Neither Ed nor Moses can bring themselves to counter what Solana’s said, though they look no less pissed as they glare in disbelief and loud, tense silence presses down on the scene.
But I’ve already had enough of this circus.
Without another word, I turn and storm off the patio, needing distance and time to sort it out. As I pass Tom’s corner, I catch his eye one last time. He’s still silent, watching me like he’s never seen me before.
I don’t give a shit what he or anybody else thinks. Not anymore now that it’s blown up the way it has.
I’m footsteps away from my truck, jaw clenched and heart thundering inside my chest, when I hear Solana calling my name.
“Silver—wait!”
I keep walking as if I haven’t heard her. I’m too fucking angry.
At Rachel for confronting us like that. At Big Eddie for swinging on me after decades of friendship. And maybe even worse, at myself—for letting it happen in the first place.
I should’ve been a stronger man. I should’ve kept myself in check and never crossed or blurred any lines.
Solana catches up to me. She grabs at my arm with both hands, tugging me to stop. When I spin toward her, ready to tell her to let me be, she manages to utter the magic words that talk me off the ledge. That instantly make the rage ebb away.
“It doesn’t matter what they think,” she says simply. “Only whatwefeel matters. Only whatwewant, Silver.”
Her throat quivers as she swallows, and her imploring brown eyes peer up at me with hope and earnestness.
But there’s also the same stubborn fire I’ve come to see in her—the same fire that’s started burning as she’s grown more self-assured, even if she still has a long way to go.
It’s the fire she had when she confessed she didn’t regret killing Kel. The same one when she told me we need to tell everybody the truth.
It makes me realize Solana’s a lot stronger than anybody knows. In the face of the backlash and scandal we were subjected to, she doesn’t give a damn.
She’s standing ten toes down on our relationship and how she feels without even an ounce of shame to be found.
I might be the older one, but maybe there’s a thing or two I could learn from her the way she’s said she’s learned from me.
I jerk my head toward the truck. “Get in.”
She doesn’t hesitate, climbing into the passenger seat and slamming the door. I circle around and slide behind the wheel.
Within seconds, I’m shifting gears and slamming the gas, and we’re taking off. The tires screech as we leave the Steel Saloon behind.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“Somewhere.”
“Where’s somewhere?” she presses. “Silver, pull over. You’re too angry to drive, and we should talk.”
I suck in a breath through my nose, then do as she suggests. I hook a left down a side road that dead-ends into trees and some houses. The truck lurches as my boot hits the brake, and I switch off the engine.
The silence after is so thick it presses against my skull.
We sit for a couple seconds, breathing hard, the cab filled with tension from the ordeal we both just went through.
I look over at her… and I break. Whatever control I had left or any composure I’d promised myself I’d regain, it snaps like brittle wire.
I grab her hard, yanking her across the console and into my lap before my brain catches up to my hands. She lands with a gasp, thighs splayed over mine. My mouth finds hers, cutting off the sharp, breathless sound and tasting her sweet lips when moments ago I was condemned for doing so.
Fuck if I can help it; fuck if I can resist Solana like I should be able to.
It’s proven to be an impossible task the moment we’re together; the intense feelings we have for each other boiling over in this moment.
