Avoiding Temptation

Chapter 4

Brantley's POV:

Strawberries. She tastes like fuckin strawberries. She kissed me like a starved woman, desperate. We got back on the bike and headed back to Colt's. We were quiet on the ride back, both lost in our thoughts. I wasn't kidding earlier, there's not much I wouldn't do to change the situation. If she were only older. 10 years is a big age difference. Not only would Colt have a fit, but it was hard to look past that myself. She was 19 years old, about to be 20, and I was knocking on 30's door. An entire decade between us. It didn't bother Susanna any at all, but I was on the fence. Sure, she was mature for her age, but she was still so innocent. When we pulled up in the driveway, she climbed off the bike and headed inside quietly. Which wasn't like her at all. I felt pretty shitty myself truth be told. The one woman in the world that truly gets me, and she's too damn young for me. I sprawled out on my bike, pulled my hat down low, and dozed off. When I heard the front door close, I looked up to see Susanna walk out in a pair of jeans, and a Harley tank top I had gotten her a couple months back. Just as I was going to ask where she was headed, that same goddamn Prius from earlier pulled up. Chris got out, looking smug. "Susanna Claire... What you're doing is a bad idea. Don't play with me." I growled. She stopped and looked at me. "I'm not playing anything." She said softly, and walked over to me. She held one of my hands in both of her little ones. Such a tiny little thing. "I'm really not. I'm not trying to piss you off. I'm not trying to 'get back' at you." She said honestly. Chris looked impatient. "Then what exactly are you doing? And why the hell is he here?" I rumbled. She looked down then. The usually bold and brazen girl had gone shy and quiet. "I'm trying to get over you. Maybe if I date someone else, that'll happen." She shrugged and turned, pulling away from my touch. That was new. Never, not once, has Susanna ever pulled away from me. I reached for her and she stepped back, smiling sadly at me. She limbed into that little shit's Prius and they drove off. I roared furiously and planted my first into the side of Colt's house, thankful it was brick and my first didn't go through it. That was the last time I saw Susanna for 2 long years. She left the very next week for school, her summer break was over. She didn't even tell me goodbye.

2 years later:

I was flustered. I, Brantley Gilbert, was flustered. Today was Susanna's graduation party. She finished her schooling and got a generic degree that I doubt she'd ever use. She did it for Colt though. She'd once told me that all she ever wanted to do was write. No 9-5 desk job for her. So she got her general business degree and now she was coming back home. Everyone was here, and everything was set up. We were just waiting on the guest of honor. "She's here!" Colt said excitedly. I turned in time to see Susanna walk on over to us. She looked exactly the same. She ran over and hugged colt, he swung her around and set her back down. I was ready for my turn, but she just nodded at me. "Hey." Was all I got. I frowned. Hey? Since when do I get a hey? Where's the woman who used to jump into my arms, or hop on my back, or climb into my lap? Where's my Susanna? I growled and nodded back at her. A guy walked up then. "Pops, this is Rusty. My boyfriend." She introduced him. It couldn't have been more blatantly clear that she moved on. This sum bitch was everything I wasn't. He wasn't much taller than her, probably around 5'7" at most. He wore a business suit, loafers, and was clean cut. No beard. No tattoos. Definitely no motorcycle. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said, hell. Even he spoke proper. "Rusty, this is.. A friend of the family, Brantley." She paused, her voice cracking over my name. Rusty held out his hand tome, and I shook it. Nearly chuckling at the way my hand dwarfed his. This little slick shit thought he was really something. I didn't like the way he looked at us all, including Susanna. Like we were something stuck on the bottom of his fancy shoes. Susanna was much more quiet than usual. She was never the type to be quiet. She wasn't obnoxious and talking all the time, but it was adorable the way she'd go off on tangents, chattering about. It was one of my favorite things about her. But this woman in front of me? This wasn't Susanna. My Susanna didn't wear pencil skirts and button downs. My Susanna didn't wear her hair pulled back so severely like that. I didn't like this, not at all.