But he could also be a hard ass when needed, which brought me back to him waking up hungover me.
“You wanna go out, get drunk, and force me to pick your ass up at three in the morning, the—”
“Wait.” I rolled over and sat up, still squinting, because damn that sun was bright as shit. “Pick me up?”
“Yes, pick you up. What concerns me more is that by the look on your face you were too drunk to remember that part of your night, and that isn’t you, Rhett. What’s going on?”
For a long moment, I just stared up at my stepfather, the man I’d always looked up to. A blankness still lingered in my mind from the point where I saw Harley’s picture on Facebook until now.
“She’s dating someone,” I finally said and watched as the realization slowly took over. “It’s all over her Facebook page—her cuddled up to him, him kissing her, it’s all there. The thing is I think I already knew, but to see it makes it all so real. I can’t pretend now that it doesn’t exist.”
He watched me for a moment, that earlier anger slowly fading as he moved toward the bed and took a seat on the edge. We both sat silently, allowing it all to settle before he finally spoke.
“Do you know that when your mom left for college I went through something similar as you?” I’d heard the story a few times but never all the in-depth details. “I screwed up back then, being a dumbass kid and allowing my emotions and fears to get the best of me. To this day I still don’t forgive myself for the hell I put her through and the mistakes I made. Looking back, I don’t blame her for hating me during those years. But after she left I hit rock bottom, partying and feeling like my life was over.”
Yeah, I knew that feeling.
“It only got worse when I saw a picture of her with a guy, your father, on Maria’s phone. She was happy, Rhett, like real damn happy. I was left here knowing that I led her to him and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to change it. So, you know what I did?”
“No.” I didn’t think there was anything that would make this feel better.
“I got my head out of my ass and started living again. I worked hard, saved money, and bought Lucky’s. I also started my construction work on the side and started building a life for myself. Because even though that shit hurt more than anything else I’d ever experienced, I had to move forward for me. I had to face the life I was dealt, and if that meant letting her go, then that’s what I had to do.”
I got what he was saying; I just wasn’t sure I could do it.
“Harley’s a good girl and I know that you love her, but if it’s meant to be…” He doesn’t finish. He doesn’t have to, because I already knew how it ended.
Then we would find our way back to one another someday.
“Now back to this me picking your ass up drunk in the middle of the night thing.”
I allowed my head to rest back against the headboard, making a thump upon impact. Mistake, big mistake. I gripped my head once again, and my dad actually laughed at my obvious agony.
“You better get a move on and do something with the pain, because you and I have a date at the farm with Grandpa.” I opened one eye and peeked through my parted fingers. “And be prepared, ’cause he knows all about your night of drinking down by the lake. He’s prepared to work these lingering effects of alcohol right out of your system. But we all have the same question.”
“What’s that?”
“Why were you only wearing boxers and your socks when I showed up to get you?”
I lowered my hand and gave him a What the fuck? look.
“You don’t remember that part either, huh? Looks like your friends will have some good stories to share with you. That is, after you work off the booze still flowing through your veins by shoveling some horse shit.”
I was legally able to drink, but I got where he was coming from. Getting loaded was not me.
He walked out of my room chuckling, and I was left with a few unanswered questions lingering in my own mind. Oh, and this killer fucking headache that felt like a jackhammer behind my eyes.
Chapter Three
“You were the life of the party, man.” Terrance chuckled, holding his side. “I’m talking swinging from the branches of the tree like a monkey and landing in the lake. You did, however, have a friend that joined you.”
I looked up and questioned him with an arch of one brow.
“Don’t look at me,” he shook his head, “it was AJ.”
This can’t be good.
“She stepped up and babysat you even when you tried to refuse help. That girl kept you in line, and then when you realized she wasn’t there to kill your buzz, you let her help. Oh, and you did tell her over and over to stop trying to tame you.”
I hung my head as I listened to my best friend laugh his ass off only a few feet away.
“That girl is a saint I tell you. She took control
