Southern Chance (Southern 1)

“Thank you,” Kallie says. “I wish I could go back eight years, and things would be different, but we all made choices that day, and we all have to live with them.”

“Well, this has been exhausting,” Billy finally says and walks over to the liquor cabinet and takes out his bottle of whiskey. Pouring himself a shot, he drinks it and then pours another. He walks over and takes out more shot glasses and fills them and lifts one. “To Gabriel.”

We all walk over to the table and grab one. I raise my glass. “To my boy Gabriel,” I say and grab Kallie and kiss her. “To our boy.”

Kallie and I sit on the swing outside on her porch, and I look in at my mother and Charlotte talking quietly on the couch as she holds the picture of Gabriel in her hand. “Are you going to go pack a bag?”

“When is Ethan coming back?” she asks.

“Savannah texted me today that she’s staying until Tuesday since Ethan has a school holiday on Monday and Tuesday,” I say, and she looks at me.

“Don’t you work tomorrow?”

“I do,” I say. “And?”

“Well, I guess I could come and then come here when you leave,” she says, and I just look out at the trees.

“Or you could stay at my house.” I look over at her, and she just looks at me.

“I have to work, and all my stuff is here,” she says, “so I will come over tonight, but tomorrow, I’ll come here and work. Then you can pick me up after work, and I can come back to your place.”

I nod my head. “That sounds good. Tuesday night, I want you to meet Ethan.”

“He’s just been away from you for four days, and you’re going to just bring me in?” She turns to look at me.

“Yup,” I say. “I already spoke to him about you. So laying the groundwork has already started.”

“Jacob.” She says my name, and I stand and look down at her.

“Kallie, I’m done wasting fucking time,” I say. “I’m done. Starting tomorrow, I don’t care who knows and who doesn’t that we are together. Actually, starting now, I don’t care. We can go down to Main Street and make out in the middle of the street and give them all something to talk about.”

She rolls her lips, hiding the smile. “So touchy.”

“Yeah. I am. Now go get a bag,” I say and then shake my head. “Fuck it, don’t get a bag. You can wear my shirt to bed.” I pull her up by her hand, and I’m about to put her over my shoulder when she pulls her hand away.

“Hold your horses. I’m going to pack a bag.” She shakes her head. “Don’t be blowin’ up a storm.” I smile now.

“There’s my country girl.” I walk to her. “Pretty as a peach.”

“Hush your mouth and kiss me,” she says, the same thing she used to always say to me when she had enough of what we were talking about.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kallie

“I’ll pick you up at five,” Jacob says from beside me, my eyes looking out the window. “Kallie.” He calls my name, and I look over at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say. Looking back out the window, I don’t want to make eye contact with him because he’s going to see right through me. “I’m not feeling well.”

“Really?” he says like he doesn’t believe me, and I wouldn’t either. This morning, I was fine. I woke up with him giving me little kisses on my bare shoulder, my tank top pushed up while he held my breast in his hand. It took a matter of sixty seconds for him to turn me on my back and slide into me. For the past two days, it’s been bliss to wake up with each other every single morning and have dinner with each other. And then just sitting with each other before bed is everything, but, and there was a huge but. “You were fine this morning.”

“Yeah.” I watch the trees fly by as he drives me home. “Well, it just hit me.”

“Interesting,” he says, and I hate the way he says it as though he knows I’m bullshitting. I know I’m bullshitting, but I don’t need him to know.

“Does this not feeling good have anything to do with you meeting Ethan tonight?”

I glare over at him. “No.”

“Liar,” he says, trying not to laugh, and looking at the road while he grabs my hand and brings it to his lips. “It’s going to be fine.”

“Is it?” I ask him. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.” He side-eyes me. “Maybe we should just go slow. Like maybe this weekend I can come over for breakfast, and we can see how that goes.” He pulls into the driveway of Casey’s house. “Or we can have cake or something.”