Smirking, she nodded her head. “Have at it.”
“Why is a girl as beautiful as you not dating anyone? You mentioned last summer about fighting your own fears.”
Grace began chewing on her lower lip. “Talk to me, Sweet Pea. Please.”
Grace looked down as her eyebrows pinched together as if she was thinking of something. “I did meet someone.”
Smiling, I tilted her chin up. Looking into her eyes I saw nothing but sadness. “And?”
Swallowing hard, I watched as a tear slowly moved down my sister’s face. My entire world stopped. I was going to kill the motherfucker if he hurt my sister. Keeping calm, I waited for her to say something. It felt like time was moving in slow motion as I waited for Grace to talk.
“We had an amazing connection, but, I—I pushed him away. I said some awful things to him, Luke. I didn’t mean them at all. I saw the hurt in his eyes. I won’t ever let myself be hurt again by someone and I didn’t know what to do. I was scared by how I felt and I panicked. Now, I think I’ve lost him forever.”
Closing my eyes, I pulled her into my arms as she began to cry. I’ve never seen my sister cry. Ever. “Shh, it’s okay, Grace. We’ll fix it. I promise.”
She shook her head as she pulled away. “You can’t. He’s getting married.”
LUKE HELD ME in his arms as we stood and talked to Roy. Roy had thrown a party to celebrate how well the football team did this season. Luke said Roy used any excuse to throw a party. I looked around and saw Colt leaning against the wall smiling politely at a few girls who were talking to him. Colt had an amazing season. Smiling, I watched as he charmed them with his handsome good looks, dimples, and sky-blue eyes.
I turned and saw Lauren walking in with Bruce. He did not seem like the type she would be with. He was cute that was for sure. Dark-brown hair, amber-green eyes, backward baseball cap that made him even cuter and a pretty rocking body. Bruce couldn’t hold a candle to Will, Colt, or Luke’s body. Turning, I looked at Luke. My eyes traveled down his body. He had on Wrangler jeans that fit him oh so good, a tight, blue T-shirt that hugged his muscles in that perfect sexy way. His messy brown hair had that just-fucked look and he was sporting a three-day stubble.
Oh lord. The way his body made my body hum with desire was unreal. Chewing on the inside of my cheek to get my libido under check, I looked back at Lauren. I frowned as I watched Bruce lean down and kiss her. I prayed to God she hadn’t given herself to him. Bruce didn’t seem like the type who would wait patiently. They had been dating for three months now.
Luke sighed. “Shit, Colt should probably find someone soon. It looks like Lauren has.”
Turning around, I looked at Colt who was glaring at Lauren and Bruce. Before I knew it, he grabbed one of the girls and brought her out to the dance floor. My mouth dropped open at the way he was dancing with her. “Oh my gosh, Luke. What is Colt doing? He looks like he’s about to crawl into her pants,” I said, looking at Luke.
Looking back at them, Colt’s hands were all over the girl and she was just as bad. Her hands were on his ass, pulling him closer to her. The moment their lips touched, I let out a gasp. “No. Oh gosh, Luke. He’s gonna turn into a man whore!”
I turned away. I couldn’t watch him anymore. This was the fourth girl I’d seen him making-out with in the last two weeks. Will and Luke had a party last weekend and I watched as Colt made out with one girl in a corner and then leave with another girl.
Luke grabbed my hand and led me across the dance floor. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“I need fresh air.”
Luke walked over to his truck and dropped my hand. He ran both hands down his face and let out a sigh. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
Turning to look at me, Luke shook his head. “Colt’s headed down the wrong path and I have no idea how to stop him. I’m afraid he is going to do something stupid and make a mistake that will cost him his future. Have you talked to Lauren? What is going on with the two of them?”
“I know Lauren has feelings for Colt. The summer before their senior year I guess they spent some time alone, things got a bit heavy and they ended up making out pretty good. Lauren said she practically begged Colt to take her, but he wouldn’t, not in his truck. He told her he wanted it to be special.”
Luke smiled slightly. “Good. I’m glad he stopped it.”
I nodded my head and continued. “A few days later, Lauren was riding with her dad. You know Lauren wants nothing more than to take over her father’s breeding business. Horses are that girl’s life. She told Grace and me that she had some great ideas, but Scott wouldn’t listen to her. He told her she needs to go to school, get her degree and then the
y would talk.”
Luke nodded. “Okay, keep going.”
“When Lauren and Scott got back from their ride, Colt was at the barn waiting on them. He asked to talk to Scott. Said he wanted to work there for his senior year and expressed an interest in breeding. Scott asked Colt why he wasn’t interested in the cattle ranch. Colt said that was yours and Will’s thing. I guess Colt had been helping your dad, Jeff, a lot more on the horse side of things.”
Luke rubbed his chin. “Yeah, Colt’s always been more interested in the horses than the cattle.”
Letting out a sigh, I dropped my head back and then looked at Luke. “Colt had an idea for Scott. Scott listened to it and loved the idea. Offered Colt to come work for him. Lauren was furious. She was already upset and planted it in her head that Colt didn’t want her. Now she said she feels like she is competing against Colt for a position in her dad’s business. Lauren thought Colt was leading her on to get closer to Scott.”
Luke frowned. “Colt would never do something like that. Surely Lauren knows that. Has she talked to Colt or Scott about it?”
I shrugged. “Grace and I told her she needed to. That time when Colt opened up about his feelings for Lauren and she blew him off, that was the same day Scott offered Colt to come work for him.”