Letting Go (A Mitchell Family Series) Page 4

  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 nothing 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 am 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 wanting to touch her was going to be difficult.

  Chapter 6

  Savanna

  I woke up and didn’t remember where I was and after having an awful dream that I was falling into nothingness, I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. I took a look around the room and started to panic, until I felt the pain all over my body, reminding me where I was and what had happened.

  I climbed out of the bed and walked toward the bathroom. Since the carriage house was small, it was basically a wide open lay out besides the bathroom and bedroom. I spotted Colt asleep on the couch with half of his body hanging off the end and sides. I was going to ignore it, but I felt terrible that he was on that old ass couch without even a blanket to cover him up.

  He stirred when I approached him. “Savanna? Are you okay?” He sat up and asked.

  “I am fine Colt. Why don’t you just come and sleep in the bed with me. We can separate with pillows between us and use different covers. We are both adults and there is no reason you need to try to sleep on that hard ass couch.”

  I watched as he considered my suggestion. “I don’t think that is a good idea.”

  “You are being ridiculous. I promise not to touch you Colt. To be honest with you, I can’t sleep either. I had a horrible dream and think I would feel better if I wasn’t alone. Besides, we have known each other for half of our lives. It is not a big deal.” I meant it innocently. The alcohol was wearing off already and I just wanted to sleep. He helped me tonight, more than anyone else would have done. It wasn’t really a big deal if we slept in the same bed. Colt would never think of me like that anyway. To him, I was probably still that girl that looked like a boy.

  He kept shaking his head. “Savanna, I can’t do that.”

  “Why? I am not going to try anything if that is what you are worried about!” I blurted out rudely.

  He laughed and scratched his head. His hair was sticking up all over the place. “I aint worried about that Savanna.”

  The way he said it made me mad. It was almost like if I were the last person on the planet, I still wouldn’t be in his league. “Well you don’t have to be rude Colton. I was just trying to be nice. So sorry that I repulse you that much that you can’t be near me without feeling all weird about it. Geesh, you’re an ass.”

  I don’t know if it was the way I said it, or him just realizing the couch sucked, but he stood up and stretched and followed me in the room. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He climbed onto the bed on the other side of me and got himself situated so he wasn’t facing me. After about five minutes of silence I heard him clear his throat. “You don’t repulse me Savanna.”

  I didn’t answer him. It felt so nice not being by myself that I closed my eyes and let myself sleep.

  When I woke the next morning, I was surprised to find Colt still asleep. The clock read seven, but I remembered him saying he didn’t have work until next week. Sometime during the night, he had turned over and he was facing me. I lay with my head on my pillow staring at his beautiful face. It made me miss Ty so much. I felt so lonely even though I was with him all of the time. It was hard to be with someone that couldn’t talk back to you, that couldn’t even look at you. He just lay there silent and still.

  I watched Colt’s chest rising and falling. His hair was a mess and his mouth half open, but he was still handsome. Colt had a tiny scar just above his right cheek. I was there when he got it. We had been riding four wheelers and somehow he flipped his. He refused to get stitched up and said it would make him look tough for the ladies. Funny thing was that he was right. Girls were on him like glue. When he and Ty used to talk, Ty would turn around and tell me about all of his crazy hook ups. We even fought about it sometimes, because Ty seemed like he was so interested in it, almost like he wanted to live like that himself.

  I continued to watch Colt as he slept, focusing on his chiseled chin and his slightly crooked nose, possibly from braking it at some point. It was silly because you could barely notice it, until you were as close up as I was.

  Before I could even snap out of it, Colt opened his eyes. When he focused on me watching him, he jumped out of the bed. Colt turned back to look at me, before heading out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. He never said a word. I sat up and looked past the door waiting for him to come out. Finally, when I heard the water running, I lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

  I had been in this room a zillion times with Ty, in fact in this same
room was where I lost my virginity. He had waited for his parents to go out one night and set up candles all around the room. All of my friends had awful first times, but mine was with the guy I loved and was going to marry.

  My head was pounding and every part of my body was aching. The water was still running in the bathroom, but I need to pee and get some medicine. I knocked on the door. “Colt, are you going to be much longer?” I asked.

