“I can’t do that. I’m taking her out tonight then to the prom on Saturday. If you have a problem with that, then you shouldn’t have broken up with her.”
“I didn’t break up with her!”
“That’s what she told me. Good to know she likes to stretch the truth. Of course, it’s not going to keep me from going out with her, but at least I’ll know not to trust her.”
Tate lunged at Cash; however, the other players held him back. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to see the fight; they just didn’t want the coach to get pissed off and make them run their asses off again.
Tate angrily shook them off going back outside to wait for Greer. He drove Greer home, instead of taking Greer’s advice to move on to another pussy, he drove back into town to Sutton’s home. Her mother answered the door, saying Sutton wasn’t home from school yet. Tate knew the woman was lying, but he backed off, unable to do anything else except drive home where he called Sutton several times, trying to reach her. Her mother answered each time, telling him she wasn’t there.
Then Tate remembered Cash saying that he and Sutton were going out that night. He ended up pacing around his house until finally going to bed.
The next day, he dragged his brothers and Rachel out of bed, determined to get to school early enough that Sutton couldn’t get past him without talking to him.
He was waiting by the front school door when Cash drove up in his truck, opening the passenger door for Sutton. After putting his arm around her, she and Cash approached him.
Tate swallowed hard. He didn’t have to be told; he knew. Sutton was different. The innocent, shy look in her eyes was gone, and she moved stiffly. Cash had fucked her, and Tate’s world crumbled around him. He had believed Sutton’s father had pressured her not to see him again. He was wrong. She had dumped him for only one reason—she wanted Cash.
Cash brought Sutton to a stop a few feet from him. “We going to have a problem?”
Tate stared at Sutton coldly, remembering how many times she had refused to let him touch her over the last few months, while Cash had managed to take her virginity after only being alone with him a few hours.
“No. You don’t have a fucking thing I want anymore.”
Sutton kept her gaze turned away from him, but she paled at his angry words.
“Tate, I’m sorry…” She broke off, quickly glancing at him, then away again.
“Don’t be. You were nothing but a tiebreaker, anyway.”
Her eyes jerked back to his. “A tiebreaker?”
Tate stared back at her mockingly. “Cash and I have each fucked eight girls the other wanted. If I had fucked you, you would have made number nine. You would have broken the tie in my favor. Congratulations, Cash, you win for now. I hear Lisa doesn’t have a date for prom.” Greer had told him Cash had been chasing after the dark-haired senior for the last couple of months.
“You’re a fucking prick, Tate.”
Cash’s arm stiffened around Sutton.
Tate shrugged. “I already paid for the hotel room this Saturday, so I’m not going to let it sit empty.”
Sutton’s face paled further. “Let’s go, Cash. I don’t want to be late for class.”
Tate held the door open for them, wanting to rip them apart yet too proud to let Sutton see how badly she had hurt him.
He was still standing in the doorway when he saw Lisa get out of her mother’s car.
“Hey, Lisa.”
“Tate.”
He held the door open for her then walked with her down the hallway. He waved nonchalently to the principal, a customer with a secret habit. Sutton and Cash were both standing by Sutton’s locker. He talked casually to Lisa as they came to a stop by her locker.
Feeling Sutton’s eyes on them, he brushed Lisa’s hair away from her cheek. “You look pretty today.”
“Thanks, Tate.”
They stayed at her locker, talking for several minutes, as he managed to convince her to let him go to prom with her. When the homeroom bell rang, he straightened off her locker, telling her he would meet her after school.
“You are eighteen aren’t you?” He teased seductively running his tumb over her bottom lip.
“Yes.” She sent him a flirtatious smile before she hurried off to her class.
He then sent a gloating look in Sutton’s direction as she passed him to go to her homeroom, hardening himself against the tears he saw in her eyes and telling himself over and over what Pa always told him.
“No one hurts a Porter and gets away with it. No one.”
Chapter 5
Sutton picked up a package of drop cloths, moving to the cleaning aisle in the local hardware store, hoping she would see less people in this store than the local grocery store. She would wait to go at night when she was sure not many customers would be in the store. She knew it was useless to avoid the locals who knew her, but she wanted to dodge as many as possible. She wasn’t looking forward to answering any of the nosy questions she was sure would be asked of her.