Escaping Me (14 page)

“
Please,” Whitney snickers and points at her sister.  “If anyone is going to get caught, it's the high school senior sitting across from me.”

“
I graduated!” Mallory exclaims, drawing the attention of the surrounding crowd.  She quickly shoots all of the onlookers an icy stare.  “And I'm celebrating!”  Her sarcastic outburst garners mostly laughter and applause, but there are a few do-gooders who shake their heads.

“
Here's the thing about small towns,” I say as I turn to face Whitney.  Zeke is trying to get Mallory under control.  “If you keep to yourself and don't do anything stupid, the cops tend to leave you alone.”  I am speaking from personal experience.  I’ve done a lot of stupid shit.

“
Got it,” she nods.

“
You know,” I start, leaning in to whisper in her ear, “sometimes you have to break a few rules to have a little fun.”

“
Is that what we are doing?” She turns, letting her nose brush against mine.

Chapter 17 – Whitney

As I stare into Cole's eyes and feel his hands roaming familiarly over my skin, I start to wonder why I was ever nervous about anything between the two of us.  It all feels so right.

“We might be,” Cole answers.  “I may be kidnapping you and driving way over the speed limit to get back to my place if you don't stop teasing me.”

“
Are you asking me to stop?”

“
More like telling,” he replies with a wicked grin.

“
You can't tell me what to do,” I challenge.

“
Are you sure about that?”  He slides his hand just a little bit farther up my leg, inching incredibly close to the tiny pair of panties I know he is trying to not think about.

“
Mm-hmm,” I purr.

“
I think you kinda like it when I tell you what to do, Whit.”

I do like it.  No, I fucking love it.  I reach down and put my hand on top of his, hoping to urge him to continue.  Instead, he turns his hand over, taking mine in it, and removes them from my lap.

“You're really impatient tonight,” he says.  I narrow my eyes at him, showing my frustration.

“
You're such a tease.”

Before he can respond, the band kicks up again.  The lead singer starts belting out the lyrics to Trace Corbin's
Rock It On My Tailgate
and I can’t stop myself from bobbing my head along. 

“
I love this song!”

“
You're a Trace Corbin fan?” Cole asks, rolling his eyes.  “Figures.”

“
Umm... Yeah.  Have you seen him?”  Trace Corbin is only the hottest country singer since... Well, I don't know when.  All I know is that he is hot.  His sexy voice and the way he shakes his tight, jean-covered ass on stage is enough to send any girl over the edge. 

“
Dance with me?”  I squeeze Cole's hand in mine as I stand up from the picnic table.

“
I'm not much of a dancer,” he says, shaking his head before sarcastically adding, “and I'm no Trace Corbin.”

“
Oh, come on, Cole! Dance with my sister,” Mallory urges as she makes her way toward the floor with Zeke.  We watch in a confused awe as they somehow manage to dance to a country song like it is an R&B sex anthem.

“
Are you jealous of my pretend boyfriend, Cole?” I ask, trying not to laugh.

“
No,” he scoffs.

“
Don't be.” I lean down, my hips still swaying to the music.  “I'm going home with you tonight.  Not Trace Corbin.”  I quickly press my lips to his and then back my way onto the dance floor, never letting my eyes leave his.

He fights back a smile as he watches me.  When my sister removes her hands from Zeke and grabs a hold of me to dance, Cole motions that he is going to get us some more beers.  I nod as I let myself get lost in the song—
dancing and jumping around with my sister like we do it all the time.  She shakes right; I swerve left.  

By the time I have worked up a sweat, the song is over and the band starts playing a slow song.  Mallory finds her way back to Zeke's arms and I am left standing alone while the rest of the crowd begins coupling off.  I turn to walk back to our table and practically run into Cole.  His arms snake around my waist as I look up at him.

“I thought you didn't dance?”

“
I think I can manage a slow dance with a pretty girl.”  The corners of his eyes crease as he smile down at me.

I put my arms around his neck and rest my head against the hard plane of his chest.  The warmth of his skin heats my cheek through his shirt, and I can hear every beat of his heart.  We've been so playful with one another since our talk in the truck, but right now, in this moment of him holding me in his arms and gently swaying to the rhythm of the music, I want so much more from him than just a summer fling.  When I feel him press a kiss on the top of my head, it seals the deal.  I am falling head over heels in love with this guy.

I take in a deep breath of his intoxication and look up at him.  “You wanna get out of here?”

His lips find mine, and without words, I can tell the answer is an astounding
hell yes.
  As the song ends, I drop my arms from Cole's neck and grab his hand. Just as we are about to make our exit, a familiar voice calls out my name and stop me dead in my tracks.

Cole's eyes must find him before mine.  Probably, because I still haven’t turned around.  I hope that if I close my eyes and count to ten, I'll find that it is all my imagination.  When I hear Cole acknowledge him, I know that Wesley Thorton has unfortunately arrived.

“Who the hell are you?” Cole asks as I turn around.  He pull me to his side and his hand tightens around mine.

“
Is your name Whitney?”  Wes sarcastically replies. 

“
You're about to find out what my name is.” Cole's muscles tense as he glares at Wesley with almost as much contempt as I have for him.

His latest shipment from J.Crew apparently arrived because he is a dressed for far more than a Farmers' Picnic—from his pressed khaki pants to the form-fitting polo shirt, right down to his boat shoes.  He looks like a freaking model and the girls in the town have definitely noticed.  A crowd starts to gather around to admire his chiseled jaw line and strikingly good looks.  “I see you’re still giving me the silent treatment.”

“I have nothing to say to you, Wesley. Last time I checked, I told you we were through.”

