Southern Secrets by Natasha Madison

Chapter 18

Amelia

"Why would I stay?"he asks, and all I can do is stare at him. That almost kiss in the garage made my stomach burn. I didn’t think I would be able to walk up the stairs because my whole body was shaking. I sat eating food at the table, the whole time trying not to look over at him. The whole time, I wanted to run outside and scream at the top of my lungs. "Anyway, it’s better to leave before we go past the point of no return."

"When are you going to make this decision?" I ask, the lump in my throat getting bigger and bigger.

"As soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know," he says, and I know that if I don’t walk out right now, he’ll see that him leaving will bother me.

Walking to my room, I close the door behind me. I put my back against it and slowly slip to the floor. Him leaving would be good, my head screams. You have one goal and one goal only. To be successful and not count on anyone but yourself. To do it on your own so no one can ever say they gave you anything. Everyone will know I busted my ass to get where I was, and I didn’t get there because my family gave it to me.

I ignore him for the next four days, each day waiting for the other shoe to drop.

* * *

I slamthe door shut and walk over to my grandfather, who stands there with his hands on his hips. "Here she is," he says, looking at me as I make my way over to him. He takes me in his arms and kisses my head. "How are you feeling?"

"All better," I say. "I can go to work tomorrow." Looking to see Christopher and Reed coming out of the barn.

"Hey, you two," I say, walking over to them. "How was last night?"

"Jam-packed," Reed says. "Asher broke up two fights."

I look at him. "Asher?" I question him. "He was there?”

"He’s been there the whole time," Reed says. "I like him better than you."

"Screw you." I push his shoulder.

"Did you guys ride?" I ask, and he nods his head.

"We got here early today because Mr. Billy asked us to come and help Asher move some things around the barn."

My head moves to the barn doors as I see the man in question come out of the barn doors. He uses his hand to wipe his forehead. He got home past four o’clock last night and then was out the door before seven this morning. His blue jeans are dirty as fuck, his white T-shirt also dirty but molded to him. He looks up as he walks over and sees me. "Hey." He motions with his head as he walks right past me, going straight to my grandfather. My grandfather smiles at him, and I want to yell out.

Why the fuck are you everywhere I turn?

"Are we going to race?" Christopher asks me, and I turn back to him and nod my head. "Asher saddled your horse before you got here."

"Motherfucker," I mumble under my breath as I walk into the barn and see that my girl is ready to be ridden. My horse looks at me, and I walk over to her. "Why did you allow a stranger to put your saddle on?" I ask her. "Traitor." Grabbing her reins, I walk out of the barn with her to the enclosed fence.

Getting up on her, I look over and see my grandfather standing with my grandmother. His arm is around her as they talk to Asher, who stands there with his legs apart and his arms over his chest. Looking all hot and shit. "What were the fights about last night?" I ask Reed as he joins me.

"One of them thought Asher was trying to get with his girlfriend," Reed says, and my head turns to him.

"Was he?" I ask.

"Not a chance in hell," Christopher says, coming next to us. "He was the one stepping away from her." He shakes his head. "Then there were two blondes who fought over him." He laughs. "I haven’t heard squealing like that since two cats got caught in a tree."

I look over at him as he laughs at his own joke. Reed throws his head back and laughs. "Okay, what are we doing?" I ask them.

"Around one time," Reed says. "Best of three."

"You got it," I say, kicking my horse and trotting over to the line.

I get into place, and I look over to see that my grandfather and Asher are watching. I Ignore it all as I wait for someone to say go. I push my horse and win; it comes down to the third round. Reed and I are head to head, but my horse loves to win, and I take him with a second. I raise my hands over my head.

"Winner winner chicken dinner." I clap my hands as I get off my horse and walk her back into the barn.

"You got lucky," Reed says, getting off his horse and walking beside me. We put the horses back into the stalls, and I walk over to grab her some water.

"There you are," Chelsea says, coming into the barn. "I’ve been looking for you."

"There are literally two places I can be." I laugh and walk back to the stall with the bowl of water. "Here or the kitchen."

"Since when do you ever go in the kitchen?" She folds her arms over her chest. Growing up, she would be in the kitchen with Grandma while I would be dressed just like my grandfather following him around.

"I sometimes go in there," I say, turning to her.

