Broken (10 page)

Whitley’s smile faded for a quick second before she flashed that beautiful smile at him. “New town, new life.”

Reed smiled and shook his head. “Folks normally say they want to leave Llano to start a new life.”

Whitley winked. “To each his own.”

“Amen, sister,” Reed said.

I leaned over and said, “Whitley Reynolds, this is my best friend, Reed Moore.”

Whitley grinned. “What? That’s your name—Reed Moore?”

Reed gave her his big ole country-boy smile. “Yes, ma’am. You like to read, do you?”

Whitley threw her head back and laughed. “No, no, I really don’t. I hate reading. Sorry.”

Reed laughed as he turned his attention to Courtney. He stood there and just stared at her as she talked to Kevin.

Whitley leaned up, close to my ear. “If you were any kind of friend, cowboy, you would reach over and lift his jaw off the ground. He acts as if he’s never seen a girl before.”

I laughed as I looked at Reed practically drooling at the sight of Courtney.

“Courtney is going to
love
his name!” Whitley said with a giggle.

Her hot breath on my neck was driving me insane.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “God, he tries to use that to his advantage all the time. If a girl loves to read, he plays it up. Why will Courtney like it?”

Whitley turned and gave me an evil smile. “She’s a freelance editor. She edits books for a living. She
loves
to read. It’s her damn life. Her last name is Will. She is constantly saying, ‘Oh, Courtney
will
…’ It drives me nuts how she stresses the word
will
.”

I laughed as I said, “No shit?”

“No shit!”

Kevin must have seen someone walking by who caught his attention because he excused himself from talking to Courtney. Courtney turned and smiled when she saw Reed standing there, and Whitley jumped into action.

“Courtney, this Layton’s best friend, Reed,” Whitley said with a huge grin on her face.

It was almost like she couldn’t wait for Courtney to find out Reed’s last name.

Reed reached out and shook Courtney’s hand. “Reed Moore,” he said with a smile.

Courtney’s smile spread from ear to ear. “Oh, Courtney
Will
.”

Both Whitley and I busted out laughing. Reed looked confused as hell and then laughed.

“Nice last name I have, huh?” he said with a wink.

Courtney nodded. “Especially for an editor whose job is to do nothing but read.”

Reed started laughing. “Seriously, what’s your last name?”

Courtney looked at him and tilted her head. “Will.”

“Seriously? I thought you were being a smart-ass.”

Courtney smiled and winked. “Oh, honey, trust me, you’ll know when I’m being a smart-ass and when I’m not.”

I leaned over and put my lips up against the back of Whitley’s ear. “Looks like they’re hitting it off just as well as we did.”

She snapped her head around and slowly grinned. She was just about to say something when she glanced over my shoulder, and her smile faded for a brief second.

I felt someone put a hand on my upper back and move it down to my ass. Lady Antebellum’s “Dancin’ Away with My Heart” started playing.

Misty got in between Whitley and me. “Hey, babe. I’m on a break. Dance with me.”

I smiled down at Misty and nodded. I looked back at Whitley, who was looking Misty up and down.

“Excuse me, CG,” I said with a wink.

Whitley smirked and gave me the finger before turning and walking back to her table. Courtney followed behind, and Bill trailed her.

I took Misty’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Then, I watched as Bill somehow got Courtney to dance with his drunken ass. I glanced around the dance floor and saw Olivia dancing with Justin. He was holding her tightly up against his body as she rested her head on his chest. I pulled Misty close to me and started dancing.

“God, Layton. It feels so good to be in your arms,” Misty said.

I couldn’t even answer her. I kept staring at Olivia. I watched as she looked up at Justin, and he leaned down and kissed her. I wanted nothing more than to look away, but I couldn’t. I just kept torturing myself by staring at them.

Then, I saw Kevin, and I closed my eyes. All I could see was Mike laughing and loving life as he twirled Jen around on the dance floor. They’d had so many dreams. They were meant to be together. Now, she was alone with their five-year-old daughter, Kate.

