Without You(22)

I laughed and shook my head. "Luke, if I remember right, you got pretty  drunk last week, and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ari had you training horses the  whole next day as punishment."

"Hey, I don't mind working on the land I was raised on. Shit, that  reminds me of the song by Sam Hunt, ‘Raised on It.' I was raised on it!  Worked hard and played on it. Hell yeah, ladies, it's time to play on  it."

"Whose place? And who are we inviting?" Grace asked.

I instantly knew where I wanted to have our last field party.

"Will and Lib's? How about if we make it just us and a few of our  closest friends?" Luke said as he took the piece of watermelon from  Grace.

I quickly agreed and pulled out my phone. "Let me see if Maegan and Taylor can come. They just got back from Baylor."

"What are y'all doing in the barn anyway?" Luke asked.

"Ugh … Alex wanted to spend some time with Banjo," Grace said.

"Alex, you know you can bring him to A&M. Oh, wait, you're going to UT."

I gave Luke a dirty look. "Funny, asswipe."

My phone pinged, and I looked down at Maegan's message. "Maegan and  Taylor are down for a little get-together. She wants to know who we're  inviting."

Luke laughed. "Tell her we are limiting it, so she can't invite anyone from Fredericksburg."

"Libby said it's not a problem to have it at their place," Grace said as she read her text message from Libby.

I smiled, knowing that Will and I could sneak off to the clubhouse.

Luke smiled and then pointed to Grace and me. "We can have alcohol, but don't let Lauren or Taylor drink."

Grace and I each rolled our eyes.

"Taylor doesn't drink, Luke. Anyway, they are going to be seniors, and you let Colt drink."

"Colt is different." Luke shrugged his shoulders.

Grace placed her hands on her hips. "No, he isn't, Luke."

"Doesn't matter. They're not drinking." Luke turned and began walking  out of the barn. "Will and I will take care of everything. See y'all  later."

I giggled as I watched Luke walk out of the barn. I turned and looked up at my baby boy. "I'm going to miss you so much, Banjo."

Banjo jerked his head up and down and whinnied a bit.

Grace laughed. "That damn horse loves you so much."

I looked over at Grace and smiled weakly. "Grace, you're really not going to miss all of this?"

Her smile faded. "I don't know. I think I'll miss it. I'll for sure miss  working with the horses." She looked away. "Mike wants to live in  downtown Austin and become a lawyer like his dad."         

     


///
 

I hated even hearing his name. "Well, what does Grace want?"

She snapped her head back at me and then sat down on a hay bale. "I just  want to go to college and get the next four years over with. I'm  thinking I can come back here and visit anytime. With all the shopping,  I'll probably love living in Austin."

She attempted to smile, but I could see sadness in her eyes. She'd said  she wanted to leave Mason, but her eyes were saying something else.

"Grace, may I ask you something?"

She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. "Sure you can."

"Why are you going out with Mike? You have to know that he is not the  right guy for you. Grace, you're so beautiful. You could get any guy you  wanted."

She closed her eyes and then opened them. "You don't understand, Alex."

"No, I don't, Grace. He treats you like shit. I hear him and how he  talks to you. Why do you put up with it? He tells you what to wear, for  Christ's sake. He never lets you talk, and he answers for you. I can't  stand that."

She stood up and brushed the hay from her pants. "You don't see how he treats me when we're alone, Alex."

I stood up and grabbed her arm. "No, I don't, and I can't imagine it is  any better. Grace, why are you staying with him? Why? He is cheating on  you!"

The tears began rolling down her face. "I have to, Alex."

I shook my head. "What do you mean, you have to?"

She sat down and began crying.

I sat next to her and put my arm around her. "Grace, talk to me."

She began crying harder as she turned toward me and buried her face in my chest. I sat there and let her cry.

When she finally settled down, she pulled back and wiped her face  quickly. "Mike wasn't always a dick. At first, he was so sweet. I mean,  he really knew how to talk me into things. One night, he talked me  into … finally having sex with him."

