The Vincent Boys (The Vincent Boys #1)(41)

Beau’s taking me home now.

Beau nodded toward the door. “Come on, let’s go.”

He didn’t reach for my hand or touch my back the way he used to when we walked out of here. Instead he walked beside me not touching me or looking at me.

I got another text message.

Tell him to bring you to my house. Everyone’s in bed and I’m in the pool house. Come see me. I’ll take you home.

That wasn’t something I could ask Beau to do. He’d been wonderful after our fight tonight. Asking him to drop me off at Sawyer’s was too much.

Once we were in the truck I fiddled with my phone trying to decide what to tell Sawyer.

“What is it, Ash? What did he say to make you start chewing your bottom lip?”

I sighed and kept my eyes on the phone in my lap.

“He wants you to bring me to his pool house. I don’t want you to do that.”

Beau pulled the truck off the side of the road and then turned to look at me.

“Why?”

I glanced up at him. “Because,” I replied.

Beau let out a growl and slammed his palms against the steering wheel, causing me to jump.

“I can’t do this, Ash. It’s killing me. Having you this close and not touching you is driving me insane. You’re his, Ash. You’re his. You made your choice and I understand why you chose him. I don’t hold it against you but, dammit, Ash, it hurts.”

My chest felt as if it had been ripped open again.

“I’m so sorry, Beau. I’m sorry I did this to you. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry I can’t make it better. I’m sorry,”

“Stop it, Ash. You have nothing to be sorry for. I started this and I’m the one who needs to end it. I just can’t seem to bring myself to stay away from you.”

I slid over and straddled the stick shift and laid my head on his shoulder.

He slipped his arm around me and pulled me tight up against him. I closed my eyes as he kissed the top of my head. Neither of us knew what to say. We sat in silence holding each other until my phone alerted us of another text message. I started to pull away but Beau held me against his side and cranked the truck.

“Just let me hold you a little longer,” he whispered hoarsely as he pulled back onto the road.

When we pulled onto Sawyer’s street Beau kissed my head one more time. “You better move over now.”

Chapter 16

Lana was perched on the edge of my bed flipping through my photo album from last summer when I finally made it home. I closed the door to my room a little harder than needed, unable to hide my frustration that she’d been going through my things again. Her head snapped up in surprise. Good, I hope I scared her. Serves her right for going through my stuff.

“OH. Hey, Ash, you’re finally home,” she replied, smiling politely.

This girl was not real. She was always soft spoken and never showed any emotion. It was as if my Aunt Caroline had given birth to a freaking robot. My mood was crummy and seeing her infiltrating my personal space didn’t make it better.

“I hope you don’t mind I pulled out your photo albums. Our mothers have been talking in hushed whispers and I got bored. I’m really glad you’re here now.”

There was a genuine smile on her face, making me feel a tad bit guilty for being so aggravated with her. I mean, her dad was a douche bag and her mother wasn’t exactly trying to comfort her. Instead she was making everyone in the house relive the experience over and over. Sympathy for what she must be going through won out over my aggravation and I walked over and sat down next to her.

“Sorry I left you here with them so long. I ended up hanging out at Sawyer’s later than I intended.” Not exactly true but that was all she needed to know. A dreamy smile lit her face and she dropped her gaze back to the album in her lap. I glanced down and saw it opened to a picture of Sawyer on the beach. His suntanned chest was glistening with water and he had the silly grin on his face that always reminded me of when we were kids.

“You’re so lucky, Ash. Sawyer has to be the most beautiful guy in the world. I remember wishing I could switch places with you when we were kids because you got to play with him and his cousin all the time. Even back then he was so chivalrous and handsome.”

Chivalrous and handsome? Who uses those words to describe boys? My mom maybe. I shook my head and flopped down on the bed.

“He’s not perfect,” I replied, shocking myself. For the first time in my life I’d admitted Sawyer Vincent had flaws. Lana turned her head to look back at me. Both of her auburn eyebrows were raised up in question.

“No one is perfect, Lana.”

She seemed to think about it for a moment then turned to study my album some more.

“I guess that’s true. Once I used to think my daddy was perfect.” She trailed off. My heart twisted a little at the hurt sound in her voice. I didn’t know if she wanted to talk about it or forget it. Since her mother yapped about it all the time I would think she’d want to forget.

“The other cousin. What was his name? Bill or Ben?”

“Beau,” I replied, curious as to what she was going to say.

“That’s right. Ugh, I remember the time Beau handcuffed me to the chain-link fence where Sawyer’s daddy kept his hunting dogs. I was terrified of being so close to the gate. I remember thinking those snarling dogs were going to somehow gnaw my hand off through the fence.”