‘Duke.’ He whips his head round to face Duke, whose hands are clutching his head, muscles strained as his arms lift. ‘What. The. Fuck.’
‘You don’t have to make a big deal out of this,’ I blurt, moving around the bar. I hold my hand up, like I’m trying to calm down a skittish horse, or in this case, a bewildered bull rider.
‘MyassI don’t have to make a big deal out of this, Cherry Hensley.’ Sawyer crosses his arms, urging his eyes at me. ‘You’re Wyatt’s little sister. This …Pleasetell methis isn’t real. That I passed out when I got home, and this is just some weird nightmare where my friends go behind each other’s backs—’
‘Hey,’ Duke calls out. ‘That’s not fair.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Sawyer throws his hands in the air. ‘Duke, you had his little sister on her knees behind your bar giving you a goddamnblowjobon the night of his engagement. Are you telling me Wyatt knows about all that and gave you the green light?’
‘It’s … it’s not like that,’ Duke mutters weakly, shaking his head and dropping his gaze to the floor. There’s a slight hunch to his shoulders now, and he leans back against the edge of the table behind him for support.
‘Wyatt’slittle sisteris standing right here and has an opinion on this you know.’ I huff, folding my arms too. ‘You’re blowing this all out of proportion.’
Sawyer sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘Cherry, I know you might not get it but … all we’ve ever tried to do is protect you, and then for one of us to slide in when Wyatt’s not looking, it just—’
‘Yeah, well, Wyatt doesn’t control me. I’m an adult, okay? I can make my own decisions,’ I say fiercely. Because if this summer has proved anything, it’s that. My decisions are just as worthy as everyone else’s. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me wanting to be with Duke, or him wanting to be with me.’
‘Wanting tobewith Duke? As in—’ Sawyer’s head volleys between the two of us ‘—you’retogether?’
His glare finally settles on Duke, and I drag my stare up too. But nothing comes. Duke’s own gaze just flitters off as he rubs his hand across his stubbled jaw. The factthat he doesn’t say has my heart squeezing painfully tight. Why does it feel like I’m the one fighting harder here?
I guess we haven’t actually defined what is going on between us, we haven’t been able to, really. And Duke’s been there for me so many times maybe this is just his moment of weakness, and this time, I’ll be strong for him. For the both of us.
‘Yes,’ I confirm, quickly dropping to grab my clothes from the floor. ‘We’re together.’
Sawyer barks out a strained laugh. ‘Wyatt’s gonna flip.’
‘No, he’s not, because you’re not going to tell him.’ I raise my brows.
There’s a wince of pain that flashes across Sawyer’s face. ‘I don’t know, Cherry. Wyatt’s our best friend. How long has this even been going on?’
Again, Duke says nothing when Sawyer turns to him once more searching for answers.
I shrug. ‘Like a month or so.’
‘A month or so?!’A string of incomprehensible sounds follow from Sawyer’s mouth, his jaw working up and down like a fish until he eventually slides out a chair and slumps into it. He throws his head into his hands and groans.
I’m almost surprised at how worked up he’s getting himself, especially when there’s no one here to rile up or impress. If anything, out of all our group, Sawyer was the one I’d expected to laugh this off and probably just use it as an opportunity to make awkward comments to annoy us. Sawyer mumbles to himself, ‘Why did I have to be the one to walk in on this? Haven’t I had enough to deal with this summer with Dad and the ranch andher?’
I move towards the table, but Duke walks quicker, finally piping up to say, ‘Sawyer, I promise, it’s nothing.’
His words slap me straight in the face. My heart lurches up into my throat, a painful lump wedged there as I struggle to convince myself that he’s only saying that to calm Sawyer down. But something makes me not want to believe myself, that cowering version of me suddenly rearing its head and beginning to tear my heart into pieces. ‘We’renothing?’
‘Cherry.’ Duke turns to me, brows drawn together. ‘I think maybe I should talk to Sawyer about this on my own.’
‘What?’ My head jolts back.
‘Can you – can you just go upstairs? I’ll talk to Sawyer and help him find his phone and then … Then I’ll come find you.’
‘But why? I—’
‘Please, Hensley.’
Each breath I take down gets heavier. I have to clamp my teeth together to compose myself for a second. To contain the fiery rage that’s searing through my bloodstream.
‘Fine.’
The click of a key in the lock forces me up from the couch. I only just managed to make myself sit down a minute ago, having paced around Duke’s apartment since I got here, mind all jumbled with everything that went down tonight. One minute I’m hit with memories of Duke’s lips on me, his dark skin lit up with a sheen of red neon, reflecting the burning desire inside of me. But then that heat turns white hot, making my skin crawl, thinking about how Duke didn’t so much as admit to wanting to be with me to Sawyer, then demanded I come up here.