I let out a gasp. I had no idea that Grace wasn't a virgin anymore. "Grace, did you want to do that with him?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, I thought he was the one. The whole time  though, I had this feeling that I was making the biggest mistake of my  life. Every time we were together, it felt … wrong. I guess it felt wrong  for him, too, because that was when he started acting different. He's  never hit me or even raised his hand to me, but he … "

She attempted not to cry again. "He just treats me different, and it got  worse after his parents told him how much they liked me. With my  grandparents having so much pull at UT, they thought him dating me would  help him there. His mom and dad love me, and so do his grandparents. He  told me one night that he couldn't break up with me now because his  parents said I was his ticket to UT, so he couldn't screw this up, like  he does everything else. Plus, if we keep dating, he thinks they'll stay  off his back about shit."

I pulled back and said, "What? Grace, my God. Why do you stay?"

She wiped a tear away. "I told him I didn't give a shit about what he  wanted. I was done. He, um … he said I would do what he wanted because he  has … oh God."

"What? What? He has what?"

She looked at me, and the sadness in her eyes about killed me. "He has a  video of us having sex in his barn. He said he would show my mom and  dad if I broke up with him."

My mouth dropped open as I stared at her. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Are you sure he has a video?"

She nodded her head. "I've seen it. He had his brother record us. He set me up."

"Wait-I don't understand. Grace, there has to be another reason he wants  to keep dating you, not just to keep his parents off his back. And what  do your grandparents, Sue and Mark, have to do with anything?"

She looked down and slowly nodded her head. "My grandfather works for  the biggest law firm in Austin, Alex. He sits on some board at UT, and  he is pretty powerful. He's already talked to Mike about interning at  his law firm. Mike's parents were beyond happy, and so was Mike. He's  just using me, Alex. If I break up with him, he doesn't get to intern at  Grandpa's law firm."

She stood up and started pacing. "It's all so messed up. I have to stay  with him because the bastard recorded us fucking. I hate him so much,  Alex. I can't even stand to be around him, and I'm not sure I can keep  pretending like this. It's slowly killing me."

"I thought you were going to UT just because he was going. You always  talked about going to A&M, Grace, but then everything changed."         

     


///
 

She turned and looked at me with tears rolling down her face. "I never  want my father to see that video, Alex. It would kill him. I can't do  that to my parents."

"So, you'll give up what you want to help this bastard?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I have no other options."

An idea popped into my head. A few weeks ago, I'd seen Mike flirting with Maegan when she was a bit tipsy.

"The hell we don't." I pulled out my phone and hit a number. "Maegan? I  need you to dress slutty tonight. Yep. Show the girls like you've never  shown them before. Make sure your phone battery is fully charged, too.  I'll explain when you get to Libby and Will's."

I hit End and looked at Grace. She looked confused.

"Tonight, you get your damn life back. Nobody messes with my best friend."





I sat on the back of my tailgate, watching the girls all dance.

Colt walked over, jumped up, and sat down next to me. "Um … why is Maegan sluttin' it up tonight?"

I let out a laugh as I tipped my water back. I wasn't planning on  drinking even though we were at my place. I was going to take Lex back  to the clubhouse later.

"I have no clue. Lex said they were all on a mission tonight. Something to do with Mike Clark."

Colt made a grunt sound. "I really don't like that guy."

He went to take a drink but stopped. He was staring off to the side, so I followed his eyes.

Lauren was standing there, talking to Luke and Bryan Wilson.

"Why's Lauren talking to Bryan Wilson?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "How do you know she's not talking to Luke, and Bryan's just standing there?"

Colt slowly looked at me. "Because she's looking right at Bryan and  smiling at him. That leads me to believe she's talking to him."

I just stared at him. "Why don't you go find out?"

He looked away and took a drink. "Nah, I don't care that much."