Without You(12)

Will nodded his head and grabbed his keys from the island. I jumped off  the stool and instantly felt sore. I was pretty sure I'd played it off,  but with the way Heather was staring at me, I knew I had done a  piss-poor job of it.

I started to walk by when Heather reached for my hand. I stopped and turned to face her.

Her eyes softened, and she smiled at me. "Will, wait for Alex out by your truck, please."

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.





I glanced at Lex and gave her a small smile. Then, I headed out the  door, and my father followed me. I walked up to my truck and opened the  door, only to have him push it shut.

"You want to tell me what in the hell you were thinking?"

I'd never lied to my father, not once, and I wasn't about to start now.

I slowly turned and leaned up against my truck. I looked him in the eyes. "I love her, Dad. It was something we both wanted."

His whole body slumped, and he let out a sigh as he shook his head. "Her  father would break you in two if he knew what happened tonight."

I pushed off my truck. "You're not going to tell him, Dad, are you?"

He just looked at me. "I ought to. In my house, Will? My. House."

"Dad, I didn't want her first time to be in my truck or some damn barn. I  wanted to at least make it special and have her feel comfortable."

I saw a small smile play across his face.

He quickly looked away. "At least we taught you something right."

I knew what I was about to do was a low blow, but I was going for it anyway. "Did you and Mom wait, Dad?"

He spun around and glared at me. "Excuse me?"

"Did you wait, Dad? I'm just asking a simple question. Did you wait  until you were married or until you found Mom? I love Lex. I saved  myself for her, Dad. We both wanted this."         

     


///
 

His mouth opened slightly. "You … you've never had sex before?"

I shook my head. "No. I told you, I love her and wanted my first time to  be with her. I gave her the promise ring Granddad made. I gave it to  her before we even did anything."

My father slowly nodded his head and let out a long breath. "To answer  your question, no, I didn't wait. As a matter of fact, I was a bit of a  player before I met your mother."

I pulled my head back. "Really?"

He let out a gruff laugh. "Yeah. I have many regrets, Will. I was  foolish and disrespectful to many women. I don't want you to follow in  my footsteps."

I stood there in shock as I took in what my father had said. He always  pushed me to be a gentleman and to treat women with the highest respect.  I guessed he'd learned from his mistakes, and he didn't want me to make  the same.

"I'm sorry if I disrespected you and Mom by bringing Lex here tonight."

My father walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "William, I'm  not going to say I'm happy about this, but there is one thing I'm happy  about."

"What's that?" I asked.

"I'm happy and damn proud of you for taking Alex's feelings into  consideration in all of this. I'm not going to share this with Gunner  because, honestly, I'd like to see you have a go at this life."

I let out a chuckle.

My father raised his eyebrow at me. "I'm being serious."

I nodded my head. "I know you are, sir. Nervous laugh, I guess."

"Did you use protection?"

"Yes, sir. I would never do that to Lex."

His face relaxed, and he nodded his head. "Always, and I mean always, use protection in some form. Please."

"I will, Dad. I promise you."

The door opened, and my mother and Lex came walking out. Lex turned and  hugged my mom, and my mother whispered something to her while pushing a  piece of hair behind her ear.

When Lex turned and started toward me, I couldn't really read her face.  She walked up to me, and I smiled as I took her hand before leading her  to the passenger side of my truck. I opened the door, and she quickly  jumped in. As I walked back around, I glanced up and saw my mom and dad  just standing on the porch.

"Will, please be careful driving."

I nodded my head. "I will, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, darling."

When I got in the truck and started it, Lex grabbed my hand. I backed up, turned my truck, and headed down the driveway.

I looked at her and smiled. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah. Your mom knows."

I let out a laugh. "So does my dad."

"She promised not to say anything to my parents." Lex turned and looked  at me. "Did your dad say if he was gonna tell my father?"

I could hear the panic in her voice. "No, he's not going to say anything. What did my mom say to you?"

