Page 24 of Burning Skies
For the first time since that conversation with my father, a genuine smile tilts my lips.
I’d love to be in Baylee’s wedding.
As long as I don’t have to spend time with Beau.
7
HONEY
When I spotCynthia in the parking lot, I grin like a fool and we run toward each other like Phoebe Buffay inFriends—with our arms flailing and legs going every which way. When I reach her, she squeezes me so hard, I almost lose my breath.
“Girl, is it good to see you,” she says as we make our way through the parking lot of the Laughing Pony, which is a barn-shaped red building with cockeyed letters across the front that spell its name. The back half is a bar, but the front, the restaurant, is usually quieter. Except it’s Saturday night, so this place is packed.
“How long has it been?” I ask as I loop my arm through hers. After our freshman year of college, she had to transfer schools because her grades were terrible. She now lives in Austin, which isn’t that far, but life gets busy. Sometimes, we’ll see each other for a few weekends in a row, and other times, like now, it’s been months.
“Too long. How have you been? Tell me everything. Are you seeing anyone?”
I hold up a finger and tell the waitress we need a table for two. “Preferably something in a corner.” I don’t want to run intoanyone tonight, but of course, I immediately spot parents of some of my students. I smile politely as we make our way to what has to be the last available table.
Once we sit, I realize my back is to a table of loud guys who are seated in the bar section, but after Cyn and I put in our order, they move about and it gets quiet.
After we get our mojitos, Cynthia waves her hand at me. “Tell me everything. You said this was an emergency.”
It all rushes out of me, my dad’s insistence that I date Ian, that I get married by my birthday, that I basically give up my life so he can make money.
Her face goes pale. “Who is this guy?”
“Some rich rancher. Doesn’t matter. I can’t run off and marry someone I barely know.”
She lets out a strained laugh. “Holy shit. I can’t leave you for a minute, can I?” She shakes her head. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to go out with Ian in a few days. He seemed okay on the phone, but it was a two-minute conversation.”
The waitress sets down our order of nachos, and after Cyn puts several on her plate, she looks up at me with that mischievous look in her eyes. “You know what we should do?”
“What?”
“Go back to the Devil’s Den.”
Someone behind me coughs. I lean forward quickly and hiss, “Cyn, shh. Don’t talk about that place. Besides, why would I want to do that?”
“To hook up with someone amazing, that’s why. Because the last time we spoke on the phone, you said the only orgasm you’ve ever had with a man was the one you hooked up with that night.”
I cover my face. “This should teach me never to tell you anything again.”
“What?” she asks like I’m not scandalized. “You might have to marry that douchebag Ian. What if he’s like all your other boyfriends who couldn’t find your clit?”
My cheeks burn. “My boyfriends haven’t been terrible.”
“But they’ve been parent-approved for the most part, right?”
I nod, feeling like a wuss for always giving into my parents’ demands. “I hate that I turn into a doormat around my father.”
She reaches across the table for another nacho. “I have a theory. If you had just lost your virginity to that masked man, maybe you wouldn’t have dated all those turds since then.”
“How do you figure?”
She shrugs. “He would’ve dicked you down, probably made you scream yourself hoarse, and you would’ve known better than to date men your father picked for you. Because everyone knows that men who come with parental approval are never good at sex.”
