The Vincent Boys 01 - The Vincent Boys

Telling him I didn’t mind being pressed up against his side didn’t seem like a good idea so I kept my mouth shut.
    Once we were buckled in, I studied the run-down bar where I’d just spent the last couple of hours. It wasn’t nearly as scary as I’d thought a bar would be. After we’d started playing pool, I’d forgotten all about everyone else in the place. Beau pulled his truck out onto the two lane road that led back into town. The lights from the parking lot faded in the distance as we drove further away from the bar and closer to my house. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. Tonight had been the most fun I’d ever had on a date. Even if it wasn’t a date really. I laughed when I was with Beau much more than I ever did any other time. I’d forgotten how much fun he was. Maybe that was why I always chose him to sneak off with as a kid. Sawyer was always there keeping us in line and I loved him. But Beau always led to excitement.
    “Thanks for tonight. I really had fun.”
    “I could tell. I liked watching you have fun. You’re incredible when you let that wall down around yourself.”
    “Wall?” I asked, turning to face him.
    He didn’t say anything at first. But I kept my eyes fixed on him, waiting.
    “Your perfect wall. The one you keep up for the world to see. The one you use to hide the girl I know underneath. The girl who wants to laugh and have fun. Perfect isn’t fun, Ash.”
    I let the bad girl out with Beau because I knew he wouldn’t shun her or reprimand her. He knew a part of me I didn’t show anyone else. Sure, Grana always encouraged me to make my own decisions and embrace the real me, but I still kept the truly bad side of me hidden, even from her. I wanted to argue with him and throw my wall up to block out his seeing inside but I couldn’t. I needed him to let me be me. No one other than Grana ever let me stretch and spread my wings. Beau had always been the only other person to accept me as I am.
    I nodded and fixed my eyes back to the road in front of us.
    “I can’t be that girl all the time. My parents, Sawyer, the people in this town—they all expect the good girl. I can’t let them see this side of me. But it feels so good to let her loose. If only a little while. So, thank you.”
    I didn’t glance back to see his reaction but I didn’t need to. His hand reached for mine and he held it. No words were needed, because he understood.

Chapter 6
    I woke up to find my mother sitting on the edge of my bed. Even though my vision was still blurry from sleep, it was hard to miss her bloodshot eyes and the dark circles underneath them.
    “Mom,” I asked, wanting to reach for her and comfort her. The little girl inside me was terrified to see my mom so obviously upset.
    “Good morning, sweetheart. I’m sorry if I woke you but I wanted to talk to you before Dad got back home.”
    Immediately my stomach dropped.
    “Ashton honey, Grana has passed away.”
    All other thoughts left my mind.
    “What?”
    Mom let out a small sob and reached for one of my hands. Her gentle squeeze didn’t comfort me. Instead it terrified me. It felt real. She was real. Oh, God, no.
    “Last night Grana went to sleep. When Dad got there this morning to fix her water heater, before he went to the church, he found her in bed. It was a heart attack.”
    I shook my head, not believing what my mother was saying. I had to still be dreaming. This couldn’t be happening. We had plans, Grana and I. There were so many things we still had to do.
    “Sweetie, I know you were close to your Grana. This is hard on all of us but I know it’s hardest on you. It’s okay to cry. I’m here and I’ll hold you.”
    I’d never thought about my Grana dying. She was a fixture in my life. My escape from the world I lived in daily. She understood me in a way my parents never had. Grana never expected me to be perfect like my parents and Sawyer did. Being with her was freeing. It was like, like when I was with Beau. I could be myself and I knew she loved me. An emptiness settled inside me as tears rolled down my face. I still needed her. How could she be gone? I’d just been to see her. She’d just told me how no one could be as perfect with Beau without his shirt on. We’d laughed together. She’d just had a pedicure. How could she be dead? She wasn’t ready to die. Her toes had been hot pink. She was ready for some fun. We had arranged to go to shopping together.
    “We have plans,” I choked out. I