“It was my fault.” Rochelle drops her gaze to her where her hands rest in her lap.
“It won’t happen again,” he says, and he sounds almost regretful.
“No, it won’t.” She smooths her skirt over her lap and settles against the back of the seat.
We fall into silence.
We pass the florist and the feed store and the grocery store again as the sun lowers toward the horizon. Mom loved sunsets and this town almost as much as she loved rom coms. She wanted me to get out and explore the world, but she wanted me to come home too.
Like my brothers.
How am I supposed to do that when it means facing my past like this? When the people my mom thought of as friends and neighbors ran me out of town to protect a group of snakes.
I wish I could do something to make them see who’s to blame.
“Can I ask you something?” Rochelle asks as we pass through the gates of Heart Ranch.
Anything is better than dealing with my thoughts. I push them aside and tell myself I can relax now. The house and the barn come into view. I’m surrounded by my family and friends here. “Yeah, sure. What is it?”
She fiddles with the dainty antique ring on her right hand. “Did Riot come with anyone?”
How much does she know? How much should I tell her? “He came with Kelsey.”
“Perfect.” She smiles. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I’m going to ask him if he wants to rekindle things.”
Oh shit. “You are?”
29
Rebel
Idrop the cowboy hat on my head as I pass the bedroom Riot and Kelsey are sharing. While the costume options were endless, I went with the Western theme with the idea it might gain brownie points with Summer’s brothers.
With how hellbent Owen is on trying to get rid of me I suspect it won’t help. But at least I’ll look good when I try my hand at staying on the mechanical bull.
Rogue, who was on his way to meet Ivy when I came in, is dressed as a cop like he was for Bianca Del Ray’s Halloween Birthday Bash Bonanza. The only reason he dragged it out a second time is to remind me I was wrong about Ivy back then.
Riot’s door is closed, muffling the voices inside, although I can make out enough to note that whatever they’re talking about sounds serious. I’m about to bang on it when there’s a thump from the other side of the panel.
Perhaps now isn’t the time.
Two more thumps follow before Riot says, “I’ll tell my family tonight. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to share what we have with the rest of the world.”
“But she’s driving me crazy. All her posts on her socials. She wants you,” Kelsey says, her voice raised. “Everything she posts alludes to you and her being together. People are buying into it.”
“Tell me you’re not buying into it.”
“I trust you. But I hate her,” Kelsey says. “All this makes me feel sick.”
His voice grows low and husky and feral. “Sick with jealousy, candy head? Feeling territorial?”
The conversation stops. I hear a low moan. “Riot.”
I smirk as I walk away. I am going to give him shit about this when he finally tells us they’re together.
The two bodyguards in the next room are playing cards when I walk past. They’re probably subjected to listening to the two of them go at it a lot.
The older one pulls a card from the ones in his hand and sets it face down on the table. “My starter bike. It was a black and silver Suzuki Katana. She was a sweet ride.”
