Letting Go (Mitchell Family #1)(41)
Author: Jennifer Foor

She looked up at me. I pushed my forehead against hers. “Please don’t ask me that right now Colt.”

“So am I right? Are you running back to him?”

She tried to grab my hand, but I pulled away. “Please. You have to understand. I can’t just leave him right now. It has nothing to do with how I feel about you, about how much I love you.” She whispered.

I raised my voice. “You love me? You sure have a pretty f**ked up way of showin’ it Darlin’. Just so you know, I am not goin’ to sit around and watch you playing house with my cousin. My heart can’t take much more.”

“Please don’t make me choose right now. Please.” She begged.

I shook my head. “Savanna, I think you are amazin’. I should have told you that I loved you before you walked into that hospital, but I really believed that I never had a chance. Seeing you with him, especially tonight when he proposed, it crushed me. I don’t regret what we just did. I would do it all over again if I had a choice. But, I can’t sit around and wait for the time to be right. It isn’t fair to me and it sure aint fair to Ty. If you are truly in love with me, you won’t waste anymore time makin’ your decision. The storm has passed if you need to go.”

Savanna reached up and kissed me with tear filled eyes. “I choose you.” She whispered in my ear, before running out into the night.

I slumped down against the combine door. It was too dark to see where she went, and I probably should have tried to walk her back, but my stubborn ass just sat there, letting my future walk away from me again.

Chapter 24

Savanna

I cried the whole walk back to the farmhouse. The rain had put out the fire, but I noticed people still standing around in the tents. The girls weren’t around Ty anymore, and he immediately spotted me as I was walking in. “Van are you alright? What happened to you?” He asked.

“I saw you with those girls and I got upset. Before I knew it, it had started raining. I climbed up in a combine and waited out the storm.”

“Why don’t you go inside and get some of my warm clothes on.” He suggested, while avoiding the part about the other girls.

I wrapped my arms around my wet clothes as I made my way into his house.

His mother greeted me at the door. “Where were you?”

“I got caught in the storm.” I admitted.

“If I find out that you were sneakin’ around with my nephew just moments after my son put that ring on your finger, you will have hell to pay.” She threatened.

I kept walking past her. It wasn’t worth the fight and she would be able to tell more than anyone that I really had been with Colt. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I left him out there, not willing to give him a straight answer. He told me he loved me and I still walked away.

When I got into Ty’s room, I grabbed a hoodie and pair of boxers and changed out of my wet clothes. My heart started racing and I considered running back out there. In fact, I knew it was exactly what I needed to do.

Throwing caution to the wind, I started walking out of the house, only to be stopped in my tracks by Ty. He was wheeling himself toward the couch when he spotted me. “There is my future bride. Don’t you look all cute in my clothes. I tell ya, I can’t wait to sleep with you in my arms tonight.” He confessed.

I just froze. How could I hurt him right now? How could I rip out his heart and not feel bad about it? Did he even deserve that? Wasn’t I the one that set all of these events in play?

Ty held out his arms, once he got on the couch. “Come over here and give me some love.”

I swallowed my pride and went and sat next to Ty. His strong arms wrapped around me as he started kissing me on my neck. Between the smell of women’s perfume and booze, I wanted to gag. How could this not have bothered me before. Was I so blinded by our fairytale life that I never noticed how much of an ass he really was? Did it really take me falling in love with someone else to see the real Ty?

Due to the fact that I was not really into his kissing, Ty pulled away and looked at me. “Something is wrong babe. Can you please tell me what is going on? I know that you waited months for me, but it was only a day in my eyes. You have to excuse me for loving you just as much as before the accident. Just tell me what is going on. Are you still mad about what happened that night?”

I leaned forward and put his face in my hands. “It’s just all so much to take.” I admitted.

“Van, I hate to ask this, but you haven’t been yourself since I woke up. Something is different about you. You used to want to touch me all of the time. You used to kiss me a million times a day. Do you realize that I have had to ask you for affection? I need you to be honest with me. I won’t be mad, in fact I won’t judge you, but I just need to know. Was there someone else in your life while I was in the hospital? Is this why you are being so distant? Listen, I will forgive you. I will understand if you just needed to let loose. We can get past it babe.”

This was my chance to come clean. To tell him I couldn’t possibly marry him. This was my opportunity to get him to break up with me. I swallowed my pride and looked into those eyes that I had loved for so long. “Ty, at first there was nobody, not even your friends were nice to me. I was all alone, feeling like everything was my fault. One day someone came into my life. They listened to me and offered good advice about never giving up on you. One night after a few drinks things happened. It had nothing to do with my feelings for you, but I just wanted to feel wanted. Do you understand?” I bit my lip and waited for him to respond. Tears filled his eyes, and I swear it was the first time I had ever seen him cry since we were little kids.

“Wow! I never pegged you as someone that could have a one night stand babe.” He just sat there. His fingers moved my still damp hair away from my face. “Van, did you think if you told me I wouldn’t want to marry you? I deserved it really, for what I did to you the night of my accident. I knew you would be at that party. I knew you were going to show up looking for me, but I was selfish and thought with my dick instead. Shit, I did it with no regard for anyone else. I am sorry for that babe, but I want you to know that I forgive you.”

This was the opposite of what I expected. Now Ty knew I had slept with someone else. He didn’t know who or how serious it got, but he knew. This was not good.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen.” I added.

“So, you going to tell me who the lucky guy was?”