Without You (Love Wanted in Texas #1)(10)

She said, “Yes,” and then she looked at me.

The flush on her cheeks caused me to smile at her. She quickly walked off and headed to the Jeep. I turned back, only to find Will had Luke by the shirt.

“Don’t ever look at my sister like that again, Johnson. I’ll f*cking beat your ass, you hear me?”

“Will!” I walked up and pulled his hands from Luke’s T-shirt. “Libby pushed Luke. It was just an accident. Will, stop it.”

Luke seemed stunned, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of what Will had said to him or if it was because it had finally hit him that he had feelings for Libby.

“This is going to be one interesting summer.” Colt started laughing as he walked toward his truck.





I couldn’t help but watch every move Lex made. The way she smiled drove me crazy. The sound of her voice warmed my body. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about how we would be going our separate ways in less than two months.

“Open your eyes, dude. It creeps me out.”

I opened my eyes and saw Colt standing there. I smiled and laughed. “What are you gonna do when we all go to college?”

Colt let out a sigh. “Not sure. I guess I’ll get bigger and stronger since I’ll be working on the ranch more.”

I glanced over toward Lauren and then back at Colt. “What’s going on with you and Rachel?”

He rolled his eyes. “Hell if I know. She told me yesterday that I was too romantic and that she needs to be more independent. I don’t even know why I’m dating her.”

I smiled slightly. Colt had gotten trashed a few weeks back, and Luke and I had kept him in my barn until he sobered up. If Gunner had seen Colt like that, he would have killed his own son. Colt never really drank, but when he’d seen Lauren out on a date, he’d lost it. He’d admitted to Luke and me how much he liked her.

“Colt, can I ask you something?”

He nodded his head. “Always, Will.”

“Why are you trying to avoid how you feel about Lauren?”

His face dropped. He quickly looked at Lauren and then turned back to me. “What are you talking about?”

“Colt, when you got shitfaced a few weeks ago, you told Luke and me that you had feelings for Lauren.”

He dropped his head back and let out a sigh. “Fuck. You didn’t tell Alex, did you?”

“No.”

Colt ran his hand down his face. “Good.”

“Why don’t you want her to know?”

“Want who to know what?” Lauren asked as she came up.

She kissed Colt on the cheek, and his face instantly turned red.

“Um…” Colt looked at me as he struggled for something to say.

I smiled. “Colt likes a girl, and he won’t tell her.”

Lauren turned to Colt and tilted her head. “I thought you and Rachel were going out. Did y’all break up?”

Colt gave me a dirty look. “Will’s just screwing around. You meeting anyone at the party, Lauren?”

Lauren stared at Colt for just a little too long before she looked toward the rest of the girls. “No. I’ve officially given up on guys.”

Colt and I both laughed.

“Why?” Colt asked.

Lauren turned to Colt and then glanced at me. When the tears filled her eyes, I instantly got pissed.

Someone hurt her.

Colt lifted Lauren’s chin up, so she would look at him. “What happened?”

Lauren sucked in her bottom lip and shook her head. “Nothing,” she whispered.

“I swear to God, Lauren, if you don’t tell me right now…”

Lauren quickly wiped a tear away. “Colt, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get all emotional. Just drop it. I’m going to head on over—”

Colt cut her off, “Lauren.”

I walked up to her. “Lauren, please tell us what happened.”

Lauren looked between us. “Do you both promise not to go all big-brother crazy?”

I nodded, but Colt remained silent.

Lauren sniffed. “Paul Hines…he, um…he tried, um…”

Oh, holy shit. I’m gonna kill that f*cker.

I quickly glanced over to Colt, and he looked like he was about to get sick.

“Lauren, honey, take a deep breath. What did he do?” Colt said in a soft voice.

“I told him no, and he got upset with me. He said I was a tease. I swear, y’all, I never did anything to make him think I would have sex with him. When I got out of his truck, he jumped out, grabbed my arm, and pushed me against his truck. He said…he said I really did want it and that I was just scared. I told him that even if he was the last guy on earth, I’d still rather get myself off than sleep with him. He…he…” She looked down and then looked up into Colt’s eyes. “He slapped me and called me a whore.”

When I saw Colt’s body shaking, I quickly grabbed Lauren in for a hug. I pointed to Colt and mouthed, Calm down.

Lauren started crying.

“Shh…it’s okay, sweetie. Don’t listen to that bastard. Lauren, you didn’t do anything wrong, and if your dad ever found out that ass hit you, he would kill that guy.”

Lauren pulled back and wiped her tears. “I know. It was just…scary, ya know? When he pinned me against his truck, I was really scared.”