Holding You (Love Wanted in Texas #3)(40)

“Friends it is.”

Turning, I headed to the door. “Oh hey, Mathews, one more thing.”

Glancing back at him I asked, “What’s up?”

“Stay focused in the game.”

Pulling my head back and giving him a confused look, I said, “I always am.”

Pushing the door open I headed out of the locker room area and up to Lauren.

That was three times now someone had told me to stay focused. Was I not focusing? I hadn’t dropped a single ball, I made every play. What in the hell was wrong with everyone?

Running my hand over my short hair, I dreaded this fall. For some reason coach did not like me having a girlfriend. I was going to have to learn to balance both and I didn’t think I would have a problem doing that. Lauren knew how much I loved football and she would never get in the way of that. Ever.

I just wasn’t sure how much I loved football.





GRACE AND I were walking out of the library laughing when Grace smacked right into a guy. “Oh shit! I’m so sorry.” Grace said as she bent over to pick up her books. I couldn’t help but notice how the guy was staring at Grace. She was, of course, oblivious to it.

My heart broke for Grace. As much as she tried to brush off the fact that Noah had pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth, we all knew it killed her. Noah had been texting Grace and she would text back but her fear of committing to anyone stood in the way. Then when he didn’t tell her he was getting married and he kept texting her, that just reaffirmed to Grace that men sucked. She stopped texting him back, yet she wouldn’t date anyone. It was as if her heart had been given to Noah, even though she denied it, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Then, Noah just stopped texting.

Handing Grace her last book the guy flashed a smile at Grace. “Grace Johnson, right?”

Grace stared at the hottie standing in front of us. His light-brown hair was a mess, clearly he just got done running, and his emerald eyes had Grace’s eyes pinned in on him. “Um . . . do we know each other?” Grace asked as she tilted her head.

Laughing, he said, “Yeah, Hunter. I’m in your psychology class.”

Recognition moved across Grace’s face as she pointed to him and said, “Oh yeah. Well, so sorry for running into you like that.”

Seeing he was losing the moment he ran his hand through his hair and asked Grace out. “Hey, you wouldn’t want to go grab dinner and a movie would you?”

Grace never missed a beat. She kept her smile sincere as she turned the poor guy down. “Awe, thanks for the invite, but I’m going to have to pass. I’ll see you in class though.”

Hunter’s smile faded some as he nodded his head. “Right. Okay sure. See ya in class.”

Grace walked off and I fell into step next to her. The hot breeze made me wish like hell I had worn shorts today and not jeans. May in Texas could be a hit or miss as far as the weather went. It could be sixty-two one day, and eighty-two the next. It just so happened yesterday was sixty-two and today felt like ninety-nine.

“Grace, why didn’t you take him up on his offer?” I asked.

Rolling her eyes as she glanced over at me she laughed. “Lauren, school’s out for summer in a few days and I’ll be heading home for the summer. Why would I want to go out on a date? If he wanted to ask me out, he should have done it like three months ago.”

Frowning, I nodded my head. She did have a point there. I never did understand why guys waited so long to make their move. Glancing down at my ring Colt had given me, I smiled. Even Colt, buying this ring so many years ago and hanging on to it as long as he did. My heart felt as if it skipped a beat whenever I thought about Colt being in love with me for so long.

Pulling my books closer to my chest, I smiled.

“Oh dear lord, you’re thinking about Mathews aren’t you?”

Chuckling, I asked, “How did you know?”

Grace reached out and gave me a playful push, causing me to stumble a few steps. “It’s all over your damn face. What, did you have hot sex last night or something?”

There was no way I could hide the happiness I felt. “Sex with Colt is hot every time.”

“Ugh. Gag me, Lauren.”

Laughing, I laced my arm around hers. “I can’t wait to get home. I’m so over school.”

Grace waved to some guy who walked by and said hello to her. “Me too. I just want to dig in the garden with Grams and not have to worry about anything.”

Grace and Alex were both going to school for Horticulture. They loved getting their hands into Grams garden. Me? I enjoyed gardening, but I preferred to be with the horses. This summer Daddy was going to train me on the books and I was beyond thrilled to be able to gain knowledge on a piece of his business. But I wanted to gain more on the horse side of the business. Daddy even had a few trips planned to take a look at some horses and Colt and I were both going. Smiling slightly, I couldn’t believe how threatened I was before about Colt working for my father.

Grace and I walked back to the house instead of taking the bus. It had felt good to get fresh air and just talk about stuff. Colt only had one final left, while Grace, Alex, Will and I all had two left. Once we all finished with our finals, we would be heading back to Mason. Will and Colt had been packing up stuff and getting the house ready to lock up for the summer. Colt would be coming back for football early and I was trying to figure out a way to let my parents know I’d be heading back early with him. They were not going to be happy about that. Colt was the first really serious relationship I was in. Roger was just . . . fun times. We hung out, the kissing got hot and heavy a few times, but my mind wasn’t consumed with him twenty-four hours a day like it was with Colt.