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“We might’ve had sex awhile back… but how he found out, and why he’s coming at me after all this time is something I don’t understand. That had to be almost two years ago, and it was one time. One fucking time.”
He stared at me for a moment, blinking his eyes like he was trying to absorb what I’d just said. Then he sat up straight as if he’d finally absorbed everything.
“You had sex with CindyLou?” His voice got real low, and his expression turned dark. I couldn’t be sure, but he looked as if he might take a swing at me as well.
“It was one night out in my truck. It didn’t mean anything.”
He leaned on the counter. “Don’t tell me it didn’t mean anything. It’s CindyLou. It had to mean something. That’s one fine woman.”
I had a choice here. I could admit that it meant more than I thought it ever would, and it was the hottest and most honest sex I’d ever had. Then there was the whole emotional component that went along with it that I ran from like an alley cat with a pitbull on its tail. I wasn’t ready for those kinds of emotions, wasn’t in my plan, so I ran as fast as I could and as far as I could and never looked back.
“Okay… it might’ve meant something, but it was quick. Not like we spent the whole night together or something.”
He pondered my words for a few beats, then he said, “There’s got to be more to the story than you’re telling me.”
Scotty was the exact opposite of me. He rarely shot from the hip. He had to think things over first before he reacted. Plus, he could smell bullshit a mile away.
Not that I was serving him complete bullshit. I just wasn’t telling him the whole story… which was another thing he could smell. The man wasn’t human. He had some kind of AI thing going on inside his head, I was sure of it.
“That’s all there was to it,” I told him, trying not to look him in the eye, but having some trouble with that idea.
“Now I know you’re fucking holding something back. It’s gonna come out sooner or later, so you might as well put it on the table this morning while I’m in a relatively good mood. Maybe we can figure this thing out… whatever it is. It can’t be that bad. I mean it’s not like you got her pregnant or anything. Not with all the girls you fuck. You always cover that thing up, right? You’re a safe dick, right?”
I didn’t answer because, honestly, I couldn’t remember.
“Oh, come on!” he said, suddenly raging over the matter. “You didn’t have bareback sex with CindyLou. That would be suicidal, and I know you value your own life… or maybe you don’t, and I’ve been deluding myself all these years. You really don’t give a fuck and have some sort of death wish.”
“There were circumstances…” I began.
He jumped up, twirled around, then sat back down. “Holy fucking shit! You did. You had raw-dog sex with CindyLou. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“You know how it is. You’re in the middle of a thing, and you ain’t got a condom. You can’t stop. It’s physically impossible to stop.”
Scotty leaned forward, staring at me like I was an idiot, which in the scheme of things, was an accurate assessment of my asshole ways. “No. I don’t know how it is. Unless you’re sixteen and stupid as to how the world works, and even then… So, did you get her pregnant? Is that what that whole fight was about? You’re not manning up to your responsibilities?”
“I don’t know. I mean, she hasn’t said a word to me about no baby.”
“You know she’s in town, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And you’ve been out to see her, right?” He made it sound as if it was my responsibility to drive out to see her, which it wasn’t. At least I hadn’t thought about it that way.
Yeah, so maybe I was guilty about the whole thing. And maybe that one time meant more to me than it should have, but it didn’t mean I had any obligation to drive on over and see her. I mean, what the hell was I supposed to say? Hey, CindyLou. Sorry I haven’t contacted you in all this time. I’m a shit-head, but then you already knew that before we hooked up.
“It was one fucking night in Denver, during that summer I tried bronc riding. She was one of many. You’d be surprised how many women will have sex with a rodeo rider.”
“CindyLou has never been and will never be just another woman. Not that any of them should be, but especially not her.”
His face softened just talking about CindyLou. I knew he’d had a crush on her ever since they kissed that first summer when she came out to visit her aunt and uncle. He was right. We all had a crush on her, even Colt who’d considered himself too old to go near her during that first summer. Then when she came out the following summers, he’d always been dating someone.
“You’re still carrying that damn torch for her, aren’t you? Ain’t it gettin’ heavy now? Maybe it’s time to put that flame out? Or maybe you should go out to Daryl’s ranch for a visit. Makes more sense than me driving out there.”
“I didn’t get her pregnant,” Scotty shot back at me. His words accusing me of something that hadn’t ever been confirmed.
“Am I going to have to give you another black eye? We don’t know anything about her having no baby, and we certainly don’t know that a one-night stand got her pregnant. I mean the odds of that happening are near impossible if that.”
“So, Daryl was talking shit, then?” He drank his coffee like he needed it.
