Page 87 of Sunday Morning
I knew it was stupid. Matt probably did too. It was easier to ignore it and hope it went away than to suffer the consequences.
“So why have sex if it’s all ending?” Isaac asked.
I shrugged, but I knew the answer. However, I didn’t think Isaac would understand my thought process, my beliefthat Matt had earned the right to my virginity, or that I simply no longer wanted to keep it.
“Why areyoucheating on your brother? And don’t give me a scientific explanation.”
“How am I cheating on him?”
“Loyalty. You’re not showing family loyalty. At least I can say that I’ve known that Matt and I are ending, but you didn’t know that until now.”
“Oh, I knew it was over for you and Matty when I let you play my guitar.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not the same thing.”
He smirked, but after a few seconds, his expression softened into a more serious one. “I did something for my family, something big. And yet, Matty’s always been the golden child. He has no interest in the ranch. He does very little to help out because he has baseball, or he can’t risk getting injured or not getting good sleep. It feels like everything has been handed to him on a silver platter. And even though I know he didn’t ask for this special treatment, I feel like he’s not shown enough gratitude for it either. The least you can do when someone gives you everything is show a little gratitude. Right?”
I turned toward him, adjusting my seat belt. “What did you do?”
Isaac shook his head. “Can’t say.”
As I opened my mouth to prod him, I thought of the thingsIcouldn’t say. “So you’re upset with Matt for letting you do whatever you did while he got everything on a silver platter?”
“No. Matty doesn’t know what I did. So I’m holding a silent grudge, and those are the worst kind.”
I frowned. “Are you saying I’m revenge? You just want him to have one less thing on his silver platter?”
“Baby,” he laughed, “you don’t belong to anyone. I could lasso you, but you’d break free. I’m not taking anything that’s not given to me.”
His short sentiment contained a lot. It was the first time anyone had ever called me “baby” in that way. I liked it coming from Isaac. And I felt a little more of that power he referenced in the farm shed. I was in control of us. He would only take what I was willing to give him.
The less he demanded, the more Iwantedto give him. Isaac held me with open arms.
I turned up the radio, and we spent the next two and a half hours singing our hearts out with the windows down, my shoes off, one foot on the dash and the other outside the window. Nashville became an afterthought. Going anywhere with Isaac next to me and the radio blaring waseverything.
He pulled over for fuel, and I ran into the gas station to use the bathroom. When I came out, he was waiting for me by the refrigerated section.
“Pepsi?” He opened the door and grabbed one.
“Yes.”
He handed it to me and grabbed his Mountain Dew. “Hungry?”
I nodded. “Starving.”
We found the stand of Hostess snacks. Isaac grabbed Ding Dongs, and I chose Twinkies. He also added a can of Pringles, Mentos, and a pack of lemon-lime Gator Gum. As we waited in line, he turned to face me, eyeing me with an unreadable expression.
“What?” I grinned, holding my pop and Twinkies.
“Nothing,” he said as a smile crept up his face, and he dipped his head to kiss me.
He waskissing me in public,and my father did not approve of public displays of affection. It wasn’t a long kiss, but a few people were staring at us, and it made me blush, so I dropped my chin to end the kiss. I kept my head down and strained my gaze to see if the bystanders were done staring. Isaac took my things and set them on the counter.
“I’ll meet you outside,” I mumbled, slithering out of the gas station.
Isaac, with his sexy Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, white tee, and mischievous grin, strutted toward me as I stood at the back of his truck. “It’s not locked.”
“Just stretching my legs a little more.”