Grace spun around and walked away, leaving me with the same unsettled feeling in my stomach I’d felt when Harley walked around the front of her car toward the field at my grandparents’ place.
I reached around to the back pocket of my jeans and pulled out my phone, typing out a text message.
Rhett: Be ready by six. I’m taking the most beautiful woman I know to dinner.
AJ: Lucky girl, do I know her?
I smiled down at my phone to her response.
Rhett: Look in the mirror AJ, no one compares to you.
I waited for her to respond, and it took a little longer this time.
AJ: Rhett, you are such a smooth talker.
I agreed with Grace one hundred percent. There was no way in hell I was going to allow anyone to make my girl feel like she wasn’t amazing.
Rhett: You are my world AJ, see you soon.
I tucked my phone into my pocket and jumped down off the tailgate of the pickup truck, heaving two bags of feed onto my shoulder. Harley had another thing coming if she thought I’d sit back and allow her to make AJ feel like she didn’t belong. That shit was going to end.
***
I took AJ to dinner and had a hard time keeping my eyes off her. She wore a pale pink dress, one that hit just above her knees. She topped it off with a pair of boots, and she made sure to wear her hair down, hanging in loose curls around her shoulders. She didn’t have to wear a lot of makeup because she held that natural beauty that most girls wished for. The perfect rose-colored lips, plump and full. Long dark eyelashes and the most gorgeous green eyes.
I will admit I had to readjust myself a few times during dinner, and when I caught her hiding her smile behind her napkin, I knew she was completely aware of the pain she was causing me.
After dinner, we took the long way back to my truck, hand in hand, and every so often I would stop to steal a kiss.
We ended up at Lucky’s, where our friends were. Two hours later, I’d had a few beers and was still finding it difficult to hold my shit together. Visions of snatching her up and hiding in the back office kept running through my mind. I was like a horny teenage boy unable to contain public wood.
“So a kid, huh?” I looked to my left to come face-to-face with Terrance, smiling all cheesy like. He was drunk, and the guy looked like if I pushed him hard enough he’d fall flat on his face without even attempting to break his fall. “I told you that if you’d let go of your past you just might find your future.” Apparently, my best friend wanted all the credit for AJ and me, and I wasn’t about to burst his bubble. He did give me a nudge here and there.
“You did say that,” I told him, “and you were right. AJ is the best damn thing that has ever happened to me.”
“Even since Harley came back?”
“Harley being here has no effect on me,” I said with conviction, because I meant it, without a doubt.
“That’s good, because she just walked in.” I blinked a time or two until his words registered and I followed the direction he was pointing. And just as he said, she was here and moving across the bar in my direction.
The top she wore was one of those barely-there shirts, the kind that dip down so low between a girl's tits it was amazing that they didn’t pop right on out. The jeans she wore were practically painted onto her body. “Hey, Rhett,” she cooed, yes cooed, as she leaned in and kissed my cheek before I could stop her. “You just managed to get more good-looking with each passing day.”
I stood from the bar stool feeling slightly wobbly on my feet. Instantly I regretted the three shots I shared with the guys after they got wind that I was gonna be a dad. I looked out toward the dance floor and found AJ dancing with April. Raven and Maddison found out we were all here and had joined us about an hour ago.
Seeing her smiling and laughing was like a slap in the face. I needed a moment of clarity, and that was all it took. “Grace told me she saw you the other day."
“Yeah, she was out having lunch—”
“With AJ,” I finished for her, and she crinkled her brows.
“Who?”
“AJ, my girlfriend and the woman pregnant with my child.” I noticed her flinch.
“Oh yeah.” She cleared her throat. “I met AJ. Sweet girl.” It was then I saw just what Grace was referring to, that snooty look on Harley’s face. The way she said AJ, as she wrinkled up her nose and pursed her lips. “I’m surprised, really.” Harley looked over her shoulder at the dance floor, and I saw the moment her eyes settled on AJ. “I thought you preferred blondes.”
I shook my head and laughed. “No, actually, I just prefer a woman with a conscience and a heart,” I assured her, feeling my pulse quicken as irritation settled in. She was really beginning to piss me off. “I never thought I’d say it, Harley, but Boston took that kind girl I once knew and managed to turn her into nothing more than a callous bitch.”
I heard someone chuckle at my side and imagined it to be Terrance. He never really got along with Harley.
