Falling for Bentley (Part One) by Shawnte Borris Page B

she stayed in high school.”
    I pulled her in for a hug, “You, Haley Wells, have one of the biggest hearts I have ever known.”
    Dropping Haley off at her ranch was just something I wasn’t ready for. I knew she still had a few things to do in town, but after the whole Mandie disaster, Haley just wanted to go back to her place.
    “Thank you for letting me tag along today,” I said trying to lift the mood in the truck.
    “Thanks for the ride and for lunch. I guess I should pay you back, since I pretty much left you in the diner with no option except to pay.” she spoke as she reached for her back pocket.
    “Haley, put your money away, I don’t want it,” I almost growled.
    She shifted her hand away from her back pocket, “Okay, well, thanks again.”
    I walked her to the door, prolonging the goodbye as long as I could. I felt like such a dick for what happened at the diner, and I have a feeling any leeway I had with Hales, just went back to square one. I leaned on the porch railing while she opened the front door, “Thank you, again, Haley, for hanging out with me today.”
    She turned around and smiled, “I enjoyed myself, well, minus the unpleasant visitor.”
    “Could we maybe do it again sometime?” I gripped the rail, trying to hide my nervousness.
    Haley moved in front of me, “Why, Bentley Knight, are you asking me out on a date?”
    I pulled my hand off the rail and took a step closer, lacing my fingers through her hair, “Hales, will you please see me again tomorrow?”
    “I’d like that,” she answered shyly.
    I leaned in and placed a small kiss to her cheek, “Tomorrow.”
    I waited in my truck until she went inside before I pulled away.
    On the way back to town I decided to call my brother to see if he wanted to meet up.
    “Hey bro, what you up to?” Travis answered the phone.
    “Just calling to see if you want to hang out, maybe go for a run and do some weights at the gym.”
    “Needing to talk?” my brother asked in a serious tone.
    “Yeah.”
    “Cool. Come pick me up at the farm. Want me to grab your gym shoes?”
    “Please. See you in ten.”
    I hung up the phone, knowing Travis and I needed to have the conversation about what he and I really wanted out of the farm.
    A mile into our run on the treadmill, Travis looked over to me, “Bentley, are you going to leave the farm?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “What do you want?”
    “I don’t know,” I answered back.
    “Do you miss playing football?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You don’t know, or you don’t want to be honest with yourself?”
    I ran for a bit before answering him, “I’m scared. What if what I want doesn’t make anyone else happy?”
    “Who cares about anyone else, Bentley, you need to only think about you.”
    “I don’t want to let Mom down.”
    “You’re not going to let her down. Mom is giving you the out, if you want it, man. She’s not going to turn you away, or love you less, for whatever decision you make.”
    “Yeah and what about Dad? He’s been on that farm, growing it into something. I’m not fond of the idea of throwing that away on him,” I answered back.
    “Bentley, I hate to sound like an ass or an ungrateful son, but when Dad got hurt it kind of left him without an option. It’s no different than someone having a heart attack and having to leave his job early. Dad was just handed an early retirement.”
    “When did you get so smart, little brother?” I questioned.
    “When my big brother became my best friend,” Travis answered simply.
    I smiled over to him, “First one to hit five miles picks the weight training routine.”
     

     
    TRAVIS AND I left the gym all sweaty, “Dude, you stink,” he said, pushing me away from him.
    “It’s not like you smell any better, little douche bag,” I taunted, shoving him back.
    “At least I smell manly, you just smell like an old jock strap.” I grabbed my brother in a headlock and started giving him a noogie.
    “Don’t be an