The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (3 page)

Chapter 4

Savanna

I could not believe that son of a bitch was forcing me to go out with him. Ty would be kicking his cousin’s ass if he knew he was doing this. I didn’t want to be around all of Ty’s friends. They had all given up on him. Not to mention the fact that everyone blamed me for his accident.

This was a bad idea.

I grabbed some low-rise jean shorts and didn’t even bother changing out of the button up short sleeve shirt I was wearing. Instead, I just tied it up at the bottom. I had braided my hair while it was wet this morning, so I just took it out and let the waves fall down my back. There was no way I was going to apply any extra time on myself. This was going to be a miserable night. I wished I never saw Colton earlier today.

Since it had only taken me ten minutes to get ready, I sat on the bed and started sulking. Being in public places where people knew me had gotten to be unbearable. People were mean and they had no problems talking shit.

When Ty had been in the hospital for only a month, a bunch of girls stopped by to see him from one of the female fraternities. I could see them coming from all the way down the hallway, almost as if they walked and bounced in sequence. I rolled my eyes as they entered, but they just ignored the fact that I was in the room. Finally, after the first minute, I had to leave and wait outside. I didn’t know how all five of them were able to visit together, but they crowded in the room and started gabbing about parties he had attended.

It was hard to hear about Ty having a life without me. One of the little bitches even made a point to mention the tattoo he had on the top of his upper thigh. I could feel the vomit rushing into my mouth. They never turned to face me, but were fully aware of who I was and why I was there with him. They didn’t care.

From outside I watched the busty blonde talking and stroking my boyfriend’s cheek. She took her fingers and brushed them over his perfect lips, while she was clearly talking about how she had messed around with him. Of course, I hated her. I hated them all.

When I called Brina to talk about it, she finally confessed to all of the rumors she had heard going around campus. Ty’s accident was at the top of the gossip chain, so anyone that had been a part of his life were sharing their stories. According to Brina, he had hooked up with a bunch of different girls. It hurt me, like someone was stabbing me directly in my heart. She never said an exact number, but it didn’t matter if it was one or forty, it still hurt the same.

The thought of someone touching something that had always only been mine was horrible. After she told me, I refused to even speak to her for a few days. She called and texted me non-stop until I finally gave in. I knew it wasn’t her fault for keeping it a secret. Ty was lying in a hospital bed, and I didn’t need that added stress.

Brina ended up staying with me for the next two nights. At the time, Ty’s mother was still talking to me, but I couldn’t tell her why I had been so sad. Finally, after drilling me for two weeks she cornered me and accused me of sleeping around on her son. When I denied it and told her it was Ty, she slapped me across the face. After that, our relationship was strained and now it was non-existent.

They had been my second family. I had played with their son since we were children and I had loved him for almost that long. I would never have cheated on him. No guy ever compared to the way I felt about him. Making her believe that now was impossible.

I grabbed my cowboy boots and purse and headed out the door. I got my things and drove to the old barn where Colt was meeting me. I was sure about only one thing tonight. I was going to make sure that Colton Mitchell never blackmailed me again.

Instead of waiting in the car, I walked inside and looked around.

When my phone started to vibrate, I took one look and saw the message.

I am here.

Colt

On the drive over to pick up Savanna, I actually felt bad about manipulating her to come with me. She had explained in detail about how people treated her now. I was certain tonight was going to be filled with a bunch of animosity. At least that pretty redhead was willing to make things better for me.

The pickup truck hadn’t had AC in years and by the time Savanna finally came outside, I had started to sweat my ass off. The first thing I noticed about her was the short shorts and cowboy boots. Her navel was showing out of the bottom of that tied up shirt and a small ring was displayed in the center of it. Her long brown hair bounced as she walked toward the truck. She was not the girl that I remembered.

When she reached the truck door, I took the stupid smile off my face. She did not look happy to see me.

“I just want to thank you ahead of time for making me do something that I don’t want to do,” she said as she hooked her seatbelt.

I started the truck back up and began driving before I responded. I needed to ponder on what exactly I could say to make her feel better, but I didn’t really care. That little ginger was waiting for us at the party.

When we got there, it was already dark. A bunch of trucks were parked around a big circle and the fire was at least a hundred feet away from us in the center. Music played from someone’s radio and people were already dancing and mingling.  I got the truck backed up and looked over toward Van. She hadn’t said a word since we pulled out of the lot. This was a bad idea, I just knew it.

“You ready to have some fun?” I asked, trying to break the ice.

She looked over at me. Her lips were pressed firmly together and her eyes were squinted. It was a face where a woman was getting ready to go all bat shit on someone.