“
Yeah, Wes.” Mallory pushed her way through the crowd and is now settled at my side.  “My sister doesn't want anything to do with your cheating ass.  Why don't you go back to wherever the fuck you came from?”

“
You must be Mallory.  Your father was right about you.  You're a pain in the ass,” he says sarcastically.  He quickly pulls his eyes from hers after leaving Mallory speechless.  She didn’t say much to me about our father, but he and Mallory have always had a strained relationship at best.  I watch as her fists ball at her sides and I know she's close to losing it.  She might play the tough girl part, but I can see the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

“
It's fine, Mal.” I place my hand on her shoulder.  “I can take care of him.”  I take a step toward Wesley, knowing the two people on each side of me are barely towing the line on self-control.  “What do you want?”

“
You.”  His answer is clear and simple.  “I came here for you.”

“
That's too bad.” I stand my ground. “I'm not going with you.”

“
Because of him,” he spits, gritting his teeth as he nods at Cole.  “That's who you want to be with now?  Are you serious?”

I don’t answer him because I know if I tell him the truth about how I feel about Cole I would be publicly declaring to the entire town that I am in love with someone I barely know.  The fact that everyone is staring at me is already making me sweat.  I don’t want to give them anything else to talk about.  I really thought this night was going to go in an entirely different direction.  Like the direction of a newly renovated house situated on a riverbank.

“Can you just talk to me?  Five minutes.  That's all I want,” Wesley pleads.

“
She doesn't want to fucking talk to you,” Cole interjects.  “You had your chance.”

“
So you think you have a chance?  You don't know what she wants.  You think because your hillbilly ass caught her in a moment of weakness that you know her?” Wesley fires back.  “Don't you have a cousin somewhere you can make out with?  Whitney's obviously had too much to drink.”

I can see how hard Cole is fighting back his rage.  His jaw clenches as he wraps one hand around the other and cracks his knuckles.  Wesley just insulted him and ruined our night.  I don’t want Cole to end up getting arrested because of me.  Boss Hog already put down his corn dog and has made his way over to see what all the commotion is about.  The last thing he needs to witness is Cole kicking Wesley's ass.  Which I know he can do. 

“Fine.” I turn back to Wes.  “Five minutes.”

It pains me to agree to talk to Wes when I really want to scream and yell at him for having the nerve to show up here after I caught him in bed with the redhead.  More than that, I actually want to take a swing at him for interrupting my night with Cole.  I saw Cole's reaction at the bar when Ricky punched Zeke, and I know it wouldn’t take much for him to say, “Screw it,” and start throwing punches.

“Whit,” Cole calls out as I start to follow Wesley away from the prying eyes of the town.  “You don't have to talk to him.”

“
It's okay,” I smile, trying to ease his mind and get him to take a deep breath.  “I'm doing you a favor.”  His expression is hard to read—confusion or disappointment.  I just hope he will take to second to breathe, and by the time I come back from talking to Wesley, we can put this whole incident behind us and pick up where we left off.

I follow Wesley down a side street to where his car is parked.  His little silver Audi sticks out like a sore thumb surrounded by four-wheel drive trucks and jacked up SUVs. 

“All right, talk,” I command, crossing my arms over my chest and resting against the side of his car.  I know the fact that I am leaning against his custom paint job is killing him, but for once he keeps his mouth shut about it.  “Five minutes.”

“
What are you doing, Whitney?”  After he asks me, I stare at him with confusion.

“
What are you talking about?”

“
Did you look in the mirror tonight?  I mean, seriously. Your hair's a mess, that dress barely fits, and then I find you hanging all over some jackass.  What the hell happened to you?”

“
First of all, I like the way I look.”  Just the way this conversation started already has me seeing red.  “Second of all, I just saved you from having your pretty little face mangled by that 'jackass.' You don't even know him.  He is...” I pause.  “You know what, it doesn't matter, Wes.  You have no say in who I talk to.  Not anymore.  And for the record, what happened to me is that you cheated.  So I left, and for once in my life, I actually really like the person I'm becoming.”  I whirl around to walk back to the Picnic.  I have already given Wes way too much of my time.

“
Wait.” He grabs my hand.  “I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have said anything about the way you look.  It's not that bad.”  I raise my eyebrows in totally disbelief.  Wesley actually uttered the word sorry, but then he went and completely overshadowed it by giving me an underhanded compliment.  “That's not what I meant,” he backtracks.  “I just meant it's different.  Please just let me explain why I'm here.”

I shake my head and feel my eyes roll back.  “Let's get this over with.”

“I came here to tell you how much I miss you.”  I can tell he is being sincere, because for once in his entire life, his shoulders are slumped down from their usual cock-of-the-walk position.  “I screwed up and I'm really sorry.”  He takes a step toward me, reaching out his hand.  “I need you.”

I let his apology soak in, but I don’t give him my hand.  He drops his to his side and sighs when he realizes his confession hasn't changed things.  I was waiting to hear those words from him.  If he would have actually come to see me at the beginning of the summer, I probably would have taken him back, but something is different now. As much as I think it is Cole, I know it is me too.

“Why?” I ask.

“
Why, what?”

“
Why do you need me?”  He looks as if I am speaking a foreign language. “It's not a hard question, Wesley.  Why. Do. You. Need. Me?”

His fingers run across his forehead and down around his neck as he thinks of how to answer me.  “Okay,” he begins.  “Because we get each other.  Because I can't imagine myself with anyone else.  Because we belong together.  Can't you see that?”

“No,” I answer without hesitation.  “Not anymore.”

His head falls in defeat, but only momentarily.  “You really think your dad is going to approve of you being with him?”