Without You

Page 31

Colt laughed. “If you want another guy to treat you like a whore again, then by all means, Lauren, have at it.”
Lauren’s mouth dropped open.
Will and I said, “Colt!”
“You want to be treated like that again?” Colt asked.
Will grabbed Colt and began pulling him away. “You’re just making it worse, you ass. You want to push her to him?”
Colt shook his head. “No.”
“Then, shut the fuck up.”
Lauren was looking at Colt and Will with a confused look. “What is going on?” she asked as she walked up to Colt. “Why are you so angry?”
Colt wouldn’t look at her.
Lauren frowned. “Colt, please talk to me. We’re friends.”
He turned and grabbed Lauren by the shoulders. “That’s just it, Lauren. I don’t want to be friends with you. I want more.”
Lauren sucked in a breath of air. “What?”
“I want more, Lauren. Why can’t you see that?” Colt let go of Lauren. He pushed his hands through his hair and let out a groan before turning and walking toward his truck.
Lauren just stood there and watched him walk away. Why she didn’t go after him I had no clue.
She slowly turned and looked at us and then Brax. “Um…Brax, do you want to head down to the fire?”
“What? Lauren, Colt just—”
Lauren looked at me and smiled. “I know, Alex. Thanks. I’ll take care of it later.”
My mouth dropped open as I looked at Will, and he shrugged his shoulders. I turned and watched as Lauren walked away with Brax.
Libby threw her hands on her hips and said, “Where is she going? She’s going with Brax? What about what Colt just told her?”
“I have no clue,” Lex said as she looked over to me.
Luke let out a gruff laugh. “Stupid bastard shouldn’t have told her how he feels. Look at him now—alone and drunk in the back of his truck.”
Libby spun around and glared at him. “What do you think he should be doing, Luke? Maybe sneaking off with someone and fucking her?”
The left corner of Luke’s mouth raised in a smile. “Maybe. That’s what I’d do.”
Libby swallowed hard and slowly shook her head. “Well, you’re in luck, Luke. With the way Claire is walking around with nothing on, you might just find yourself getting lucky tonight.” Libby looked at me and Will as she squared her shoulders off. “Excuse me, y’all. Jason wanted a dance earlier. I think I’ll go find him.”
Libby started walking away.
Luke grabbed her arm. “Libby, wait. Don’t…”
Libby bit down on her lower lip as she looked at Luke. “Don’t what?”
Luke looked like he was struggling with something before he smirked. “Don’t be sneaking off to fuck Jason.”
Right as I was about to grab Luke and knock the hell out of him for saying that, Libby reached back and punched Luke in the jaw.
Lex let out a small scream as Luke shook his head and looked back at Libby.
Libby quickly wiped a tear away as she said, “You’re right, Luke. There never was an us, and there never will be.”
She turned and walked away as Luke stood there, speechless.
I stepped in front of him. “You ever talk to my sister like that again, and you’re gonna regret it.”
Luke nodded his head and downed the rest of his beer. “I’m sorry, Will. I’ll apologize to her.”
I put my hand on Luke’s chest. “No. You’re gonna leave her alone. Stay away from her, Luke.”
Luke nodded his head and barely said, “Right.”
My heart was racing a mile a minute as I tried to keep my anger down. I hated that he had just said that to my sister, but Libby had handled it. I was pretty sure her hit was far more impactful than mine would have been. I stepped to the side and let Luke walk by. I let out a sigh as Lex wrapped her arms around me.
“Will, what’s happening? It feels like everything is starting to fall apart.”
I placed my finger on her chin and lifted her eyes to mine. “As long as we don’t fall apart, I don’t care. Come on, baby. I have something to show you.”
She smiled that beautiful smile as I began walking her back to my truck.
“Are we leaving?” Lex looked over her shoulder at everyone dancing on the makeshift dance area.
I stopped and looked down at Lex. “Do you want to stay?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I wouldn’t mind a dance or two.”