.cowboy like me.
Chapter 1.
~oh damn, never seen that color blue~
~forever is the sweetest con~
Lilah Cabot was excited to spend the summer in Georgia with her best friend before she started college in the fall. Becoming familiar with a new area before it became a semi-permanent home.
In any other circumstance she would’ve never paid a second glance at him. Meeting a man that undeniably read her better than she read herself was nothing she was expecting though. Then again..
~takes one to know one~
How Lilah found herself circling around a trailer park in Georgia was beyond her, but here she was. Riding shotgun next to her best friend Brittany as she tried reading faded numbers on mailboxes.
“I do!” Brittany defended. “Kind of.” She grumbled out.
They had been looking for her boyfriend’s new place. Lilah was half tempted to ask someone for help, but the new environment made her a little too uneasy to be talking to strangers.
The car halted abruptly and Lilah had never been so thankful for a seat belt before.
“Jesus Christ!” Brittany yelled, slamming her palm on the horn. A lanky man tumbled over in laughter on the hood of the Sonata. “Fucking dick!” She yelled again and backed up harshly, causing the man to trip onto the pavement.
“Please tell me you know him.” Lilah stated in disbelief.
“That’s fucking Paul.” The brunette driver bit out and pulled into the grassy area in front of the trailer.
Following lead, Lilah unbuckled her seat belt and opened the car door. At least they made it to their destination. She noticed immediately that there were four other vehicles parked around them. Three trucks and another car.
There was nothing wrong with parties, but Lilah was in new territory. The only person she knew in the entire state was grabbing her purse from the backseat. That, and if she was being completely honest with herself, this trailer park looked dingy. Not the kind of place she’d hang around regularly.
“Was wonderin’ how many more times you were gonna pass it up.” The guy, Paul, laughed while approaching the two girls.
He was tall and skinny. Dark brown hair that had grown out from being a ‘clean cut’, and she couldn’t tell if it was oily or just the Georgia heat making it glisten in the sun. Brittany’s pace quickened, throwing her arms up she softly shoved him. “Jackass.” She shot before spinning around and flashing a smile in Lilah’s direction.
They fit together — Brittany and Paul. Lilah knew Paul was a few years older, but he had a childish charm that radiated off of him. It matched Brittany. Whether it was generic niceties or seeing her best friend glowing next to the man, Lilah wasn’t sure, but she smiled at them brightly. “Yer Lilah!” Paul acknowledged, his tone almost giddy. “Brit’s told me all about you. Ever since y’all started talkin’ about spending the summer with’er she ain’t shut up.”
Lilah couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at his heavy accent. She’d heard southern accents before, but never so loud and direct.
“I’ve been excited! We haven’t had a real sleep over since before I moved here.” Brittany rolled her eyes and started walking towards the trailer. “I didn’t know you invited everybody over. We could’ve came sooner.” She directed to her boyfriend.
Chewing the inside of her lip, Lilah followed them up the stairs and through the aluminum door. She began scanning the room.
She immediately clocked two men sitting on a couch, directly in front of her. To their right was a couple on a love seat. The group had been paying attention to a boxy television on the floor, but looked up at the intrusion. Not necessarily trying to be noticed right away, Lilah made a point not to make eye contact and continued surveying. It was an open concept and she could see directly in the kitchen where another girl stood in front of the sink. After taking in each person, the bottles of beer caught her eye. Along with the heavy smell of smoke.
“Hey! I brought that bathing suit I told you about. It’s in Paul’s room.” The girl from the loveseat said, smiling towards Brittany and catching Lilah’s attention. Her hair was a honey brown color, and despite it being scrunched, still had a lot of length to it. She had a dazzling smile and her tone was so vibrant, it instantly made Lilah’s nerves relax. She loved girls like her. Ones that effortlessly made her feel safe. The man beside her was bigger than Paul, only by a little though. He had a barely their mustache and curly blonde hair. Nothing stood out.
“Ahh! I forgot about that, thank you!” Brittany responded, in her typical bright voice. She stepped forward and her hand reached back to grab Lilah’s, pulling her forward. An awkward smile played on the new girl’s lips now that she was the center of attention. “Lilah, this is Amy and Matt.” She pointed towards the couple on the loveseat. Moving on to the couch her finger directed at the two men sitting there. “That’s Kenny and Miles.” Not directing which is which. “Then Lauren is in the kitchen. She’s our age.” Brittany finished.
“You say that like we’re thirty years older than you.” One of the guys on the couch said. A hat covered his head, but Lilah could tell he didn’t have much hair.
He didn’t seem that much older. Paul actually seemed to be the oldest in the room, but she knew he was only 28. “Five years is still older.” Brittany teased in a sing-song voice.
“Be right back.” Paul muttered, nudging past us and walking through a door connected to the living room.
Five others. Not too many.
Lilah couldn’t do anything but follow her friend around like a lost puppy dog. She hated it. Before today, she’d been having the time of her life. Finally linking back up with her best friend, exploring, shopping, but the homesickness was starting to set in. Being surrounded by unknown faces in an unknown place is the easiest way to become lonely.
She vaguely listened to the conversation happening in front of her. Something about an argument that Brittany had missed out on due to being busy with her other friend. Busy with Lilah. After that she zoned out and began scanning over the room again, not wanting to think too much on being a problem.
She remembered that Brittany had said Paul had just moved in. The overwhelming scent of pinesol confirmed it. It was the cleanest, dirty, home she think she’d ever been in. The walls were yellowed, clearly due to smoking inside and the only thing adorning them were dirt marks in random places. The carpet in the living room was the ugliest color green she could think of. There were a few stains on it as well.
Despite the worn look of the trailer, It had character and she appreciated it.
The creaking of a door brought her out of her daze, but the man that stepped out made her pay attention. He wasn’t particularly tall, nor was there anything overtly significant about his appearance. Blood was just gushing out of his forehead and leaking down his face.
“Jesus fuck, what did Paul do to you!” Brittany’s mouth gaped open and she walked over to the man that was coming from the door attached to the living room.
“Dropped a fuckin’ fan on me!” The man said, not quite in a yell but with bite. Behind him came Paul with wide eyes.
She’d miscalculated. Six people. One too many.
The man brushed past Brittany and into the kitchen, right to the sink. Lilah tried eyeing the man’s forehead from where she was, but failed miserably. His back was to her and profanities spewed from his mouth as he rinsed the wound with water.
She began to fidget, waiting for him to turn around. After being in the field, it was a little sick how interested she got into other peoples injuries.
The water was turned off with one hand while the other reached for a paper towel. She watched as he rubbed it along his face before turning around and tossing it in the trash. After scanning the wound, her face twisted in confusion.
Was he just going to leave it like that?
“That fan ain’t goin on that ceiling. It’s too heavy, gonna mess it up.” The man stated casually as if he didn’t have an open gash on his face.
Lilah was a people person, but never went out of her way to talk to strangers. At least until now. “Hey, I have a med kit in the car. I can clean that up.” She said, catching the room’s attention. This is exactly why she shouldn’t talk to strangers.
The man turned back and made eye contact with her.
Had she ever seen that color blue before?
A short pause before.
“Nah. I’m alright.”
That was the first exchange she had with him and it left her feeling stupid.
“I can clean that up?!” Lilah mocked herself on the ride home.
They’d spent a few hours at the trailer and she was so excited to be alone with her friend again.
“At least he responded to you!” Her friend shouted back with a laugh. “He is a man of very few words.”
“I am so done.” She rolled her eyes and sunk into the seat as much as she could.
That is exactly why she was also a man of few words. She’d embarrassed herself and was really missing her own bed right now.
Chapter 2.
