“I don’t want to talk about it right now. We will later, but right now, I need to go.” I lift up on the tips of my toes and gently kiss his lips. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you later.” He wraps his arms around my waist, tightly crushing me to him. “I don’t want to lose you, Kenleigh,” he mumbles against my shoulder. He pulls back and looks at me, his sad eyes piercing my heart. “I can’t lose you.” He hugs me tighter to him like it’s the last time I will be in his arms. I smooth my hands down his hair, not saying anything. In his arms like this, I feel safe, and in this moment, I feel, way down deep in my gut, that he would never intentionally hurt me.
“You haven’t lost me,” I whisper against his ear.
Too soon, he releases me, and I walk over to Brantley. As I approach him, he waves for me to follow him. I don’t even have to ask. He already knows. His large frame stands there, straddling the seat of the four-wheeler, and I hop on behind him.
A little while later, we pull up to the house, and he kills the ATV. I push up, about to get off, when Brantley stops me by grabbing my hand. “I’m sorry for what Jackie said to you,” he says. The sincerity in his tone causes me to tear up. “I’m not making excuses for her. What she said was wrong, but we talked the other night and she said she caught you and Wes in the barn the other day.” I nod my head agreeing with him. I knew I felt someone in there with us. “She’s hurt, Kenleigh. She really liked him, and thought the feeling was mutual. Jackie told me the passion she saw between the two of you was something they never experienced, and I don’t think she knows how to handle it all that well.”
“All that well? She called me a tramp, Brantley.” A tear slips free with my reply.
He turns his head, looking away from me. “I know. We all know. We all heard what she said to you. Like I said, I’m not trying to make excuses for her. Hell, even I’ve seen the differences in Wes. You’re good for him, and I’m not going to deny it, but I think in Jackie’s own way, she was trying to protect you from what she went through with him.” Brantley takes a deep breath and reverts his eyes back to mine. “Honestly, I thought he would have screwed you over by now, but like you said, people change, and I think he has for the better. Don’t let what she said get to you too much. I’ll talk to her.”
I shake my head vigorously. I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me. “I appreciate it, but you don’t need to do that. She needs to come to me, and if she doesn’t, then I’ll go to her. But until then, I think we both need to cool off. I’m not going to apologize for being with Wes, especially since I didn’t know about them beforehand. He makes me happy, and that’s something I’ve been waiting to feel for a long time. And if that’s something she can’t accept, then so be it.”
“I know what you mean. Just know that she’s been going through some pretty bad shit in her life lately. I think seeing the two of you together was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
My eyebrows scrunch in confusion as I look at him. “What are you talking about?”
“If you wanna know, then she’s the one you need to be asking. All I’m going to say is, cut her a little slack.” He releases my hand and re-starts the four-wheeler. “I’m going to head on back. If you need anything, call me, all right?”
I nod. “Have fun.” I step away from the four-wheeler as he pulls forward and takes off.
As soon as Brantley dropped me off, I went into the house and decided to start some laundry. I needed to do something to take my mind off the argument between Jackie and me. Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Will said last night that they would be gone most of the day running errands. As I sit in the middle of the living room floor folding a load of clothes, the screen door screeches open. Standing in the middle of the doorway is Wes, covered in mud. His eyes look cautious as he stares back at me. Slowly, he moves in my direction, holding my gaze, until he comes to a stop in front of my pile of clean clothes. Kneeling down, he takes a hold of my hands. His head drops as he heaves a deep sigh. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you about Jackie, but I didn’t know how to,” he says softly.
“Was she right? Did you really use her like that?”
He nods sullenly. “I did. I told you about my lifestyle, and unfortunately Jackie got caught in the crossfires of it.” He takes a deep breath, slowly lifts his head, and looks me in the eyes. “If I would have known how she really felt, I would have never led her on the way I did. I never would have slept with her. And because of my mistake, you’re the one paying for it.”