Hold On - Luke Grimes

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COLT

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The flight from Cody, Wyoming, to Birmingham, Alabama, is five hours and fifty minutes. If I speed fast enough, the drive from Birmingham to Montgomery is about an hour. After a two-hour time difference, I will get there by dark. And that is just in time for drinking, as Knox said.

It's been a long ass day, but Knox is right. By the time I finally get there, I will need a drink. Although, I feel like I need to pull in hammered to make it past the memories of this place, which probably isn't my best idea.

I assumed I'd be staying with Levi, as there were no extra rooms in the house unless I wanted to sleep on the couch with a baby screaming all night. To get into Levi's, I had to go through the barn, which I'm not sure I'm ready yet, maybe if I get hammered.

I pull onto the familiar gravel road, feeling knots in my stomach. It tightens even worse as I get close to seeing who is also here. I get out of the rental truck and pace in the driveway for a minute, stressing the fuck out. I dial Levi's number, not wanting to call Knox since he may be near. Levi will at least step away.

"You aren't calling to cancel, right?" Levi's monotone voice echoed through the phone. I begin to pace around in the warmness of Alabama in the spring.

I grit my teeth, "No, you jackass. Can you come outside?"

"Yeah, one sec." He hangs up the phone and walks outside, immediately seeing me standing at the truck. My heart pounds as he comes closer, feeling nauseated about seeing my ex-girlfriend.

I pull my hat off and run my hand through my hair, "why didn't anyone tell me she was gonna be here?" I point to Charlie's Jeep parked closer to the house.

He rolls his eyes, ignoring my question, "Are you two not over that by now?"

"I haven't spoken to her in months, Levi." Fuck. I imagine her throwing a drink in my face or her devilish friends telling me to fuck off.

He grins, "Well, it's time to find something to talk about." I don't respond, so he continues to talk. "The girls are all in the living room with Brooke and the baby. The rest of us are in the kitchen playing poker. Come on."

I walked up to him and patted his shoulder as we walked to the house, "it's good to see you, dickhead."

"You too. I'm a little sad you didn't bring Buck with you." Of course, he is. Buck was the life of the party, while I was the one who brought everyone down with my sadness. I no longer felt like I gave off warmness and happiness. I never made anyone laugh anymore. I was broken.

We walk inside, and my stomach drops as I hear her voice from inside the house. I don't dare to look in the living room and walk straight to the kitchen. Knox stands up and grins as he sees me, "Finally! The man of the hour," he gives me a side hug. He opens the fridge and hands me a beer, "we're about to play another round. Jump in."

I look at him, confused, "Where's the kid?"

He looks between Levi and Beau before looking at me, "We will get Brooke to bring her in here unless you wanna go out there. Totally up to you." I knew she'd be in there with the girls. I secretly wanted to walk in there and show Charlie I wasn't scared of her, even though I was terrified.

I take a sip of my beer and chuckle, grabbing a seat, "yeah, let me at least get a buzz first."

They laugh and set up the next poker game, all of us throwing cash on the table. "None of us told her you'd be here. Unless Brooke said something to her, you aren't here." I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat, trying not to think about her and what she'd say to me.

All I can hear is the girls in the background talking. And her laugh. I miss her laugh. I want to do nothing but go and talk to her, but I don't want to force myself upon her and get yelled at. I try to focus on the game so they won't talk about it anymore, bringing up anything else to talk about.

"Any attractive girls in Wyoming?" Beau asks as he deals the cards to us.

I snorted, "all they got up there is mountain men. I don't think they're your type."

A familiar voice comes from down the hallway, and I stop to look up, "Knox, Brooke wants to know where-" she stops and makes eye contact with me, her eyes widening, "where her-, her-." She immediately runs away, covering her mouth, and I have to choose whether to stay where I am or go and talk to her since my cover has already been blown.

I turned to the guys, who all shrugged as if I asked them what to do. I'm gonna have to talk to her sometime. I get up and follow her. She hands in the hallway, pacing back and forth. "Charlie," I quietly say, not getting too close.

She doesn't look me in the eyes but instead falls to the floor, leaning against the wall. "I should have known you'd be here too."

I stand there staring at her, but she won't look up. She stares into space as if she's in deep thought. I push my hand into the front pockets of my jeans, "I can leave if you want." If that would make it easier for her.

She glances at me, and I see her eyes begin to water. Fuck. She stands up, "can you just give me a minute?" She walks into the bathroom and closes the door without another word. At least she didn't tell me to leave.

I didn't bother waiting for her and walked into the living room to see all the girls turn their heads to me. "Colt!" Brooke beamed with the baby in her hand. I grin, walking past Charlie's possy, who both give me the death glare. I sit beside her on the couch and touch Bella's head, "how're you?" She asks.

"I'm fine. I'm not sure she is, though." I know she must have heard us. Or Knox probably already texted her about it, I don't know. I, too, want to lock myself in the bathroom and scream.

She shrugged, a smile forming on her lips, "she'll be fine." She adjusts the baby, "You wanna hold her?"

I nod, and she slowly hands her to me to cradle her in my arms. I rock her slowly, watching every detail about her on her tiny body. I had gotten used to holding Buck's baby, so it wasn't foreign to me holding an infant. I ran my thumb over her cheek, which was soft and hopeful as she slept. "She's beautiful, Brooke."

She places her hand on my forearm, "She truly is an amazing gift. She doesn't cry too much, and she loves to sleep." I don't answer her but instead stare at Bella. When I looked up, Charlie had emerged from the bathroom, standing there watching me.