  I heard the water immediately shut off. When the door knob moved, I took a step back. A cloud of steam came rushing out, revealing Colt’s chiseled wet body wrapped only in a small white towel. My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t help it. He was like an incarnation of some Greek God.

  “Are you okay?” He said as he stood in front of me smiling.

  I tried to keep my eyes focused on his face, but I had never noticed how well toned his body had gotten. Perhaps it happened in the years I hadn’t seen him, but damn he was gorgeous. Like the kind of gorgeous females talk about licking up and down gorgeous.

  I had to snap out of it. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t be thinking the things I was thinking about Ty’s cousin. “Sorry, just not awake yet I guess.” I lied.

  He gave me a weird look and walked past me. “All yours.”

  I rushed into the bathroom and shut the door. After relieving my bladder, I wiped off the steam covered mirror and assessed the damage to my face. My right eye was black and purple colored but it wasn’t swollen shut anymore. On that same side, my cheek had two or three stitches at the top and a few scrapes were more prominent as they scabbed over night. My lips weren’t as big, but they were all busted still. I backed up away from the mirror and buried my hands into my demolished face. The tears came and soon turned into full blown sobs. After a few minutes I felt the door pushing open.

  Colt came in and pulled me out of the bathroom. He sat me down on the couch without saying a single word to me. He left for only a moment and came back with a warm washcloth. I felt it rubbing across my face but refused to open my eyes.

  “The stitches look good today. I was hoping they wouldn’t get infected.” At the sound of his voice, I opened my eyes. He held a bottle of water and cupped two pills in the palm of his hand. “Take these.”

  I grabbed the tiny white pills and took them. “Thank you.”

  “I want you to stay here for a couple days.” He said.

  I looked at him confused, but he held his hands up for me to wait while he explained.

  “Savanna, you look like Hell. After seeing exactly how cruel people are treating you, I don’t think it is a good idea for you to go back to the dorms. I also don’t want your parents to see you like this. Your daddy would beat me to a pulp if he knew I took you to that party and let this happen to you. Since it is the weekend my aunt and uncle will be at the hospital. Just please consider it.”

  I looked down at the bottle of water. I hated being a burden, but he was right. I had no other place to go for the time being. Explaining myself to anyone would just be more painful. “Okay.” Was all that I said.

  He stood up and started walking toward the door. “I need to go into town and grab some groceries since I didn’t do it yesterday. When I’m done, I will grab Sam and be back here to check on you. It’s probably best if you try to sleep.” He said.

  “Will Sam care if I am here?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Nah, she likes everybody.” He said as he walked out the door.

  I wondered why Sam hadn’t come over to check on Colt today. She must not have known that he brought me home last night. There was no way I would let someone who looked liked him out of my site. Not that I felt like he was a cheater, in fact it was the opposite. He seemed like he was the kind of guy that didn’t do relationships at all.

  When I could finally feel the pain medicine working, I went back into the bedroom and tried to go to sleep. It was going to be a long couple of days.

  Colt

  It only took me about an hour to run into town and grab some basic things I needed for the small carriage house. I still couldn’t believe I was in this situation. I was half tempted to tell my aunt and uncle what was going on, but they wouldn’t understand me helping Savanna. I hadn’t believed her yesterday when she told me about how mean people were, but I couldn’t make the same mistake with my family. If they really did blame her than she needed to stay away from them.

  Her face was a mess and every time I looked at her, I felt guilty. I had let that little vixen friend of hers talk me into something that I should have known not to do. I owed it to Savanna to help her until she was better. For the next couple of days she was going to be in a shit load of pain.

  When I pulled back up at the farm, I noticed that my aunt and uncle were gone. I walked into the main house and was greeted by Sam jumping into my arms. “Hey pretty girl. I have someone I want you to meet. Yeah, come on girl.” I said to my dog.

  Sam followed me while I got the bags out of the truck and headed toward the carriage house. When I got the groceries in and had them put away, I made my way into the bedroom. She was sleeping, but stirred as I walked in. “Sorry I woke you.” I said while trying to leave the room.

  “It’s okay. So is Sam here? I really want to meet her. I don’t want any weirdness if I am going to stay here.”

