All For You (Boys of the South) Read Online Free PDF

let me do anything
for her, words are all I have. But once I have her permission, my
actions will do all the talking.
    “What will you
do if I don’t agree to go out with you tonight?”
    I’m not proud
for what I’m about to say, but I’m desperate. “I’ll
keep coming here every day. Hell, I might start coming by your house
in the afternoon to drink beer with your dad.”
    “You’re
not old enough to drink,” she reminds me.
    In two months I will
be, but I’m not about to argue with her. “Fine. We’ll
drink milk and bake cookies together. That better?”
    A giggle escapes her
mouth, but then her eyes widen. In fear. Fear I’ll make fun of
her again, for something that’s one of the sweetest sounds I’ve
ever heard. My heart aches, like it should.
    “One date,
sweetheart, and then, if at the end of it, you still think I’m
not worth your time, I’ll stop bothering you.”
    Triumph replaces
fear, and while I’m glad the fear’s gone, a moment of
dread enters my body. I should have asked for two dates or a week of
dates. A couple hours of dinner and whatever else she wants to do
isn’t enough time.
    Then again, I never
specified an ending time. “Do you have a curfew?”
    “Not since my
senior year.” She snorts. “I’d have to actually go
out with a guy to… have…” Her words fade away as
she realizes what she just admitted.
    I’m worse than
a jerk or asshole. The word for what I am doesn’t exist in any
language. “So, is that a yes?”
    A tiny nod sends her
hair sliding over her shoulders. I want to bury my face in her hair,
to see if she still smells like hothouse flowers.
    I still remember
our school’s greenhouse and the flowers she’d grow inside
of it. She loved to hang out in there, and would always come out with
a smudge of dirt on her nose and black soil under her nails. I never
bothered her there, because the greenhouse seemed like her sacred
pace, much like the soccer field was for me.
    “But only
because I won’t have to see you ever again after tonight.”
    Heart sinking, I let
her go and turn away. “See you at six.”
    “Where will we
meet?”
    Pausing at the door,
I glance over my shoulder and give her my most confident grin. “At
your house. I’m picking you up.”
    “But then I
can’t go home when I want.” Her lower lip sticks out a
little and I want to nibble on it.
    God, it’s
going to be hard keeping my hands off her tonight. “Baby, you
won’t want to go home.”
    Her pretty eyes
widen, and I push open the door, my ego buoyed by her physical
response.
    “Don’t
count on it,” she mutters, loud enough for me to hear.
    Once again, my smile
falls, but I don’t falter. I stride to my car like I didn’t
hear a thing.

    ***

    When I pull up to
her house at five ‘til six, I frown. McKenzie’s waiting
for me by the curb, red cowgirl boots and short denim skirt making it
almost impossible for me to park.
    Does she really
think I’m going to let her hop in my car, without paying
respect to her dad first?
    One: My dad would
shoot me.
    Two: Her dad would
cut off my nuts.
    Three: I’m not
that stupid to let her win the first round.
    Before she can open
the passenger side door, I make sure it’s locked and get out.
“Is your dad home?”
    She sighs, letting
go of the handle. “Yes. He’s inside watching the game.”
    I start for her
house. Behind me, the heels of her boots click loudly on the paved
driveway. McKenzie lives in a nice working-class neighborhood. The
lawns are neat, the houses small. Three of them would fit inside my
house with room leftover.
    “Where are you
going?” she asks as I follow the curving sidewalk.
    “To the front
door.”
    “Why?”
    I stop and turn,
barely stopping her from running into me by grabbing her upper arms.
The wool coat she has on keeps me from feeling the skin underneath
but not the firm muscles.
    “Because when
a man asks a woman out in the south, it’s proper to speak to
her parents first.”
    Her mouth