“I told you before that I did not want to come. This isn’t going to be a good time.”

I grabbed the old John Deere hat from my dash and put it on my head backwards. My cooler was in the back of the truck and I needed a beer. When I jumped out of the truck, she stayed in it, refusing to cooperate. I decided the best thing to do was ignore her. She wasn’t my problem anyway.

I had no sooner grabbed a beer than I saw Sabrina heading toward my truck. “Hey, sexy. Where is she?” she said as she approached.

“Where do ya think?”  I said as I handed her a beer and pointed toward the truck. I jumped up on the tailgate, while Sabrina made her way to the passenger side of the truck.

“Get your ass out here with us,” she said as she opened the door.

Van didn’t give her a second to say anything else. “This was your idea? You are such a bitch! You knew I didn’t want to come and you have him manipulate me? How could you do that? And how did you even know he was in town?” Savanna asked.

“We ran into each other earlier,” she said as she turned my way and bit down on her bottom lip.

I gave her a wink and tried not to watch her and Van having it out.

“Get over it, Van. You need to get out. Your life is wasting away. He wouldn’t want you to be like that,” Sabrina suggested.

Van wasn’t having it. “Don’t tell me what he would and wouldn’t want, Sabrina! Seriously, back the hell off!” I felt the truck shift and then saw Van standing in front of the cooler. She helped herself to a couple beers and took off away from the circle of vehicles.

Sabrina came over and sat on the tailgate next to me. “Should we go after her?” I asked.

“No, she’s being a bitch. Let her have a beer and calm down. She will be fine,”  Sabrina said.

I finally noticed that she wasn’t dressed nearly as sexy as Van, in fact she was wearing just normal jean shorts and a t-shirt that said flirt across the chest. Her red hair was up in a ponytail and she had feather earrings in both ears.  She didn’t waste any time with her seduction. Her hand went from my knee to my inner thigh within seconds.

“Darlin', I suggest you slow down.”

She leaned into my face. “I have wanted a piece of this since before I had tits,” she whispered.

I was midstream with my beer and almost choked when I heard her say that. That mixed with her hand reaching the waistline of my pants was enough for me to stand up. “Listen here. I am all for taking you someplace and letting you do whatever your pretty little heart desires, but I brought my cousin’s girl here tonight and it’s my job to get her home safe.”

She seemed annoyed from the moment her hands left my crotch and she hopped off the truck. “Fine!”

I grabbed us two more beers and we made our way through the crowd of people. A few guys recognized me immediately and came up to say hello. Sabrina wrapped her arms into mine as if we were an item. Finally, I pulled myself free and started to ignore her. I had just got out of a clingy relationship and I was not about to start a new one with this chick.

All at once, I heard someone screaming the word “fight” and watched as the entire crowd of people ran in one direction away from the fire. I wasn’t concerned about watching a fight. I was getting too old to be dealing with things that did not concern me, but something in my gut told me to walk over there anyway.

I was much taller than the people in front of me were and could see that the fight was between a bunch of girls. Three blondes were yelling, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying from the back of the crowd.  I could hear the people around me yelling, “Hit her." I tried to spot Sabrina in the crowd, but couldn’t find her. I pushed my way closer just as I got a glimpse of Van being held down by two blondes, while the third was punching and kicking her. She was trying to kick her way free but the other blonde sat on her legs. She was crying and screaming underneath them.

Anger filled me and I managed to push everyone in the crowd away from me. When I reached the girls, who hadn’t seen me coming, I pushed two of them at once off of Van, while the other continued to kicking her in the side. She got one look at me and backed away from me.

“Get the fuck away from her, all of you!” I yelled as I picked her limp body up into my arms and carried her away from the crowd.  I didn’t walk toward the truck; she didn’t need another audience. Instead, I carried her away and sat her down in a patch of moss on the edge of the woods.

Her shirt was ripped and she had scratch marks across her chest. I moved her hair away from her face and noticed her cheek was bleeding, and all around her nose and lips was bloody too. “Van, I am so sorry. What happened?”

She just started crying worse, so I held onto her and let her cry it out. “Shhh, you are safe now. I won’t let them touch you.”

She clung to my shirt and I let her. I had been a fool to have forced her to come here; obviously people were being far worse than I originally thought.

When I couldn’t kneel any longer, I stood up and picked her up again. She let me without a fight and I carried her to the truck. Sabrina was waiting there for us. “Where did you go? Oh my God, Van, I had no idea. I am so sorry,” she apologized.