"Name one time?" she asks, and I smile at her.

"When I need to get food." I laugh at my own joke. "Speaking of food," I say, walking out of the stall and locking the door behind me. "Is it ready?"

"Just about," she says as we walk back out of the barn toward the barbecue. "Asher is helping Grandpa with the grill." I groan, and Chelsea laughs and looks over at me. "What is with you?"

"Nothing is up with me," I say, looking around at all the people who are there. All my family is scattered around. My mom is with my aunt Savannah and aunt Olivia as they sit around laughing at something one of them said. My eyes find Asher as he stands by the grill with my grandfather and my brother. "Why is he fucking everywhere I turn?"

"Who is?" she asks me and then follows my eyesight. "Oh, Asher. I thought you liked him."

"Why would you say that?" I ask, shocked. "I will admit that I found him hot when he got here." My mouth never stops. "In a mysterious, who is this new guy kind of way." I pause, and she just looks at me. "But …" I point at him. "Now he’s integrated himself into the family, and he is fucking everywhere." I look at her. "Say something!” I shriek out.

"I was waiting for you to finish ranting before I said something." She looks at me. "If you don’t like him like that, why did you even invite him to live with you?”

"He isn’t living with me.” I gasp out, throwing up my hands. "He had no place to go. What was I supposed to do?"

"Umm, literally anything but that." She laughs, and I glare.

"I hate you," I say, turning and storming off away from her.

"Come back here," she says, jogging to catch up with me. "I’ve never seen you like that." I stop and turn to look at her. "You have never been hung up on any man before."

"What in all of this makes you think I’m hung up on him?” I ask, confused.

"One, you are all jumpy when he is around.” She holds up her finger. "Two, you can’t stop looking at him when you think no one is looking at you." I scoff out and roll my eyes.

"I do not," I say, and I stop talking when Mayson gets close.

"What are you two talking about?" he asks, and I send her a don’t fucking say anything look.

"We were wondering if the food was ready?" Chelsea says, putting her arms around his waist.

"They said five minutes," he says.

"Excuse me, I have to wash my hands," I say, walking away from them.

"You can run," Chelsea says, and I turn around, looking at her and walking backward. "But you can’t hide." She smiles at me, and when I stick my two fingers up, she puts her head back and laughs.

I stay as far away from him as I can all afternoon. Instead of eating with my cousins because Asher is there, I eat sitting on the grass with Gabriel.

After a couple of hours of playing with the kids, I get up and walk over to say goodbye to my parents and my grandparents. I duck out before anyone sees me, and when I walk into the house, I head straight for the shower.

Dressing in a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, I walk back to the kitchen when the front door opens and then slams closed.

"You didn’t even tell me you were leaving," Asher says, standing there, his hands on his hips. "I was looking for you all over the place."

"Why didn’t you just call my phone?" I ask. His eyes are a deep brown, the same color they turn when he’s angry with something.

"Why the hell would I call your phone when we were both at the same place?" he says, huffing out. "I was ready to leave an hour ago, but I was waiting to see if you needed a lift."

"Well, clearly, I made it home okay," I say, opening the water bottle and putting it to my lips. He doesn’t say a word to me. All he does is stare. My neck is getting hot. "I heard that you stopped a couple of fights last night," I say, putting one hand on the island.

"Who told you that?" he asks now.

"Are you denying it?" I step away from the counter to walk to the dining room. He stands there not too far away from me. "Someone told me that two girls were fighting over you." My hands start to shake. "Have you decided yet?" I finally cave and ask him the question that I’ve wanted to ask him ever since I found out he was thinking of leaving.

"Decided what exactly, Amelia?" He says my name, and I hear the whisper of him calling me baby, right before we almost kissed.

"If you are staying or going?" I ask, everything that I told myself all day is out the window. The not knowing has been killing me this whole time.

He walks over to me, standing right in front of me. "This isn’t a good idea," he says, his voice going soft toward the end of that sentence. "I know this isn’t a good idea. You know that this isn’t a good idea." He points at me and then back to himself. "No matter how much I tell myself to get my shit and leave." He steps one step closer to me. "There is always something that stops me from leaving." I swallow now as his scent surrounds me, my stomach flip-flopping. He steps even closer as our chests are touching. "And that someone, Amelia …" His finger trails my cheek. "Is you."