Without You (Love Wanted in Texas #1)(96)

“Uh…okay.” I started to sing a country song.

Gramps held up his hand. “Oh, hell no. Don’t sing, boy. Let Nat do all the swooning.”

I let out a chuckle. “I take it that you don’t think I sing very good.”

Gramps dropped his hand. “I wouldn’t call that singing—at all.”

I held up my hands. “Fine, fine. I never claimed to be a singer.”

The front door opened, and I heard her sweet voice.

“Grams? Gramps?”

I looked back at Gramps. My heart started racing at an unbelievable pace.

Lex came walking around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. “Will? What are you doing here?”

“The boy came to talk to me. I take it you and Emma are going on a walk?” Gramps asked.

Lex pulled her eyes from me to look at Gramps. “Um…yes.”

Grams walked up and put her arm around Lex. “Shall we go, sweetheart?”

Lex smiled at Grams and then looked at me. When I smiled and winked at her, her face seemed to instantly relax.

“I’ll see you at the dance tonight, Lex?”

Her smile grew bigger on her face. “I’ll be there.”

I glanced down and saw her rubbing the promise ring. I looked back up into her eyes. Her spark still wasn’t there, but I was going to do everything in my power to get it back.

Grams and Lex headed out the door. I turned and looked back to Gramps.

“She loves you. Don’t give up on her,” Gramps said as he stood up and walked over to me.

“I love her, too, Gramps, more than anything. Life without Lex is not an option.”

Gramps laughed. “That’s my boy. Now, come on. Let’s go play a game of dominos.”

I chuckled and followed him. We sat down at the kitchen table, and as he took out a deck of playing cards, he looked me in the eyes and grinned. His blue eyes had fire in them as he tilted his head.

“I thought we were playing dominos,” I said.

Gramps smiled and winked. “William, be prepared to get your ass kicked in poker. How much money do you have on you?”

“Um…what happened to dominos?”

Gramps started shuffling the deck of cards. “Oh, that was just in case Emma was still outside. Come on, son, put your money down.”

I laughed as I reached for my wallet, and I threw a twenty down. Gramps looked up at me and frowned. I pulled another twenty out.

He winked. “Let’s do this.”

The moment he won the first hand, I knew I had just lost my forty bucks.





As we walked up to Mr. Banks’s barn, Grace and Maegan wouldn’t stop arguing. Mr. Banks had been letting us use his barn for barn dances since I could remember.

I finally stopped and spun around to face them. “Shut the f*ck up. I can’t take it anymore. Maegan, stop acting like such a bitch. If you wanted to wear something different, you should have put the damn thing on in the first place. Grace, stop egging her on. My God, the two of you are acting like you’re in middle school.”

Maegan’s mouth dropped open, and Grace smiled at me.

“It’s about damn time Alex Mathews showed back up.” Grace blew me a kiss and walked by me.

Maegan continued to just stare at me before she finally said, “Fine, I’ll be happy with what I’m wearing. There’s no one in this damn town I want to impress anyway. Nothing but a bunch of country bumpkins are here.”

Maegan walked by me as Lauren, Libby, and Taylor all started laughing.

“Ten bucks says she walks out with a guy,” Taylor said to Libby.

“Taylor, that’s your sister,” Libby said with a giggle.

“Please, you just don’t want to take the bet ’cause you know I’m right.”

We all started laughing as we walked in. Libby stopped and stared out onto the dance floor. I followed her gaze to see Luke dancing with Claire.

Ugh, that girl is a pain in the ass.

I glanced around and saw Will. He was dancing with some girl I’d never seen before. It wasn’t a slow song, so they were just two-stepping. As he kept spinning her around to Dustin Lynch’s “Where It’s At,” she was laughing. It seemed like they knew each other well.

“Who is Will dancing with?” I asked Libby.

She pulled her eyes from Luke and looked at Will. She smiled and said, “That’s our second cousin, Trish. She is my mom’s cousin’s daughter. This is her first time in Texas. Will spent all day yesterday teaching her how to two-step. Her dad is in the military. She’s been in Alaska for the last five years.”

Will and Libby had gone to Alaska once to visit someone on their mom’s side of the family.

“Don’t worry, Lex. That boy only has eyes for you.” Libby bumped my shoulder.

Will looked over and saw us watching him. He stopped dancing and whispered something into Trish’s ear. She smiled and nodded, and then they began walking toward us.

Will stopped in front of me, and his smile melted my heart. For the first time in a month, my body craved something more.

“Lex, this is my cousin, Trish. Trish, this is Lex,” Will said.

She held her hand out and smiled big. “I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about you. Will hasn’t stopped talking about you since we got here two days ago.”