Free Only One by Kelly Mooney

asleep. I never went to her. The next day I lied, telling her I’d fallen asleep. Sleep had been the farthest thing from my mind after seeing Belly walk into the barn alone, knowing I could easily have followed her in and persuaded her to give us one more night of pleasure.
    I got myself off with the image in my mind of her in those boots and that old Alabama shirt I’d given her. It wasn’t the first time I’d jerked off to the thought of a naked Belly, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be the last.
    I was sitting at the patio table, drinking my fourth beer, when the door slid open and Annabelle strolled out in a just-kill-me-now, little, white sundress. I could see her bathing suit easily through the fabric.
    She had a beer in her hand and she made her way over so slowly it was painful watching her as I drank each part of her in. “Mind if I join you?”
    I held my arm out gesturing for her take a seat. “It’s your house, sweetheart, right?”
    She reached down and touched my shoulder.
    I flinched at her intimate gesture.
    “Cole, would you look at me?”
    I flicked my eyes up to her and waited to see what lame-ass line she was going to spout out. “I’m sorry for what I said to Hannah.” She shook her head. “It was wrong, and I’m sorry if I caused any problems. I promised you that I wouldn’t, but she cornered me and…”
    “What are you talking about?” I was confused as hell at her confession. I knew they’d talked in the stables, but Hannah never mentioned any bad words between them. She even went as far as telling me she liked Annabelle.
    She grimaced. “She didn’t tell you?”
    I held up my hands to stop her from re-living the story. “You know what? I don’t even want to know. Hannah and I are fine.”
    “Where is she?”
    And that was how it started. Before I knew it, we’d polished off another six-pack and I’d told her all about how Hannah and how we met at school, and how she was the only girl since Belly herself worth sticking to. Three days after that barbeque I drove Hannah to the train station to catch a ride back up North. We made our plans to see one another after summer was over and back at school.
    My summer was going to be too hectic for us to spend time together, anyway. Not to mention I had to be back in ‘Bama early August for training.
    My father had my summer booked with a housing development that needed us to get moving along. He’d been training me since I was sixteen to take over his construction company someday. I couldn’t wait. I loved construction. I loved it from the floor plans to the heating and the plumbing, to the lighting fixtures. I craved learning about any and every little thing he could teach me outside of what I learned from college.
    When she shifted in her seat for the fifth time and yawned behind her hand, I realized the topic of Hannah was getting old, so I changed the subject. “Have you talked to anyone about heading back to California yet?”
    She shook her head, peeling off the label to her Bud Light. She sighed before she raised her eyes to look at me. “Do you think I’ll be making a mistake by going back?”
    Yes! I wanted to scream, but I wanted her to be happy and go after her dream, regardless that she was tearing out my heart again. “If it’s what you want, you need to go for it, Belly. I know you can do it. You did it once and I was so proud of you. I have faith you’ll rise to the occasion again.”
    She shot me the biggest heartfelt smile that ripped my insides up. “I hope you’re right, Cole. It’s just,” She paused, looking back down to her beer in her hand. “I lost my agent, and that’s a good thing, but what if I get someone just like the old one, or one who doesn’t fight for me to get the best roles? What if I’m not good enough?”
    I shrugged. “Can’t you get your agent back?” She flinched and shifted in her seat the minute I asked. “What?”
    She gave me one her fake smiles that I knew so well.