Page 62 of Whiskey Lullaby
“Yeah.”
She nodded. “Those are always toughones.”
The waiter grabbed the check on his way back by. “What do youmean?”
“Boys like that—the ones that make you feel like your whole world’s been set on fire—they are hard to say noto.”
“I don’t know about my world being set on fire…” That was a lie. “I’ve just never met anyone like himbefore.”
“And you probably never will again. The heart can usually only take one ofthem.”
“One ofthem?”
She nodded once. “Soulmates.”
“Okay, I didn’t say anything about being in love with himor—”
“You don’t have to, it’s in your eyes when you say his name.” She smiled. “Soulmates are people put here to guide us inlife.”
“What? Guide us? Aren’t you just supposed to spend your life withthem?”
“No, honey, they’re the person whochangesyour entire life. Flips it upside down and around. They’re like a fire you can’t tame, one that feels like Heaven when it heats you and Hell when it engulfs you. You can’t stay with ‘em.”
Momma had always talked about how Daddy was her one, so I was curious why she’d say something like that. “But you andDaddy…”
Her lips pressed into a frown and she shook her head. “He’s my life mate. Not my soulmate. The summer after my senior year—right before me and mother moved back to Rockford—I met this boy named Frankie Haywood.” A nostalgic smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “He wore a leather jacket and smoked cigarettes and listened to Elvis Presley, everything that made my mother cringe. Oh, I fell hard and fast for him, and he broke myheart.”
“So why the weird smile when you think ofhim?”
“He taught me not to trust everyone, to stand up for myself, and he taught me how to ride a motorcycle,” she laughed. “Nohelmet.”
“Yourode a motorcycle?” I found that hard to imagine. My prim and proper mother who was terrified to ride the Tilt a Whirl at the State Fair on amotorcycle?
“Stood up on the back of one once.” She looked so proud of that. “He gave me that passionate love that’s only sustainable for solong.”
“Well, that sucks, Mom. Way to give me something to look forwardto.”
“What you have to learn, my dear, is that love is someplace that’s safe. It’s something that transcends physical needs and wants. Passionate love is like a wild rose—beautiful and rare, but when you go to pick it, it’s gonna tear you to shreds. You’ll pick one in your lifetime, and while you’ll always recall how sweet it smelled, you’ll never forget thescars.”
“So…” I pushed my chair away from the table and grabbed my purse. “You’re telling me that Noah’s gonna hurtme?”
“I’m telling you there’s a reason he’s in your life and enjoy it while you can. Life is all about the experiences, not the regrets.” She stood up, placing her hand in mine as we walked from the restaurant. “Noregrets.”
No regrets. No matter the consequences, I didn’t want to regret keeping myself from him. Soulmate, life mate, it didn’t matter. I wanted my first scar to be from NoahGreyson.
27
Noah
John’s truck was gone when I came in from the field, but Hannah’s car was parked right under the oak tree. Dusk settled in, cooling the muggy air and cueing the crickets in the tall grass. I loaded the half-empty paint cans into the bed of my truck, peeled my sweat-soaked shirt off and threw it to the floorboard. The light to Hannah’s room turned on, catching my attention just as she passed in front of the window in nothing but a little tank top and underwear. She danced around in her room, more carefree than I’d ever seen her. Her back was to the window and she shook her hips from side to side, reminiscent of some Shakira dance move. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started to lift it over her head, and while I knew damn well I should look away, I didn’t. Sure, maybe it made me an absolute jerk, but I had slept next to her for nearly a week and done nothing but kiss her. No matter how hard I tried, my dick wouldn’t let me move my eyes away from that window. Her shirt came off. She froze and slowly glanced over her shoulder. Right atme.
My heart banged against my ribs, because how the hell was I going to get out of that without sounding like a complete pervert? Slowly, she turned around, making a show of dropping her shirt to the floor. And there she stood, completely topless in front of her window with her eyes set onme.
I had one hand on the tailgate of my truck, my jaw, no doubt, unhinged. A timid grin worked over her face as she leaned closer to the window, waving before she pulled the curtainclosed.
Damn.Damn!
I swiped a hand over my face before glancing back at the road. I had no idea where John had gone, but what I did know was that Hannah was up there with no shirt on and I my dick was harder than concrete. Adjusting myself, I walked up the steps to the front porch and knocked on the door. I could hear feet pound down the steps. The knob twisted. When she opened the door, she was in nothing but a pair of baby blue boy shorts.Nothingbut the boy shorts. “Hey,” shesmiled.