"She asked me if you made sure I was ready and if you were gentle with me."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh God. My mother knows I had sex." I wanted to throw up.

Lex giggled and squeezed my hand. "She told me to soak in a hot bath if I was able to."

I looked at her, and my heart began to hurt. "Are you sore?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, but it's a good sore."

Lex pulled out her phone and began texting someone.

"Who are you texting?"

"Colt. I'm seeing if he is still at Luke's house."

About a minute later, her phone beeped. "Can you take me to Luke's? I'll ride home with Colt."

"Um … sure."

I was almost to Luke's driveway. I put on my signal and turned in. I  punched in the gate code and started down the long driveway. When I  pulled up and parked, I shut the truck off. I turned to see Lex staring  at me.

"You don't regret it, do you?" she asked.

My mouth dropped open, and I pulled her over to me. She crawled onto my  lap. I put my hand behind her neck and brought her lips to mine. I  poured nothing but love into the kiss. It was slow, sweet, and  meaningful.

I barely broke our kiss when I whispered, "I'll never forget this night  for as long as I live, Lex. You have stolen my heart forever."

A tear moved down her cheek.

"Baby, please don't cry. I hate to see you cry."

She was about to say something when someone banged on the window. I turned to see Luke.

He opened the door and grabbed Lex. "Get the fuck out of his truck, Lex."

"What? Luke! Let go of me!"

Lex pulled her arm back, but Luke pulled her out.         

     


///
 

"Luke, stop it right now!" Grace yelled.

I took a deep breath in and let it out as I got out of the truck. I had to put myself in Luke's and Colt's shoes.

How would I feel if I found out one of them had slept with Libby?

I shut the door and turned to face Luke. Colt was walking out.

Lex stepped in front of him. "Colt! Stop this right now! Grace, stop your brother."

Luke walked up and pushed me. "You motherfucker. You went forward with it? You slept with her?"

"Luke, I'm not doing this with you. You knew-"

That was when it happened. He punched me square in the jaw. Lex, Grace, and Lauren all screamed.

Libby came running up to me. "Will! Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Lib. Just step back, honey."

Luke hadn't hit me nearly as hard as he could have.

Libby turned around and walked over to Luke. She pushed him on the chest. Luke just stood there, staring at her.

"You asshole! He loves her, and she loves him. It's none of your goddamn business what they do!"

Luke looked stunned as he stared at Libby.

She pushed him again and then began hitting him. "He loves her! Alex is  lucky to have someone love and worship her like Will does. You wouldn't  know what that is like … to love and respect someone, you prick."

Luke grabbed Libby by her arms to get her to stop. She took a step back and looked at him.

"Libby … I … " Luke looked away as Libby began sobbing.

I walked up and took her in my arms. I had no idea if Libby was more  upset by what Luke had done to me or if he had done something to her.

"Lib, it's okay, honey. He didn't even hit me that hard." I glanced over to Lex, who was still holding Colt back.

"You want a shot, too?" I asked him.

He walked up to me and looked me in the eyes. "I need to talk to you … alone."

I nodded my head and kissed Libby on the forehead. "I'll be right back, honey. Please don't worry. I'm okay."

Libby nodded her head and stood there as Colt and I walked away from  everyone. We headed to the barn. When we stopped, I turned to face him.  He stood there and stared at me.

"If you're gonna hit me, Colt, just do it."

He shook his head. "I'm not hotheaded like Luke. I just want to know one thing. Do you truly love her, Will?"

I smiled and nodded my head. "I love her more than anything, Colt. She's my reason for breathing."

He slowly nodded. "Did you make it special for her?"

"Yes. At least, I hope I did."

"All right. I just want you to know, I love you like a brother. You're  my best friend, Will. But if you ever hurt her, I'll hurt you."

"I won't, Colt. I promise you, I'll never hurt her."

Colt stuck out his hand, and we shook. He went to turn, and I grabbed his arm.