He seems to lock that other , more brutal part of himself away beneath that unyielding exterior I worked so hard on cracking.
Didn’t I just get my wish.
I struggle to enunciate any of that, but I’m also terrified that if I open my mouth, it will all pour out. The details of last night’s escapades definitely count as an overshare with my boyfriend’s best friend. And…I’m not sure if Cord will appreciate me chatting around the farm about his personal preferences in bed. He seems to be a pretty private person, despite having shared some pretty private things with me in the weeks that I’ve known him.
Boyfriend. Huh. The term sits oddly in my mind. It’s been a bit, but the days have merged together. Are we dating? I try to grasp the right concept and shake myself, realizing that West is still waiting patiently on my answer.
“That bad, huh?” The stocky foreman tips his hat back. Iwince, expecting a glare similar to Billy’s, but while his stoic gaze is assessing, his expression holds no malice.
“A bit.” I shake my head a little too emphatically. “Last night was—” I clamp my mouth shut, keeping the words at bay. Just.
West catches my arm in a firm grip, leading me deeper into the barn’s depths. “Did he hurt you, Lanie?”
I stare up at him, my denial bubbling to my lips, but then I bite that response back, too. Had he? Last night Cord was cold. A part of him bruised my heart, but he hadn’t physically damaged me. If anything, he did the complete opposite, and afterward… Heat rises along my cheeks in a flush I can’t prevent that I know West sees despite the dimmed light.
“No. He didn’t hurt me, but—” I press my lips together, trying to gather my thoughts while the memory of everything we did in his bedroom—and after—assails me in a battery of memory.
West waits. I swear it’s his superpower.
“These are details I shouldn’t share with a man. Not one who knows him.”
West’s lips twitch. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been there through it all for him, Lanie. Tell me.”
So I do.
Cutting out the more intimate moments, I sketch an image that leaves no room for doubt of our conversation after West stormed from the house. Cord’s best friend takes the information in, unmoving, unflinching, until I stop talking.
Then West swears. “Damn. I’m sorry, girl. He should never have been that way with you.” He wraps one arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a bear hug.
I want to resist the contact, to stay strong on my own two feet, but the comfort of having someone else care right now, after all the doubts, overwhelms my tenuous grasp on every emotion. An ugly cry might not be in me today, but a single tear manages to trail down my cheek.
“I’m away for a few hours, and you’re already in the arms ofanother man.” Cord’s cold voice filters into us from the front of the barn.
I freeze, West stiffening beside me.
“Step away, Lanie.” West’s voice carries none of the tension in Cord’s snarky comment. He shifts, turning to place himself between his friend and me.
I swallow back the wave of fresh tears brewing beneath the surface.Not now.
“You’re giving her instructions, too? You’ve gotten so close.” Cord puts on a bored act, but his voice dips, taking my lurching heart with it.
“Stop,” I whisper, but I may as well make no sound at all.
Everything that’s been said and done between them, betweenushits a melting point and boils over in a single, catastrophic instant.
“You had no right to do what you’ve done in the last twelve hours, Rand. Least of all treat your woman like one of the sluts you shack up with at every Invitational.”
I wince at the heat in West’s harsh words. I deliberately left that part out, the roleplay from last night that—let’s be honest, I completely enjoyed—but it looks like West got the gist anyway. His own lonely existence strikes me hard. From what I can tell, he’s been by Cord’s side for years, built Coyote Falls with him. He could be bitter, but West’s words don’t hit me in that way. More that he cares fiercely about seeing his best friend throw away everything he loves.
Everything he’s worked for.
The ranch. The men outside.
Me?
West presses his fists to his thighs, the knuckles whitening. I shift sideways in a slight motion so I can see Cord, realizing the stockier man will likely take him in a fair fight.
“I can’t take my anger out on you like I want to, Rand. So find the better way and fix your mess.” West’s voice is so low thatI can barely distinguish his words, but his open threat rolls around the barn like an oncoming late-summer storm.
