Without You

“Of course you can, Grace. Always.”



She began chewing on her bottom lip. “Are you…I mean, do you think you’ll be happy with just being with Will?”



I gave Grace a small smile. “Yes. I can’t really imagine being with anyone else.”



“What about when y’all were apart? Or when you were going through that whole crazy thing with Blake? Did you ever once want to be with someone else?”



I didn’t answer right away as I thought about her questions. “I can honestly say, Grace, I’ve never wanted to be with another man besides Will.”



“When did you really know Will was the one?”



I smiled, and my heart started beating faster. “I think I knew for sure the moment he picked up Emma after I’d dropped her while I was swinging. He dusted her off and smiled at me as he handed her back to me. I couldn’t have been more than ten years old, but I remember thinking to myself that I was going to marry him. Then, when I got Banjo and Will began helping me train him, he touched me one day, and something happened. It was so weird, like my body just said, Oh, yeah, he is the one. I’ll never forget it. In that moment, I think he stole a piece of my heart with just his touch.”



Grace smiled. “That’s beautiful, Alex.” She looked down at her hand. “Just a touch,” she whispered.



“Just a touch,” I said.



She looked back at me and shook her head. Her eyes changed. I wanted to ask her why she was asking me all this, but something told me that Grace might have experienced something with someone, and she wasn’t really sure what to think of it.



“You still gonna have a fling this week?” I asked.



The left corner of her mouth rose up, and she smirked. “Hell yeah, I am.”



I shook my head and laughed.



I sat in the beach chair, reading, as Grace sat on one side of me and Libby sat on the other. Lauren and Taylor were playing football with the guys as Maegan stood off in the distance, talking to some girl from Baylor she’d run into.



“Odd to see Maegan talking to a girl,” Grace said.



I glanced up. “Why?”



“I don’t know. She just always seems to gravitate toward men. Maybe being at Baylor is a good thing for her.”



“She said she loves it there,” Libby said as she looked at her magazine.



“Break time. Damn, I need to cool off!” Luke shouted as he took off toward the water.



Colt followed, but then Maegan walked by, and he stopped and said something that made her laugh. She was smiling as she made her way to her chair next to Grace.



“God, I need to get laid,” Meg said as she plopped down.



“Me, too,” Grace mumbled.



Libby shot her head around me and looked at Grace. “What did you say, Grace?”



Grace smiled and winked at her.



I laughed as I watched Will, Lauren, and Taylor all walk to the edge of the water. Will dove in as Lauren and Taylor just stood there and talked. I looked back down at my book and smiled as I attempted to get lost again in the story.



A few minutes later, I heard Meg start laughing.



She called out, “Holy shit! It’s like a wet T-shirt contest, but better! Mr. Johnson, you, my dear, are packing some serious heat.”



I looked up and saw Luke standing there, drinking a Coke.



He looked confused as hell as he stopped drinking and looked at Maegan. “What?”



Meg laughed her ass off. She looked over at Libby. “Too bad you have a boyfriend, Lib. You could be getting some of that!” She threw her head back and laughed harder.



I looked down at Luke’s swim trunks. They were mostly white with a light-tan band running around it. My mouth dropped open when I noticed what Meg was laughing about.



Grace busted out laughing as she pointed to Luke. “Dude, I can totally see your dick!”



Luke looked down and then back up. He quickly looked at Libby, which caused me to look at her. She was blushing as she stared, and she was staring hard. She finally snapped out of it and then glanced back down at her magazine.



Luke grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he looked at Grace and Maegan. They were both still laughing their asses off.



“Fuck off, both of you.” Luke started off toward his truck.



I couldn’t help but giggle as I watched him walking away. I turned back and looked at Libby. I leaned over and bumped her arm. “Don’t let Maegan get to you, Libby.”



She raised her hand like she couldn’t care less, but I could see it all over her face. She might be dating Zack, but her heart belonged to Luke.