My ass stingsas Rust carries me bridal-style out of the stable and sits me down on Yolanda’s open tailgate. He puts a warm beer in my one hand, a packet of sour gummy worms in the other, and I almost start to cry. It’s so sweet how well he knows me. How he cares for me.
Then he casually volunteers to bury Wolfe’s remains. Judging by his wide grin, I believe he found a new hobby: corpse disposal. But his sunny mood might also have to do with the world-rocking, soul-ascending, bone-liquefying sex we’ve had.
It was so good to stop thinking and just feel, to focus on the leather hitting my flesh. After the pain of the belting, my orgasm was more intense than I ever experienced. But now that the afterglow is fading, the severity of my situation is crashing down on me.
I knew Rex was an asshole, but I never thought he’d gothisfar.
He manipulated me from the start.
From the moment Rust broke up with me and Rex found me crying in the motel parking lot, he lied. All hesaw in me was a golden goose. I’m sure that if I failed to write new music soon, he would simply discard me and make sure I never got work in the industry again.
But that’s not all. He had me humiliated. Had me drugged and gaslighted me about it. He wanted to kill Rust.
How fucking horrible can one man be?
“You holdin’ up alright?” Rust’s voice comes through the fog of anxiety.
He spreads my legs and steps between them. I put down the gummy worms and the beer to wrap my arms around his strong, warm body. Inhaling his scent, I relax a fraction. His closeness always calms me. It’s as if his embrace is my armor and when he holds me, nothing can hurt me.
“My ass smarts but it’s nice. Keeps me grounded,” I joke dryly.
“I meant more if you’re okay in here…” He taps my chest where my heart beats. “And in here.” He gently nudges my temple. “Cause you seemed a million miles away.”
I can’t help but smile. One look at Rust and a stranger would see a father’s nightmare and every daughter’s guaranteed heartbreak.
But under that smirk and the mischief in his eyes, hides the kindest, biggest heart of gold. Rust is the type of person to apologize if you bump into him and volunteer for a senior line dance group as eye candy.
He’s the take-you-home-to-momma type trapped in the unfairly handsome, muscular body of a blue-collar fuckboy.
He’s good. But not in a pushover kind of way.
Because there’s also something hard and unyielding inside him. Something made of steel and unshakeableconfidence. The world could fall apart around him and he’d roll up his sleeves and put the pieces back together.
I love both of his sides. His vulnerable, gentle heart and his iron will wrapped in fierce protectiveness. Together, they make him the wonderful man I fell for.
I rub my tired eyes. “I don’t even know what I feel. Am I angry? Sad? Disappointed?”
“You don’t have to have it all figured out right now, Trouble. It’s okay to just let yourself go through those emotions without tryna rationalize ‘em.”
“But the concert is tomorrow! I gotta make a plan. I can’t run and hide forever—and it’s not like I want to. What I really want is revenge, but it’s…” I blow out a breath. “Overwhelming.”
Rust’s lips brush my forehead. “We’ll fix it together. We save each other, remember?”
I nuzzle my face into his chest. “Alright.”
He holds me, his voice vibrating through me. “I found a pickaxe in the heap of tools in the stable, but I’m gonna need a few hours to dig a hole for Wolfe. The ground is dry and tough as nails. You should wait here.”
Yawning, I stretch. “I’ll help with the digging.”
“No chance I’m lettin’ you sweat in the afternoon sun after everything you’ve been through. You rest. I got this handled, Trouble. I ain’t one of ‘em city boys just dressin’ the part of a real country man.” He winks and my cheeks burn.
“Fine,” I mumble.
“How ‘bout you have a little nap in the truck? When I get back, we’ll grab something to eat. Nobody ever made a solid plan for revenge on an empty stomach. Sounds good?”
I smile. “Yeah.”
Rust kisses me before he heads for the stable, whistling like he’s onvacation—not about to cover up a crime that could get us both sentenced to life for the second time in one week.
