May Contain Wine

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  She had on a black silky-looking shirt that flowed off one shoulder, showing off the wide band of a tank top that she had on underneath.

  Her hair was down around her shoulders in black waves, and when the wind caught her locks, it blew it out of her face, allowing me to see the birthmark on her neck that I always wanted to kiss.

  She stepped up onto the curb, which was when I saw her shoes.

  “Oh, those are cute.” I grinned. “Nightmare Before Christmas Vans? Where did you get those?”

  She held her foot out in front of me with a small smile. “I got them online. Dad actually ordered them for my birthday. He gave them to me last week because he and Mom are going out of town on my birthday.”

  I frowned. “What?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get bent out of shape about it. Reagan and I went in on a cruise package for them for their Christmas present last year. Wade bought their drink package.”

  Wade was her brother and in the military. I was surprised he had the money to pull that off.

  “Impressive,” I said. “But why did you do it for your birthday?”

  She shrugged. “At the time, I wasn’t really thinking about it being my birthday when I booked it. I was just thinking that I really wanted them to go on vacation to the Bahamas like they’ve always talked about doing. Reagan and I figured that they would do it if we paid for it.”

  That made complete sense.

  Grabbing her hand when a big man rolling out a barbeque smoker came out of the front door, I pulled her into my chest and then guided us backward so he could get out.

  He nodded his head at me in thanks, and I reluctantly allowed Calloway to pull away from my body.

  I didn’t let her hand go.

  Which she didn’t seem to notice mostly because when we got inside, her eyes were rounded to the size of small saucers when she looked at the ‘gas station.’

  “This isn’t a gas station,” she murmured as she looked down the length of the store. “It’s… Walmart on steroids.”

  I chuckled and guided her to the half of the store that had all the fun stuff. The other side really was a gas station-type place. With the rows and rows of candy, coolers of drinks, and random things one might need while on a road trip.

  “I just… they have a bakery,” she murmured as her eyes took in all the danishes, cookies, and other fun, fattening things. “I think I need to try one of those cinnamon rolls.”

  I agreed with her. They looked delicious.

  “As long as they don’t have nuts, I’m down. Nuts are gross when they are in baked goods,” I told her. “But let’s go look at all the shit they have here first.”

  Still, she allowed me to hold her hand.

  Inwardly, I was counting it as a win. Outwardly, I tried not to tighten my hand in reaction. I really, really wanted to squeeze her tight, show her that I loved holding her hand. But I was afraid as fuck to remind her that I was there.

  It was a vicious cycle that replayed in a loop in my head as we browsed Buc-ee’s wares. It was as we were getting to the sparkly belts that I reached for one and showed it to her.

  “Look,” I said, grinning when the light from above caught the gems on the belt. “You like these, remember?”

  She rolled her eyes and plucked it out of my hand with her free one. When she went to grab it with her other hand to loop it around her waist, I winced when she glared at me and pulled her hand away.

  “Why?” she snapped, narrowing her eyes.

  I shrugged and watched as she looped it around her waist, wincing when she found it way too small.

  “Yeah, I’m not a small anymore,” she said.

  I pulled a medium off the rack and handed it to her.

  She grinned when she saw that it fit.

  “I haven’t been able to find one like these lately,” she said. “Cavendar’s Western Wear is always sold out of my size.”

  I took it from her and started walking again, stopping to point out this and that as we walked.

  “I like this.” I pointed at the painting of a cow.

  “I like that.” She pointed at a large longhorn cow skull that was bedazzled with gems. “How much is it?”

  I winced when I saw the price.

  “It’s five hundred and fifty dollars,” I said. “Holy balls.”

  She gagged. “Yeah, I think not.”

  I thought not, too. It was cute, but not that cute.

  We kept moving until we saw the entire store.

  “We should probably go to the bathroom,” I said. “You go on ahead. I’ll run and go, too. Then meet you out at the car.”

  We split up after that, her going to the ladies’ bathroom, and me going to the men’s room.

  When I got out, I stopped by and picked up her favorite candy, then headed to the checkout. There I ended up getting some cashews, a lighter in the shape of a cow, and a bag of corn nuts.

  When I walked out, I had a bag full of shit I didn’t need.

  When I got to the car, I didn’t see Calloway, so I got in and moved it to the gas pump closest to the parking spot I’d previously been in, enabling me to see when she came out.

  Only, it took her another fifteen minutes.

  And when she emerged, it was with a man my age at her side.

  I gritted my teeth and stopped myself from walking up to her and yanking her into my side—for some reason, I just knew that would piss her off.

  Instead, I leaned casually up against the hood of her car and waited patiently for her to get done talking.

  When she pulled out her phone and started to type something into it, I’d had enough.

  Coming off of the car with a jerk, I stalked across the parking lot and didn’t stop until I was at her side.

  “You ready?” I rumbled quietly. “I thought you needed to get going to your interview?”

  She jerked at my voice, turning her face up and looking at me guiltily.