Savanna didn’t speak. She just clung to my chest with her eyes closed and the tears pouring out.

“I’m gonna have to take a rain check on that alone time, sugar,” I said as I got Van into the truck.

“I can meet you later,” she offered.

“No can do. I think my cousin would expect I made good on taking care of Van tonight. I can’t take her to her mommas like this.”

She nodded but looked disappointed. “Fine, your loss though.”

Right then I was glad I hadn’t taken her home. She was not someone I wanted to associate with no matter what special skills she may or may not have had.

Chapter 5

Savanna

I knew it was a bad idea going there, but I had no clue it would be that bad. I was walking away from everyone just trying to get to a place where I could sit alone, when Heather and her band of bitches came walking toward me. I looked around the truck and knew I was finally safe.

“Van, are you okay?” Colt asked as we were heading away from the party.

“Not really,” I admitted.

I was balled up against the window of the truck. I didn’t look over at him, but I could hear him hitting the steering wheel. “Dammit. I should have never let her talk me into bringing you out.”

“It’s not your fault, Colt.”

I could taste the blood on my lips and my face was stinging like crazy. I was afraid to touch anything that hurt in fear that it was worse than I could imagine.

“What the hell happened?”

I shrugged even though I didn’t know if he was looking in my direction.  The tears ran down my face. “They came out saying I killed him. They said he was planning to tell me we were through for good. ” I started crying so bad that I couldn’t get any more words out.

“Aww hell, you didn’t kill anybody, sugar. You know that, right?”

I wasn’t sure if I believed him. I wanted to, but Tyler was basically lifeless. If it wasn’t for my decisions, he would be fine.

When we had drove without words for more than ten minutes, I let myself fall asleep and I only knew it because when I opened my eyes next I was in Colt’s arms, being carried to the carriage house at the Mitchell farm.  He got me inside and took me right into the bathroom. I sat down on the seat of the toilet while he rummaged through the first-aid kit.

“This is going to sting,” he said as he started wiping my face.

“Ouch!” I said when it first touched my skin. I could smell the alcohol on the pad he was using.

He stuck out his tongue as if he was concentrating on all of the scrapes and bruises. “Just tryin’ to clean you up so I can assess the damage,” he explained.

“Can’t I just tell you every place that hurts?” I asked.

“Just keep sittin' there.” He was focused on my cheek for a longer than normal amount of time.  His hands started scrambling around the kit again. “Van, do you trust me?”

“Should I? Why are you asking me that?” I wanted to know.

“I need to give you a couple stitches,” he said confidently.

I stood up in a panic. “No way!”

He smiled. “No to the stitches, or to trusting me?”

“Maybe both,” I said hesitantly.

“You do know that I have stitched up every type of farm animal that exists? I am fully capable of mending your cheek without you having to go to the hospital or worry your family tonight.”

I was scared, but he was right. I couldn’t let them see me like this. I had put them all through hell. There was not much more that they could take. “Fine,” I finally said.

He left the room for a moment and as soon as he did, I looked in the small mirror above the sink at my face. It was worse than I thought. My one eye was almost swollen shut. My cheek was busted at the tip of my cheekbone and blood was still coming out of it. My lips had doubled in size and dried blood was at the base of both of my nostrils.

That was just my face.

Colt came back in the room and sighed. “I knew you would look.” He shook his head and handed me a bottle of whiskey.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“Well, I reckon this is going to hurt some. So, I figured you could get a few shots in you and numb the pain. I promise I won’t touch you all night,” he said and winked when he did it.

I hated the taste of whiskey, but after seeing my face, I knew it would hurt like a bitch. I opened the cap and started taking big gulps. It burned so bad and I struggled to keep it down at first. Colt leaned against the bathroom wall and watched me as I drank.

“You want some of this?” I asked handing the bottle to him.

He smiled. “I think it would be best if I operated on your face sober, don’t you?”

I laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

He shook his head and laughed again. “Keep drinkin'.”

I took some more large sips. It was starting to not burn so bad going down. I could feel my body starting to relax after a few minutes, but Colt waited patiently. He walked toward the sink and got a clean washcloth. His eyes were focused on my face, but only at what he needed to do to take care of it.

“I bet you didn’t come to this town to deal with my shit,” I implied.

“No big deal, darlin'. Me and Sam weren’t doing much else anyway.”

Sam? So he did have a girlfriend. I wonder where she was tonight. I hadn’t seen her at the bonfire and he hadn’t mentioned her at all. “Where is this Sam? Is she pretty? I bet she’s a beauty,” I admitted.

