Waylynn burst out laughing.
“He didn’t know it wasn’t working at the time of pulling me out. But he had this tiny little space heater he said he used when you’d stay. He’d put it out by you just in case it got too cold. So he turns it on, closes the door to his bedroom, and lets me stay in there while he went and found some chick to shack up with for the night,” I continued, remembering the story fondly. “It didn’t get too warm, but with all the blankets, I was warm enough. There was this soft pink one that was particularly—”
“That was mine,” she interrupted. “I’d left it there the weekend before.”
“Well, that one wrapped around my head like a scarf the entire night,” I admitted. “Smelled like…”
“Baby powder and strawberries,” she offered.
“Baby powder and strawberries,” I confirmed. “You know that smell?”
She moved until her hand was in front of my face. That was when I smelled the baby powder.
Then she moved some more, and her wet hair was dangling over my body. Almost like it would if…
“Strawberry shampoo and conditioner,” she said. “Baby powder scented lotion.”
It made sense now.
Also, my dick was now as hard as a pike, and there wouldn’t be any sleeping for me tonight.
Not without some relief.
Relief that I likely wouldn’t find with the walls as thin as they were, and the bathroom only a few short feet away from where we were currently lying.
“He gave that pink blanket to one of his chicks the next day,” she said. “It was my favorite blanket. It was soft and had clouds on it or something. I think maybe rainbows, too. I got it from one of my grandparents. I lost my shit on my dad that next week because of it.”
I frowned. “Why’d he give it to her?”
“Because she said it was soft and it was cute,” she answered. “Literally. That’s it. She said it was cute, and he said, ‘you should take it.’” I felt the bed shake. “That’s it. And he didn’t even know her all that well.”
I couldn’t help myself from replying.
“Your dad doesn’t seem to know any woman all that well,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t stop him from dating her and almost marrying every last one of them.”
She sighed. “It’s like his disease. Meet girl. Fall in love. Make her your fiancée. Break up. Meet girl. Etc.”
I snorted.
“This one, though?” she said. “This one is different. He wouldn’t have given me this house if he’d known that it was going to be something long-lasting, at least on his part. He may be impulsive and fall in love easily, but he’s also practical. He knows that eventually the girl will wise up and leave. Then on to the next chick that’ll hold his heart for however long she’s willing to keep it.”
I moved until my hands were resting underneath my head.
“Did he say ‘have this?’” I asked curiously. “Like it’s for sure yours?”
She moved until she was facing me.
I could feel her hot breath on my armpit.
I was tempted to move my arm down, but then I’d feel it on my arm, and I wasn’t sure if that was worse.
“He said in a text message that he might deed the ‘shit’ over to me,” she answered. “Kilgore isn’t on his radar anymore, apparently. New Braunfels is. He’s already started looking for land down there. He said that the paperwork should arrive on Monday, and I’m allowed to sell it if I really want to.”
I tried not to be bitter over the fact that she had the land that I wanted.
I wasn’t sure why I wanted it.
I’d seen the place as the shithole that it was, but I also saw it as my ticket to freedom. My ticket to my brothers finally seeing me as my own person. But also not moving too far away from them in case they needed me.
“You gonna sell?” I asked, wishing I had the money to straight out buy it from her.
“No,” she said. “I kind of like it here. I just hope that I can find a job utilizing my degree.”
I thought about that for a second and then thought about how Candy’s father, Rob, had offered me a job working for him after finding out that I was graduating with my degree in architecture.
After turning him down, he’d actually seemed kind of sad because he’d been looking for someone to join his team for a long time.
It wasn’t every day that you could find an architect fresh out of school that’d be willing to work for the kind of pay that Rob was able to pay.
But Waylynn had been in the program with me.
She’d also be more than capable of doing the things that Rob needed done.
Making a mental note to call him tomorrow, I felt a yawn creep up.