“I hurt everyone.”
“Even then, you were our family, Harley,” Mattie told her, leaning forward and peeping around Rebel. “No matter what, when you need us, we will be there.”
“Yeah, no,” Rebel said. There was only so much charity in her heart. “If you treat me just a fraction of the way you had, I won’t be there for you ever again.”
“Reb—”
“Not listening, Matt,” Rebel interrupted.
“I understand,” Harley said quietly. “So, what…where do we go from here? Where we left off.”
“That would probably get us right back to where we ended up,” Rebel told her, all her joy gone thanks to Tio. She needed someone to make him leave her alone.
He’d seen her videos and...So what? She’d take a moment to herself before she went inside and cry, then pretend nothing happened.
Rebel was certain she wouldn’t have to deal with Tio with so many people around. Nope, this wasn’t about her.Mattie and Harleywere the real victims. Their sense of safety was probably non-existent, and he’d just given them a major setback.
She pulled out her phone and fired off a text to Diesel.
I need to talk to you. Alone.
She wanted that point clear, so neither Tabitha nor Jana tagged along.
“Let’s start from here,” she suggested, wondering if she really had enough power over Diesel to make him drop everything and come running with such a cryptic statement, especially with the way things ended between them earlier. “We’ll be so much better than before. We’ll hang out and go to cheer practice and just get to know our new selves.”
“Maybe, Mama and Aunt Meggie can invite Aunt Bailey out to lunch and smooth things over, too.”
Harley shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What, Rebel?”
Diesel’s voice rose behind her and she froze.
Question answered.
“Uh, Mattie, tell Momma to check in with Aunt Kendall,” she said, standing and dusting off the backside of her jeans. “You two have to come over after school tomorrow for an evening in the—”
“I don’t have all fucking night,” Diesel snapped. “Or did you send that text just to fuck with me?”
“No,” she said, waving to Mattie and Harley. “I’ll be inside in a few minutes.”
Her cousins stood and also dusted off their backsides. They looked hesitantly between her and Diesel.
“It’s fine,” Rebel promised.
They group hugged again, then Harley and Mattie skirted past Diesel without speaking.
“What do you want?” he asked irritably. “Is it to forgive me?”
“Nope,” she said cheerfully.
He started to turn.
“No, wait,” she cried, rushing to him and grabbing his wrist.
She was tall for a girl, but he was still so much taller than her. The look in his gray eyes intrigued her, although she knew she was playing with fire. Aside from all his other bad behavior, he’d also allowed Jana to confront her. He hadn’t seemed particularly surprised.
She licked her lips and flushed when his gaze dropped to them. Still gripping his wrist, she felt his pulse speed up, pounding underneath her fingertips.
