Chasing Dreams
Page 61

She remembered back to when her mother was an emotional wreck because of Tessa’s good-for-nothing father. Even years after the man had abandoned them, Sheila spent hours sobbing in the house. Rather than listen to her mother cry her eyes out, Tessa had found her solace outside. And if Adam ever came looking for her, he knew she’d be somewhere close, but always outside rather than in.
Izzy planted her butt on the porch swing and patted the cushion beside her. Tessa knew better than to argue, so she ventured over to her friend and plopped down beside her.
“Want to tell me what happened?” Izzy asked as she uncorked the bottle of vodka.
“Not really, no,” she muttered, knowing Izzy didn’t care one way or another whether Tessa actually wanted to talk. She’d be chatting it up before too long. Vodka was one thing that always loosened Tessa’s lips.
“Tough.” Izzy took a swig of vodka and handed it over.
This was going to be one of those nights. She could feel it.
 
Half an hour later, or hell, maybe it was just ten minutes, Tessa was feeling good. Better than good actually. The smile on her lips wasn’t forced, nor was the numbness in her limbs.
“How serious is this thing with you and Cooper?” Izzy finally asked, and surprisingly, the vodka refused to allow Tessa to get defensive.
“I thought it was serious, but I learned he’s…” Ok, so maybe she wasn’t as loose lipped as she thought she was.
“He’s what?” Izzy asked, the words coming out as heswatt.
“Nothing. He’s just not what I thought he was,” Tessa slurred before grabbing the bottle of vodka again.
“So does that mean y’all aren’t together anymore?”
Tessa wasn’t sure what it meant. She’d listened to Marcus and part of her brain had latched on to every word. The other part told her she needed to give Cooper a chance to explain himself. She considered that part vulnerable and stupid, so she refused to listen to it.
She was done with vulnerable and stupid. Done. Done. Done. “Izzy,” Tessa began as tears formed in her eyes. “Why me? Why… I should mind my own business.”
“What are you talking about?” Izzy asked, her full attention now focused on Tessa making her feel like she had to say something.
“Trust. It’s too hard to trust anyone. The only person I should’ve ever trusted was Richie.” Nothing short of the truth. Richie had loved her, protected her. He had never hurt her.
“Remember that time when you and Richie broke up and you found him talking to Annie Metcalfe?”
Glaring over at Izzy, Tessa’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious right now?”
Izzy stared back at her like she’d lost her mind. “You didn’t trust him either, did you?”
Shit. No. Not after that. But they were just dating, and they were teenagers, and it didn’t matter anyway. Her brain was getting carried away, the alcohol buzzing and making the memories fuzzy. Was that what it was? Were her memories of Richie just that fuzzy that she only thought he was perfect.
“He wasn’t, Tessa. You and I both know he wasn’t perfect. No one is.”
Oh, crap. Had she said the words out loud?
“You’ve got to give Cooper a chance to explain,” Izzy said, her cool hand on Tessa’s arm a reassuring gesture.
“I gave him a chance, Iz,” Tessa admitted a few minutes later. “He broke my heart, but I gave him a chance.”
Izzy’s arms flew around Tessa, and she let her friend hug her for long minutes. The pain was there, but the vodka had at least dulled it. Tessa knew it was only temporary, but for now, she’d take it.
There would be more time later to let the crushing weight of another broken heart consume her.
 
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
 
Cooper pulled his hat off of his head and thrust his fingers through his hair. He’d been standing in the parking lot with Marcus for the last half hour arguing with him. Not that it was doing a damn bit of good. If Marcus was anything, he was stubborn.
Then again, so was Cooper.
“I’m not going back,” Cooper restated, unsure why Marcus couldn’t just grasp the concept.
“Unacceptable,” Marcus barked. “I’m tired of playing these fucking games with you, man. You’re coming back to Nashville because we’ve got obligations. You can’t just run away.”
“Bullshit,” Cooper growled, forcing his hat back on his head and closing the gap between him and his manager. “I can do whatever the fuck I want to do. I know what my obligations are, and I fully intend to take care of them.”
“How?” Marcus exclaimed. “How the fuck do you plan to do that all the way out here in bumfuck nowhere?”
Cooper abruptly turned away. He had to calm down because the repercussions if he didn’t certainly were not worth it. He was seconds away from planting his fist in Marcus’ too perfect face.
Obviously his manager understood he needed to give him a minute because he let him be. Finally, when Cooper turned back to face him, he noticed the cocky smirk on Marcus’ face which was almost enough to send his fist flying.
“You don’t have anything keeping you here,” Marcus told him, the taunting smile on his face didn’t disappear.
“I’ve got more here than I do in Nashville,” Cooper told him. He had everything keeping him there. Namely Tessa. And the farm. After the last few days, Cooper wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to go back to where he came from. Not if it meant he would risk losing Tessa for good. He couldn’t even picture it in his mind.
“I do know that,” Marcus said snidely. “You know that little girl in there that you’ve been making it with?”
Cooper’s hands immediately balled into fists, but he forced them to remain at his sides. “Don’t do it, Marcus. Don’t you dare disrespect her like that,” he growled.
“That’s all moot, my friend,” Marcus said with a bigger grin. “Ten bucks said she hightailed it out of there after she found out that this is a consistent thing for you.”
Cooper’s heart pounded against his ribs. Once, twice. The roaring in his ears deafened him as he stared back at the asshole manager he should’ve fired years ago. “You didn’t.”
“I did,” Marcus confirmed. “It’s a phase, Coop. You know it. I know it. Now she knows it. It’s time to get back to reality.”