Without You (Love Wanted in Texas #1)(64)

My father was last. “You missed all the action earlier, Will. Alex was stung three times by some scorpions.”

Will’s head snapped around, and he looked at me. “Are you okay?”

I smiled and nodded my head. “Yes,” I barely said above a whisper.

My mother looked between Will and me. She slapped her hands together and said, “It’s time to eat now that Alex is up and moving around. Shall we all head into the dining room?”

I started to make my way down the stairs and over to Will. He looked like he wanted to turn and walk away, but he didn’t.

I stopped right in front of him and smiled. “Hi,” I whispered.

He smiled back as his eyes moved everywhere on my face. “Are you okay, Lex?”

The moment he called me Lex, I felt like I could breathe again. “I am now.”

He closed his eyes and then opened them to look me in the eyes. He went to say something, but my mother called for us.

“Alex, Will, dinner is being served.”

I looked into the dining room and then quickly back at Will. “Can we talk later?”

He nodded his head and reached his hand around me. He placed it on the small of my back. My heart started racing as he led me into our dining room. He walked me up to my chair and pulled it out for me. This wasn’t anything new. Will did it all the time, and so did Luke and Colt. Our fathers had raised them to be gentlemen, and that they were.

Everyone laughed and talked during dinner. Maegan talked about how much she loved Baylor. Grace whispered to me that Maegan loved it so much because she had a new fleet of men to sleep with. I wasn’t so sure Maegan was as sexually active as she’d claimed to be. Libby talked about loving A&M, and Grace talked about hating UT. Luke didn’t speak much at all. Something was going on with him, and I was bound and determined to find out what in the hell was bothering him. I did notice that every time Libby wasn’t looking, Luke was staring at her.

I glanced over to Will, who was talking to his father. I watched his mouth move, the way he talked with his hands, and how he chewed his food. I smiled when he laughed after someone had said something funny. I was feeling so guilty that he hadn’t come home until now, and I feared his parents resented me because of it.

My mother leaned over and whispered, “Alex, you’re staring at Will, sweetheart.”

I nodded my head. “I’ve missed him.”

“I know, but you’re really staring.”

I giggled and looked at her. “We can blame it on the scorpions.”

She let out a small laugh and shook her head. I peeked over to my daddy.

He mouthed to me, Talk to him.

I will, I mouthed back.

I glanced around the huge table.

Daddy and Uncle Jeff had put together two huge tables, so everyone would be able to sit together. When we were younger, all of us kids had sat at the kids’ table. That had been until Will and Libby started having food fights and getting the rest of us in trouble.

I turned back to look at Will. Now, he was staring at me. We both smiled, and the butterflies in my stomach began to fly around.

I love him. I will always love him.

In that moment, it hit me harder than anything ever had before. I needed to let him know how I felt. I wasn’t going to let this evening end without telling him.





Luke, Colt, and I all carried the extra table down to the barn and up to the loft.

I looked around and smiled when I saw the bed. “You think your parents still sneak out here, Colt?”

Colt made a disgusted face, but then he smiled slightly and shook his head. “Yeah, I’m sure they do. I want a love like that someday.”

Luke and I both let out a long breath and looked at each other.

Luke busted out laughing and said, “Damn girls.”

“Hell, you got that right,” Colt said. “They drive you crazy. They don’t tell you what’s really on their minds, and when they do, they don’t give you any damn warning.”

I shook my head. “What’s going on with you and Lauren?”

Colt grunted. “After she blew me off that night, I ended up getting back together with Rachel, who I can barely stand. Now, Lauren is pissed at me because I’m dating Rachel.” He shook his head. “Makes me just want to give up on women altogether.”

“No! Don’t ever talk that way, dude. A man needs a vagina to function.” Luke sat down in a chair and leaned back, balancing it on the back legs.

I looked at him. “Really? You just said that?”

“Hey, I could have said *, but I kept it clean. It’s true though. A man does need * to survive in this world.”

Colt started laughing. “Damn, Luke. What is wrong with you?”

Luke held up his hands and laughed. “Keeping it real. Just keeping it real.”

“That’s why he has his f*ck buddy. No strings. Just a fun way to survive in this world. Isn’t that right, Luke?”

I closed my eyes when I heard Libby’s voice. Shit.

I turned and looked at Libby, Grace, Lauren, Taylor, and Lex all standing there.

“What?” Luke lost his balance on the chair and dropped backward to the floor.

Libby smiled and shook her head. “I’m heading out for a while to meet someone. I don’t have my car. Can I borrow your truck, Will?”