I let out the breath I’d been holding. Dad was okay. “Sure, yeah, Momma. I’ll get the milk.”

“You gonna be out late?” she asked, and I noticed her voice was tense. There was something she wasn’t telling me. Dad must be sick or hurting.

“I, no, uh, I’ll be home soon,” I assured her.

She let out a relieved sigh. “Good. Well, you drive careful. Wear your seat belt. I love you.”

“Love you too, Momma.”

I ended the call just as I got to where I’d parked my truck. I’d already been walking out, prepared to leave even before she’d asked if I’d be home late. It was all getting worse. Dad was hardly able to get out of bed anymore. Motherfucking doctors couldn’t do anything for him.

My chest tightened, and it became hard to breathe. This had been happening more and more lately. It was like all my fears grabbed ahold of my throat and squeezed until I couldn’t inhale.

Anger began to pump through my veins. This wasn’t goddamn fair! My dad was a good man. He didn’t deserve this. God was up there just letting this shit happen. And my sweet momma, she needed my dad. She didn’t deserve this either.

“Fuck!” I roared as I slammed both hands down on the hood of my truck. This was destroying all of us, and I couldn’t tell anyone. Dealing with sympathy from people who had no idea how this felt would be more shit I didn’t need.

A movement from the left caught my attention, and I jerked my head to see who had witnessed my breakdown.

The sundress was the first thing I recognized. Her curvy body filled it out just perfectly.

That girl was so lucky she couldn’t talk. She didn’t have to pretend for anyone. She didn’t have to say the right thing or act a certain way.

She tilted her head to the side as if she were studying me, deciding if I were dangerous or if I needed help. All that gorgeous hair and those full lips could certainly help. Help me forget for a moment. Forget this hell my life had become.

I shoved off of my truck and walked over to her. I almost expected her to run. She didn’t.

I inhaled sharply. The tightness in my throat had eased some. “You like what you see?” I taunted her, hoping she’d run from me. She didn’t deserve this; using her to ease my pain wasn’t right. And I was angry and couldn’t control my emotions anymore. They stayed so raw all the time. Just like everyone else in my path, she was someone I was pushing away for her own safety.

She didn’t respond, but there was a clarity in her eyes. She wasn’t off like Brady said—you could see that kind of thing in a person’s eyes. But her eyes, they were almost too intense. Too smart.

“You just gonna stare at me like you want a taste and not speak? Kinda rude.”

My own meanness made me wince inside. My momma would be ashamed of me. This girl, though, she didn’t do anything more than blink. She didn’t back away, and she didn’t make a sound. Brady hadn’t been shitting us about one thing: She really didn’t talk.

But even without talking, she obviously wasn’t interested in me. I wasn’t used to that. Wasn’t used to girls not wanting me to kiss them.

I stopped in front of her and cupped her face in one of my hands. God, that face was something else. I had to touch her to see if she was real. The perfection seemed almost impossible. Everyone had physical flaws. I wanted to find hers.

I used my thumb to brush her bottom lip. She wasn’t wearing lipstick. She didn’t need it—those lips were already a pretty pink.

“It’s time you run along now,” I warned her, even though I should have been the one to walk away.

She stayed where she was, staring up at me. Boldly. Without flinching. The only thing that gave her away was the pulse in her neck. She was nervous, but she was either too scared or too curious to move.

I took one more step until I was pressed up against her and she was backed against the tree behind her. “Told ya to run, sugar,” I reminded her just before I lowered my mouth to hers.

Don’t Mind Me, Sugar

CHAPTER 3

MAGGIE

I was determined not to be a hindrance to Brady. Friday night Aunt Coralee had forced him to take me to that party, and I used it as an opportunity to show him I wouldn’t be a bother. Mostly, I sat in the dark by myself, away from everyone. Every thirty minutes or so I’d check if Brady was still there or looking for me, and then I’d go back to my hiding spot.

I really hoped this wasn’t an every weekend event. I didn’t want to have to go through that every time Brady went to the field party. I preferred to stay in my room and read. Hanging out alone in a dark field wasn’t exactly my favorite way to pass the time. Although, something happened that had certainly made it less . . . boring.

Thinking of the place I’d claimed beside that tree made my cheeks flush. I’d gotten my first real kiss, and from a guy I didn’t even know. He’d been so tall and his hair was dark and curled at the ends. His face . . . It was like God had taken all the perfect features for man and put them together just for this guy.

It hadn’t been those things that made me stand there, though, after he warned me to go. It had been his eyes. Even in the darkness, I’d seen a heaviness there. A heaviness I’d never seen in anyone but myself.

He’d told his mother he loved her on the phone. Then he’d hung up and cursed while hitting his truck. Anyone who talked to his mother that way couldn’t be bad. He didn’t scare me.