"You okay?" Sydney bumps my shoulder.
"Peachy." I wrap my fingers around the shot glass.
"Liar." She follows my gaze in the bar mirror to where Trigger holds court with a cluster of guests. "I know this week is...complicated."
"Seven days, Syd. Seven days to either propose to that asshole or lose everything." I throw back the shot, welcoming the burn.
She shifts uncomfortably. "Have you talked to your dad about it? Maybe there's another way?—"
"My dad?" I laugh bitterly. "You mean the man who wasn't even going to tell me about the lease? Who only came clean because I showed up with Laney, who needed an internship. I knew he wouldn't turn me away, because she was a student at Louisville."
"Asha—"
"No, seriously. Every time I came home…Louisville, the racetracks, random business trips. He made sure I was never actually at the ranch, and I went along with it because I loved him. Because I trusted him. Sixty years, a year for every acre, and it all goes back to the Hales. My mom's legacy…gone."
Sydney's face is carefully neutral. She knows my relationship with my father has been strained; she just doesn't know the depth. "Maybe he was trying to protect you."
"From what? The truth?" I signal the bartender for another round, as the sight of my father laughing across the bar grates on my nerves.How can he laugh when we're on the verge of losing something so important to my mother?"I've been planning my whole life around that ranch. Vet school, the horses, the business. Now I don't even know what I want anymore."
She's quiet for a long moment, fingers tight around her glass. "What are you going to do?"
"About the ranch? Or about him?" I nod toward where Trigger is now looking our way, that infuriating smirk on his face.
"Either. Both."
The DJ's voice booms across the reception hall before I can answer. "Alright, alright, do I have all my single ladies on the dance floor? Come on, don't be shy…"
I close my eyes. Great, now this.
"That includes you, ladies!" Laney's voice rings out, and suddenly, my best friend is at my elbow, radiant in white lace and tulle, eyes sparkling with champagne and happiness. "Come on! Maybe you'll catch it."
Maybe I don't want to catch it. Maybe I want to run for the hills and never look back.
But Laney is linking her arms through ours, and I'm sure if Trigger wasn't watching me before, I know he is now. I can feel his gaze like a brand between my shoulder blades. There's noway I can back out now. If I did, he'd know I cared about what he thought, and that would give away too much. Caring is a weakness. Caring gets you exploited.
The bartender does me a solid and quickly passes me the second shot I ordered. I toss it back and let the liquid courage settle hot in my chest.
"Let's do it," I say, forcing fake glee into my voice. I'm happy for my best friend—I am—but that doesn't mean I want to catch a bouquet.
She just married a Hale. Laney knows exactly what position I'm in. Hell, part of me thinks she might throw the bouquet right at me just to speed things along.
Laney was one of the first people I’d trusted in years. Maybe because I saw something broken in her, something familiar. Or maybe it was just the kindness she showed when I walked into class, soaked through, muddy boots tracking dirt everywhere, no supplies. I sat beside her and asked to borrow a pen. She gave me a genuine smile without an ounce of pity. We were fast friends after that. She's also how I gained my bonus best friend, Sydney. They were kind of a package deal since they grew up together.
Now, I have not one but two best friends. That title is not one I give easily. Everyone I've ever known has betrayed me somehow—even the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally. But I let Laney in because I saw that same wariness in her eyes, that same careful distance. She knew what it was like to build walls. And now she's married. Not just to anyone, but tohisbrother. The brother of my enemy.
I don't feel betrayed, not exactly. Laney didn't do this to hurt me, but that's almost worse. It proves why I'm content being a one-woman show, single for life. Even when people don't mean to leave, they still do. They find someone else, and you're left on the outside looking in. This loss just hits different because of the name now attached to hers.
She pulls us onto the dance floor and positions us right where she wants us before looking toward the head table, where her bouquet sits in waiting. "Don't move. Stay right here," she instructs.
"Yes, Mom," I tease.
Her eyes flash up to mine, and she smiles big. "I'm serious. This is serious. You have one week and?—"
"Don't worry about me," I say. "This is your night.
"Tick tock, Mrs. Hale. It's time to toss that bouquet," the DJ announces, and for once tonight, I'm glad for one of his interruptions.
"You know she's going to nail you in the face with those flowers, right?" Sydney deadpans.