  I looked at her like she was crazy. Sam was a dog. What was she talking about? I shook my head and faced the direction of the door. “Sam!” I yelled.

  My giant yellow lab came running into the room and immediately jumped on the bed. Savanna looked up at me. “This is Sam?”

  “Yeah, why are you asking me like that? I told you about her.” I said.

  She started laughing. “I thought she was a girlfriend.”

  I took off my hat and ran my hands through my hair while I laughed. “Seriously?”

  Savanna nodded. “Sure did.” She said as she pet and let Sam lick her face.

  I grabbed her by the collar. “Be gentle Sam. Savanna is already banged up. Get down girl.”

  Sam jumped off the bed and sat like the good girl she was. “Well, obviously she is my dog. I don’t have a girlfriend.” I confessed.

  “Wow that is surprising.” She said.

  “How so?”

  She looked down at her hands. “Someone like you always has a girlfriend.”

  I smiled and shook my head. I sat down on the edge of the bed near her feet. “Someone like me? Well, I hate to break it to ya, but I aint nothing special. I put myself first and women don’t like that. My last girl walked out for that reason.”

  She smiled at me. Her face was such a mess. “I happen to know firsthand that you don’t always put yourself first. I wouldn’t be here right now if you did.”

  I shook my head again. “You are different. You’re…like family.” I admitted.

  I knew I hit a nerve after the words left my mouth. Savanna put her head down and looked at her lap. “Right. Family.” She said in a depressed voice.

  I reached my hand over and placed it on her arm. “Hey, they will come around.”

  She just nodded and I could see that she was starting to cry again.

  I needed to change the subject.

  “Savanna, I think Sam and I are going to go fishin' later. You think you might want to come with us?” I asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders but never looked up at me. “You don’t have to babysit me Colt. I think I am being enough of a burden on you. I will probably just go out and spend time with Daisy.”

  I had almost forgotten about her horse. “We could bring her with us. I was only going out to the hole. I can ride Thunder and Sam can get some exercise.”

  She shrugged again.

  “Tell ya what. I am going to make us something to eat and you can decide if you want to come with us, or stay here. Just so you know, you are never a burden. Did you ever think I might enjoy the company?” I asked while heading out of the bedroom. I didn’t give her a chance to reply.

  Chapter 7

  Savanna

>   Sam was a dog.

  I shook my head and lay back down in the bedroom. My body was still achy, but being with Daisy and at the hole seemed like it would be a good time. I didn’t want to be in public, but the hole was at the back of the property on the farm and I knew that we would be the only two people there. Nobody would be there to bother or judge me. Besides, Daisy would really like the ride. She was cooped up during the week and I hated it.

  I climbed off of the bed and located my shorts. There was no use trying to salvage the top I wore last night, so I just left Colt’s t-shirt on. I looked down at it and saw that it was just a white t-shirt with a beer bottle on the right breast. I was sure the back had some saying or logo, but I never bothered to look. I found my boots near the bathroom door and made my way out into the kitchen.

  “Can I still tag along?” I asked.

  “Hell yeah. Hey, I got you something at the store.” He said not answering my question. He reached into the bag and handed me a small bag. Inside I found a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and a pack of hair bands.

  I looked up at him curiously. “How did you know I was going to stay here for sure?”

  “I didn’t, but I wanted you to have some things in case you did. Now as far as a new bra and panties, well I wasn’t about to buy that.” He joked.

  I shook my head and walked into the bathroom with the bag. After I looked in the mirror I realized how horrible my hair looked. I had to wet the brush to get out all of the knots. I needed a shower, but since we were going out to ride the horses and fish, it was kind of a waste. After throwing my hair up into a ponytail, I managed to brush my teeth. My lips were sore and the toothpaste stung when it entered into the cuts. I looked horrible and couldn’t understand how Colt was keeping a straight face. He hadn’t even said a word about it.

  When I walked out of the bathroom, Colt was nowhere to be found. The bag of food that he had made was also gone, so I hurried out toward the barn. It was a surprise to see Daisy all saddled up waiting for me just outside. Colt was coming out of the barn with Thunder and Sam was jumping and running around like crazy.