  “Oh, sorry, Louie,” she said softly, almost absentmindedly. It had to be, otherwise I knew she wouldn’t have used that particular nickname. “I was just talking to Carlin here. He’s an ex-Marine.”

  My eyes flicked up to the man, and I realized right then and there that he was full of shit.

  The man wasn’t an ex-military anything.

  He wasn’t the type.

  “Really?” I said softly. “When did you serve?”

  The man blinked. “Umm, couple years ago.”

  My brows rose. “How long were you in for?”

  “A year.” He pursed his lips.

  “Really?” I said. “Did you get injured or something?”

  I could feel Calloway’s eyes on me as she stared at me with confusion.

  “No,” he said. “I… uhhh, no. That’s just how long I was in for.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “You don’t just do a year in the Marines,” I said. “Minimum is four years active-duty.”

  “Did I say Marines?” He laughed, sounding a little stilted now. “I meant the Navy.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked at Calloway.

  “You ready?”

  She put her phone away, wincing slightly. “Yeah, I’m ready. Nice to meet you, Darren.”

  “Carlin,” Not-Darren said, sounding miffed.

  “Yeah, that’s what I said,” Calloway said as she walked away.

  I grinned at the man, then turned and followed Calloway to the car.

  When she went to the driver’s side, I caught her by the belt loop then guided her to the passenger, causing her to roll her eyes.

  “That wasn’t nice,” she said. “You embarrassed him.”

  I helped her into her seat, then walked around to the driver’s side before falling in.

  “You can go to jail for impersonating a Marine,” I mumbled. “Why were you pulling your phone out?”

  “He, uh. Well, he heard me talking, I think. To the men that I’m interviewi
ng. They said that they had to reschedule.” She sighed. “I’m bummed.”

  I bet she wasn’t.

  I was, though.

  The idea of having to take her home sounded like shit.

  Then a thought occurred to me.

  “We can go to Canton,” I said, reminding her of the trades days event that happened at the beginning of every month. “They have funnel cakes.”

  I saw her waver and knew that I would have her with the next thing.

  “They have fried cheese corn dogs,” I reminded her.

  Once upon a time, we’d go to this craft fair-type thing with our parents. And we’d always get the good shit of funnel cakes, turkey legs, and fried cheese corn dogs.

  Honestly, it was the absolute worst shit for a person’s heart, but it tasted so fucking good it should be illegal.

  She sighed.

  “I guess that’s fine,” she muttered. “But I didn’t bring my cart.”

  I winked at her. “I’ll carry whatever you want me to carry.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’ll end up regretting that.”

  Chapter 5

  Soooo, are we just not doing spring this year?

  -Text from Calloway to Louis

  Calloway

  “Ohhh!” I said as I saw the six-foot sasquatch. “I want that!”

  Louis looked at the metal cut-out, then looked at me.

  “I’d carry it for you,” he said. “But I honestly don’t think that it’ll fit in your car.”

  I frowned. “Maybe I can come back next month and get one. And that time bring my dad’s truck.”

  “Or,” he said as he walked up to it and read the price tag. “You can come with me, and I’ll bring mine.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything.

  Instead, I asked, “How much is it?”

  “Hundred bucks,” he answered as he dropped the tag. “They only take cash anyway. And I’m all out of cash.”

  I sighed. “Do you have enough for one more funnel cake?”

  He shifted the bags to one hand, then reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

  When he came back up with it, he flipped through the bills left and then nodded. “As long as you don’t expect two, I can hack it.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked longingly at the metal sasquatch.

  “I really do want that,” I said, then turned. “And my legs are about to fall off. I want to run to one more place, but we have to get the car to do it.”

  He frowned. “No.”

  “Listen, Lou,” I said, giving him my big sad eyes. “You were the one that wanted to come here. We’re going.”

  “We don’t need to go.” Lou looked pleadingly at me. “Seriously.”

  I grinned at him and started to walk off in the direction that I thought we were parked.

  However, like always, Louis realized what I was doing and redirected me to where we were really parked. “Your sense of direction needs work.”

  I shrugged.

  “Now, tell me how to get to Dog Alley,” I ordered.

  He looked at me with concern. “Your back yard wouldn’t be able to handle a dog. I saw your fence. You’d need a completely new fence. And though I think I could hack putting one up, I know for a fact that you wouldn’t let me pay for it. And you can’t afford to pay for it, otherwise your front porch wouldn’t have so many holes in it.”

  He had a really good point.

  “I bought that place for a song,” I said. “When I have the money to fix it up, I will.”

  He rolled his eyes in amusement. “I believe you. But I also think that you were gipped when you purchased that. I can’t believe your dad let you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “My dad didn’t let me do anything. I did it without his knowledge.”

  He blinked. “That explains it.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Explains what?”

  “The reason you have the house,” he said simply. “If your dad had known that you were buying it, you wouldn’t have gotten him to agree to let you get it.”

  I scowled.

  He was, however, correct.