He left us.

My heart started pounding, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I looked back at Olivia, who was still kissing Justin. Kevin was dancing with some girl I’d seen around, but I had no idea who she was. Courtney was dancing with Bill, and she actually looked like she was enjoying herself.

Then, my eyes caught those beautiful green ones.

Is she watching me dance?

She slowly looked away as Richard walked up and sat down to talk to her.

The music changed, and “What About Love” by Austin Mahone started playing. Olivia turned and began grinding her ass into Justin. I looked away as I pulled Misty closer. As she peeked up at me, I tilted her chin up, and I kissed her. The moan she let out moved through my whole body. When I closed my eyes, green eyes were all I could see.

Whitley’s eyes are so beautiful.

I moved my hands down and grabbed Misty’s ass as I started grinding into her.

“Layton…”

The sound of Misty’s voice brought me out of my daydream. She turned around and started dancing closer to me. I moved my hands up and down her body.

I need to forget.

I leaned down toward Misty’s ear. “Can you leave early?”

She spun around and captured my lips with hers as she reached around and grabbed the back of my neck. “Buck already said I could leave early. Take me home and fuck me, Layton.”

I smiled as my dick jumped. I pulled her closer to me and pushed my dick into her stomach. In that moment, I looked up to see Whitley staring at us. I instantly pushed Misty away from me. I felt like a total fucking asshole.

“Layton, did you hear me? I can leave now. I’m excited to finally fuck you in a bed. I can do so much more than on a pool table.”

I watched as Richard held out his hand, and Whitley took it. They made their way to the dance floor as Flo Rida’s “Right Round” started.

Misty jumped up and down. “Oh my God, I love this song!”

I glanced over toward Olivia. She and Justin were leaving the dance floor and heading for the door.

Fuck.

When I looked back at Whitley, I almost fell over.

Jesus Christ, can she move her hips any more?

I felt Misty dancing all around me, but I couldn’t move. I just stood there, watching Whitley.

Courtney ended up near Whitley. They started talking while they were dancing with Bill and Richard. Fuckers were enjoying this dance too much. When I saw Richard put his hands on Whitley’s hips and move them up and down, I wanted to go and pull him away from her.

“Layton? Who in the hell are you looking at?” Misty asked.

I looked down at Misty and shook my head. “Nobody, babe. Nobody.”

I grabbed Misty and pulled her closer to me as I lost myself to the song and the feel of her body up against mine. The one thing Misty was good at was making me forget everyone and everything.

I closed my eyes as I moved my hands up and down her body while I dreamed I was dancing with someone else.

I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Layton dancing with that girl.

Who in the hell is she? A girlfriend? I swear he said he didn’t have a girlfriend.

After the Flo Rida song was over, I told Richard I was tired and thirsty. A slower song came on, and I watched as Layton danced, practically fucking whoever this girl was on the dance floor.

Jesus, get a room, for Pete’s sake.

I looked away. I couldn’t stand to watch them anymore. I caught Court looking at me.

She smiled and shook her head. “Jealous much, Whit?”

I gave her a dirty look as Richard asked us what we wanted to drink.

“Water, please,” we both said.

Richard walked away as Bill sat down in between Court and me. I knew he was thinking he would get lucky tonight, and I was beginning to think Courtney had been serious about getting fucked. She had been hanging all over this guy.

Bill leaned over and whispered something in Courtney’s ear. She smiled and shook her head. He said something else to her, and I heard her say, “Maybe next time.”

Bill got up and made his way over to Richard as he was walking back to the table with our water. Richard started laughing and shuffled around Bill. He handed us the waters and sat down.

“Your friend just totally crushed my friend’s dreams. Please tell me you won’t crush mine.”

Ugh. What a corny-ass line.

I looked up and saw Layton kissing that girl.

Stupid men. I hate them all.

