Without You

“Yeah. A part of me is worried, but another part of me isn’t worried, if that makes sense. I love her, Luke. I mean, I’m pretty damn sure I fell in love with her when I was ten years old.”

He started laughing. “That’s a long time, dude.” He shook his head and looked at me. “Will, I love Alex. I mean, she’s more like my sister than my cousin. I want to see her happy just like I want to see you happy, but…”

“But what?”

He pushed his hand through his hair and let out a quick breath. “Will, what if you meet someone else? What if Alex meets someone else? The only thing y’all have ever known is each other. I mean, did you even date anyone else before Alex?”

I looked down at the ground before glancing back up at Luke. “I don’t know how to explain it, Luke. When I see her, she steals my breath. When I’m near her, I can feel the attraction between us. I feel the love. I’ve never in my life felt like that around another girl.”

“Dude, there are a lot of girls in college. A lot.”

“Not interested.”

Luke threw his head back and laughed. “You’re a better guy than me.”

I stared at him. “How many girls did you hook up with last year while you were at school?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Two. One is just a fuck buddy. She doesn’t want anything from me, and I don’t want anything from her.”

“The other one?” I asked.

“Just a girl I dated for a bit. She wanted more, but I wasn’t ready to give it to her.”

I nodded. “So, there has never been a girl who made you want more?”

He looked off over the pasture. He turned back to me and said barely above a whisper, “No. Never.”

But his eyes were giving me a different answer. I knew Luke cared for Libby. How much he cared about her was what I didn’t know. I wondered how Libby would react to seeing Luke at school with another girl. I pushed it aside and finished off my water.

“She loves you, Will.”

I smiled and nodded my head. “I know she does. I also know Gunner has been filling her head with you-need-to-experience-more-in-life bullshit.”

Luke laughed. “Sounds like Uncle Gunner. He just wants to make sure she’s happy, Will. You’d be the same way if it were your daughter, and you know it.”

I stood up and let out a moan. “Fuck, I know. I just feel like Lex is…”

Luke stood up. “Is what?”

“I don’t know. Never mind. I’m letting my imagination run wild, and all it’s going to do is eat me alive this year.”

Luke slapped my back. “Ain’t that the truth? Dude, you can’t worry about Alex and what she’s doing. Trust her, Will. She loves you.”

Nodding my head, I agreed. “We still throwing the field party tomorrow night?”

He looked over at me and gave me a funny face. “What the hell is wrong with you? Hell yes, we are still throwing it, and I plan on getting drunk off my ass.”

I let out a gruff laugh. “Why?”

“I just need to forget shit for a bit.”

“Dude, that doesn’t help.”

His eyes grew sad, and he smiled weakly. “It will for a little bit.”

I watched as Libby talked to Lauren, Lex, and Grace. I was so glad my sister was coming to A&M with me. Jason had been hanging around a little too close to Libby all night, and my patience was running thin with him. He had asked Libby to dance twice, and she’d turned him down both times.

I glanced over to Colt while he was dancing with Rachel. The bastard looked miserable. When my eyes caught Mike, I balled my fists. The fucker was whispering something to a girl I’d never seen before. I quickly looked back at Grace, who noticed Mike, too. Her smile faded, and she just stood there, watching.

This wasn’t the Grace I knew. The Grace I knew would walk up to the bastard and kick him in the balls. The girl handed Mike a piece of paper, and he stuck it in his back pocket. I looked back at Grace as she downed her beer.

I walked over to where the girls were standing. I made my way to Grace and smiled weakly. “Grace, tell me you’re not letting him get away with cheating on you.”

“What?”

I shook my head as I took her by the arm and pulled her off to the side. “Grace, I know you saw that girl give Mike her number. Why are you putting up with his shit?”

“I know what I’m doing, Will. For once in your life, will you please keep your nose out of my damn business?”