  When my father had realized that I’d purchased my rental property, the shit had hit the fan.

  See, the place needed a bit of work. And by a bit, I meant a lot.

  And, sadly, most of it I wasn’t able to do on my own.

  I’d been watching YouTube videos galore on how to fix up old pier and beam houses, and needless to say, I hadn’t been nearly as adept at things as I thought I was.

  “You’re, sadly, correct,” I admitted. “My dad certainly wasn’t very happy about it.”

  He scrunched up his nose in amusement, then grabbed my hand. “Hurry. There’s a break in the traffic.”

  We ran across the crosswalk as fast as we could, pissing off an eighteen-wheeler in the process since he had to brake.

  The thing was, to get to Canton Trades Days, you had to cross over a five-lane highway that had a speed limit of fifty-five. Sure, we’d done it in a crosswalk, but there were just so freakin’ many people coming and going that sometimes the drivers got impatient. Like the eighteen-wheeler.

  Louis turned his glare on the man behind the wheel, flipping him off when the guy made eye contact.

  I snorted. “How old are you again?”

  He eyed me with a raised brow. “Remind me who it was again that kicked that car in the Walmart parking lot because she didn’t stop to allow you to pass?”

  “Pedestrians have the right of way in parking lots,” I said. “And how did you even hear about that?”

  “I didn’t hear about it. I witnessed it,” he countered. “I was there. You were crossing the crosswalk. I was two cars behind the one you kicked.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course you were.”

  He would be there to witness my show of temper.

  We made it to my car with little fanfare, and Louis popped the trunk and put all of my shit I’d bought throughout the long day into it.

  Then, with dismay, I realized that I’d forgotten my funnel cake.

  “I forgot to get my funnel cake,” I cried out, throwing my hands up in despair.

  I really, really wanted it, too.

  Like so bad that I was considering walking back.

  He eyed me warily.

  “How bad do you want it?” he asked. “Bad enough to sit in the sun while I run back?”

  I frowned. “You could give me the keys,” I suggested.

  He raised his brows. “I could, yes. But then you’d leave my ass here.”

  I wouldn’t.

  But he didn’t know that.

  I was quite enjoying his company.

  Not that I would ever, and I do mean ever, admit that to him.

  He didn’t need to know that I was still so hung up about him that even these rare days where I didn’t have the strength to push him away were still some of the best of my life.

  It wasn’t that I had a bad life or anything. It was just that it always seemed better with Louis in it.

  Those years that he was gone in the military? Yeah, those were some of the darkest days of my life.

  Not seeing him had really changed my life.

  I’d come to realize that Louis had meant a whole lot more to me than I’d been willing to admit.

  Before we’d started dating, we’d been great friends. And I missed that friendship almost as much as I missed being able to call him mine.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked softly, his eyes focused on my face.

  I wiped away any and all expression, then pointed to a tree. “I’ll wait right there.”

  He winked and ran down the length of the long driveway as if it wasn’t a big deal, and I watched him until he streaked across the street and disappeared into the Trades Days again.

  I leaned against a tree and thought about how my day had gone and realized that even my cancellation tod
ay couldn’t bring me down.

  I was officially high on all things Louis.

  And he was right. I didn’t need to go to Dog Alley. And I wasn’t even upset about him telling me I didn’t.

  Normally when my house was brought up, I got defensive.

  Apparently, I’d bought it because I wanted something that was mine. I also knew that I couldn’t quite afford a new place as of right now, but I didn’t see the point in paying rent for something that was never going to be mine.

  The house that I’d bought, though? It may be rough, but it was mine. It really wasn’t all that bad, either. It was in need of some tender love and care, but I’d already made the house my own.

  The front porch and the back yard were quite awful, though.

  “Back.”

  I blinked, surprised to see Louis standing in front of me holding out the funnel cake.

  I grinned when I saw his black t-shirt.

  “You have powdered sugar all over you,” I said. “Did you eat some?”

  He shook his head with a grin. “Nope. That was from me sprinting across the street to avoid being hit by a tractor.”

  I snorted out a laugh and took the plate from him, then absently reached forward and brushed the dots of powdered sugar off of his chest.

  His very hard, muscular, I want to lick between the line of his pecs, down his chest.

  It was at that point that I realized that not only was I making the dots of powdered sugar smear all over his shirt, but I was also now petting him instead of trying to get him clean.

  I slowly let my hand drop, hating myself for wanting to keep it there.

  He’d been very, very clear when he’d broken up with me all those years ago.

  I wasn’t something that interested him anymore.

  But… then why was he asking me to go out on a date with him?

  I narrowed my eyes and broke off a piece of the delicious delicacy and handed it to him.

  “Why are you all of a sudden asking me for a date?” I asked bluntly. “Why did you come today? Why are you doing this to me?”

  His eyes tilted to meet mine, but before he could answer, the rain that’d been threatening all day finally broke through and started to drench the world around us.

  I cursed and ran for the car, thankful that he’d thought ahead and unlocked it before I could get to the door.