“Richard, who is Layton, um…dancing with? If you can call that dancing,” I said with sarcasm oozing out.

Richard looked out toward the dance floor. “Oh, that’s Misty. She’s a bartender here and has been after Layton for years. He just recently hooked up with her. Layton is only using her for sex, just a way to forget all his problems. He doesn’t even like her.”

My heart felt like it dropped into my stomach for some reason. “Forget his problems?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yeah, six months ago, Layton’s brother died in Afghanistan. He was set to get out of the Marine Corps. He was on his last tour and only had less than four days before he was supposed to head back to the States.”

I looked at Layton, and my heart broke in two. “Oh my God. How terrible.”

“Yeah, it really fucked Layton up. Mike was all he had…well, besides Olivia. Their mother had passed away, and then their dad had left them to fend for themselves, all alone, in some fucked-up conditions. Mike was a few years older, and after graduation, he joined the Marines, so Layton could go to Texas A&M and concentrate on getting their ranch going. He made a promise to Mike that he would always follow their dreams of raising cattle and racehorses. Really, the racehorses were kind of Mike’s thing, just like their old man. Layton did it just because he knew how much Mike loved it. When Mike would come home from leave, they’d spend all their time with either cattle or horses. They did everything together.”

I shook my head. “Poor Layton. That…that just breaks my heart.”

I looked back out at Layton. The way he was moving his hands up and down Misty’s body was starting to bother me and piss me off. And
that
pissed me off even more.

“Wait—did you say Mike was all he had besides Olivia? Do you mean Olivia, Mrs. Pierceson’s niece?” I asked.

“Yep. She left him the day after Mike died,” Richard said.

I brought my hand up and covered my mouth. “What?”

“That’s not the worst of it. She left Layton for one of his best friends, Justin. Justin, Layton, and Reed used to do everything together when Layton wasn’t with Mike. They had been best friends since…well, hell, since like first grade, all three of them.”

I felt like I was going to be sick. It wasn’t like I cared for Layton that much. He was sometimes an ass, but my God, this was just so terrible. I felt so bad.

“You want to dance?” Richard asked.

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m really tired and just need to rest for a bit before dancing again.”

He got up. “I’m going to go talk to a few friends then.” He gave me a weak smile and headed off to the other side of the bar.

I looked around for Layton and Misty. I couldn’t find them on the dance floor anymore. Then, I saw them. Misty was leaning on the bar, talking to the bartender and smiling. She jumped down off the bar, and Layton grabbed her hand.

I watched as they walked out the door. For some reason, I felt insanely jealous.

Fuck! Why do I even feel this way? I don’t even like him!

I stood up and said to Courtney, “I’m ready to leave.”

“Wait—what? Oh, come on, Whit. I was having fun, dick-teasing this Bill guy. It might actually be more fun than having sex,” she said with a wink.

“I need to leave. I’m tired, and my head is pounding.”

Courtney grabbed her purse and sighed. “Fine, party pooper. Let’s go home.”

I started to walk away. I couldn’t believe how mad I was.

What in the hell is wrong with me?

I felt like I wanted to just haul off and punch someone.

Stupid Layton Morris.

I stormed off, away from Courtney, and I made my way toward the door. When I went to walk out, the door opened, and I ran smack into Layton.

“Shit, CG, watch where you’re going, sweetheart. I damn near knocked you over,” he said with that drop-dead smile of his.

What an asshole! How dare he call me sweetheart after he was practically fucking that girl on the dance floor!

“Fuck off, you jerk.” I tried to walk around him.

“Whitley, I was only kidding. Are you okay?”

I looked out the door and saw Misty standing there, waiting on Layton.

“Do all the cowboys in Texas take home slutty bartenders and fuck them to forget their problems? Real classy. Not what I was expecting from a—what did you call yourself earlier? Oh yeah, a Southern gentleman. Ha. That’s a fucking joke.”