Unconditional Love (Journey of Love #1)(49)
Author: Kelly Elliott

I moved closer to her and yelled out. “Cowboy at ten o’clock is looking hard.”

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “Number, please.”

I tilted my head and said, “Eight, easy.”

She did a little dance move and turned around quickly. She looked over and saw Lark standing alone. When I saw her face drop she looked back at me and said, “Well, since Tristan seems to be talking to Liberty again, I might as well have fun, huh?”

I stopped dancing and stood there with my mouth open. “You know about Liberty?”

She smiled weakly. “He was on the porch last night talking to her. I heard him tell her he missed her. I had a feeling he was seeing another girl as well as me, but I kind of thought him bringing me here…well…”

I shook my head and said, “Oh Ryn, I don’t think…” She held up her hands and said, “It’s not a big deal. I’m always the one they want to just have fun with. Excuse me Dee, I’ve got a cowboy to wrangle.”

Ryn had been calling me Dee for the last week, and I knew she did it knowing it bugged the hell out of Lark. I watched as she walked up to the cowboy and said something in his ear.

The song changed and he scooped her into his arms as they took off two-stepping. I felt Lark’s arms wrap around me as he whispered into my ear, “Dance with me.”

I turned and looked into his beautiful eyes and nodded my head. “Play It Again” by Luke Bryan was playing and I knew how much Lark loved Luke Bryan.

We danced in silence for about a minute before Lark asked, “What’s wrong, Azurdee?”

I glanced over and saw Ryn dancing with the cowboy. I swore I saw her wipe away a tear. I looked up into Lark’s eyes and said, “Ryn knows about Liberty.”

Lark’s face dropped. “Did you tell her?”

I shook my head. “No! She heard Tristan talking to her last night on the porch. She heard him tell her that he missed her. Lark, my heart is breaking because I think Ryn has fallen for Tristan. I see it in the way she looks at him.”

Lark looked up and found Ryn dancing. He looked around and shook his head. “The stupid bastard has been texting Liberty all day and ignoring Ryn.”

“Why?” I asked.

Lark shrugged his shoulders. “Scared maybe about his feelings for Ryn. I don’t know. She was supposed to just be the fun one. I don’t think he counted on falling for her like he has.”

I looked down and then back up at Lark. “Ryn told me she is always the one they just want to have fun with. I hate that she is hurting. I really like her.”

Lark pulled me closer to him and said, “It’s Tristan and Ryn’s problem. Let’s not get involved. I just want to feel you in my arms.”

I snuggled closer into his chest and let out a sigh as we finished dancing to the song.

As the night went on, Ryn drank more and more and Tristan sat in a corner at the bar and watched Ryn dance with everyone but him. Lark and I had danced so much I was beginning to get blisters.

“Ugh, why did I wear new boots tonight?” I said as I pulled the boot off my foot and rubbed it as Ryn washed her hands in the ladies’ room.

She smiled and said, “Well with the way you and Lark are cutting up the dance floor, it’s no wonder you have blisters.”

I smiled and said, “I love Lark in this environment. He’s so happy and carefree. You can tell he just loves being in the country.”

Ryn giggled and said, “Yeah, both of them are right at home here, aren’t they? I think Tristan’s plan is to move back home in a few years and take over the ranch for his dad.”

I put my boot on and said, “Do you like the country?”

“Hell yeah. I grew up in the country. My momma still brews her tea in the sunlight.” She smiled and shook her head. “I come from a small Texas town where if you blinked when driving through, you’d miss it.”

I smiled and asked, “Do you go home often?”

Her smile faded and she said, “No. I walked away from the bad memories and don’t care to ever go back.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She grabbed my hand and said, “Come on…let’s go dance.”

As we walked out of the restroom, Ryn was approached by the same cowboy she danced with at the beginning of the night.

“Angel, dance with me again,” he said as he held out his hand.

Ryn looked over toward Tristan, who was looking down at his phone.

“Sure,” Ryn said as she gave me a small smile and walked away with the cowboy as Jason Aldean’s song “Why” began playing. I turned and looked at Tristan and marched over to him. Lark was sitting next to him and he jumped up and took a step back when he saw me marching up.

I grabbed the cell phone out of Tristan’s hand. He jumped up and yelled, “What the fuck, Azurdee?”

“She knows about Liberty, you ass. She heard you telling her how much you missed her last night on the porch.”

Tristan took a step back and scanned the dance floor as he said, “What? I thought she was asleep.”

I pushed the cell phone into his chest and said, “Well, she certainly has been awake all day and knows you’ve been texting Liberty. She is falling in love with you, Tristan, and if you don’t feel the same, then take her home and let her go. Stop talking to another girl right under her nose.”

He looked down at me and then looked at Lark. I could see the confusion laced all over his face. “I don’t. I mean, I don’t know how I feel about…” He glanced up and stopped talking. “Motherfucker.”

Lark and I both turned and looked to see that the guy Ryn was talking to was moving his hand across her ass and it looked like he was about to try and kiss her.

Tristan began walking out on the dance floor and Lark grabbed him. “Dude, you’ve fucking ignored her all day and all night and you get pissed when another guy is giving her attention. Azurdee’s right. You need to make up your mind.”

Tristan looked back at the dance floor and then pushed Lark away. “I’m going home. Make sure she doesn’t get drunk and leave with someone.”

My mouth dropped open and I said, “Wait. You’re just going to leave her here? Alone?”

Tristan looked at me and gave me a weak smile. “She’s not alone.”

He turned and walked away as I looked back out and saw Ryn pushing the cowboy away and saying something to him. When I looked back at Tristan, I saw he was watching what was happening. I thought for sure he would stop when he saw Ryn was pushing the guy away, or attempting to. Tristan shook his head and kept walking.