He laughed again. “She’s up at the farm house and yeah, she’s pretty darn cute.”

I imagined him being with this beautiful blonde. He was such a handsome man and any girl would have been lucky to be with someone like him. Colt acted rough on the outside, but he had a big heart and his family was always the most important thing in his life.

“I can’t feel my tongue anymore,” I confessed.

He knelt down in front of me. As his strong hands began working on my face, I closed my eyes and felt his warm breath against my cheek. When I opened them again, I noticed how focused he was on my face. I could feel him touching it, but there was no pain.

“Try to hold as still as you can, Van. Okay?” he asked.

“Okay,” I said, slurring my words. I looked at him as he worked on me. I liked the patch of hair that sat just under his bottom lip and the small remnants of a moustache that could only mean he hadn’t shaved today.  Colt had lips like Ty’s and I couldn’t help but notice them. His hair was so dark and it was so thick coming from underneath his green hat. Being this close to him, I could see a few small freckles he had across his nose from being in the sun all the time.  His green eyes were like crystals and, just as I was admiring them, he caught me looking.

“You doin' alright?” he asked, causing me to blush and feel embarrassed.

“Yeah, I am.”

It must have been the alcohol, because my mind was not on my injuries at all.

Colt

I had managed to get myself into trouble after only being here for one day. Not only had I gotten myself involved with drama, but I also had my cousin’s girl in my bathroom. Her face was beaten to a pulp and her clothes ruined. I was doing my best to take care of her after forcing her to come out in the first place. Her friend was of no help and I was positive that we would never be hooking up in the future.

Everyone in town might be mad at Savanna, but she didn’t force the football star to make the decisions he made. None of this was her fault. I felt sorry for her. She had loved him for so long and now she was the one suffering the most.

When I got the final stitch finished up, I stood up. I could tell Van was pretty drunk and it was a good thing, because she looked like hell.

“Let’s get you into bed,” I suggested, not realizing she read too much into that comment. I smiled. “Van, I am sleeping on the couch. You need to rest. I will give you something to change into and you can lay in my room.”

She smiled. It was one of those drunk looks that girls do when they start to get all sloppy. “Oh,” she said before she started laughing uncontrollably. Seeing her like this, even with the beaten up face, was cute. She was relaxed and not uptight. “Lead the way, Doctor Colton,” she slurred.

Van followed me into the bedroom where I gave her a clean shirt and pair of boxers out of my bag that I hadn’t even unpacked yet. “Go ahead and change into these,” I said as I handed them to her.

“I can’t!” she said as she stood there swaying back and forth.

“Why not?”

“I can’t feel my fingers. I haven’t drank in a long time,” she admitted and giggled some more.

I rolled my eyes. This was bad, but at the same time, I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was taking care of her. It was what Ty would want.

I walked up to her and took a breath. I had to focus on her face. I couldn’t look at her as anything more than Ty’s property. Without really touching her skin, I pulled off the shirt that hung on by a thread anyway. Her white lace bra was still intact. Thank God. She started to lose her balance and pressed her hands into my chest to regain her composure. When she went to stand back up her face was within inches of mine.

This was harder than I thought. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Savanna, please try to stand still. I am trying to be a gentleman here.”

She started laughing again, but then she bit down on her lip and looked me right in the eye. Her finger pointed toward my chest and she poked me with it. “Why did you call me names when we were younger, Colt?”

I rolled my eyes. Of course, she would bring this up. “Because I was an asshole.”

I got her shorts unbuttoned and she started stepping out of them, using my shoulders to balance herself.  I hadn’t realized that once they were removed, my face would be straight even with her very revealing panties. I stood up as fast as I could.

She just stood there looking at me. “You said I was a boy.” She took her hands and waved them from her head to her feet. “Do I look like a boy to you now?”

She was drunk. Completely trashed, but I looked at her figure anyway. I was human and she was gorgeous. Her waist was so tiny but her hips accented her backside perfectly. When my face actually looked at her chest, I tried to focus on the scratches and not her breasts. I closed my eyes. “Van, you are drunk. I’m not going to answer that.”

I grabbed my shirt off the bed and pulled it over her head. She stepped into my boxers without arguing, but as I got her into my bed and tucked the covers up, she looked at me again. I gave her a smile and turned to walk out of the room but she grabbed my hand.

“Thank you, Colt,” she whispered.

I looked at her, at the girl who I used to tease about being a boy, and the one that was possibly the prettiest woman I had ever seen. “Goodnight, Savanna.”

I knew from that moment I would never call her Van again and restraining myself from touching her was going to be difficult.