but everyone panicked as teachers and administrators ushered us out of the ball room. Rip had a firm hold of my hand as we quickly made it out of the building. My one chance to tell Rip how I felt slipped right through my fingers.

The rest of the night our entire class was locked in at Main Event where everyone spent the rest of the night acting like middle school kids. We played laser tag, climbed ropes, played video games, and avoided talking about our futures.

I stood in the middle of the apartment I was sharing with Alyssa, a huge smile on my face.

Alyssa walked in and dropped a bag.

“That’s it. The last of my stuff.”

She walked over to me and laced her arm in mine. “We are officially college students.”