“Tell him to go fuck himself.” I didn’t want him to think we were friends.
“If you find a dark corner, I won’t come looking for you.” Tumbleweed whistled, standing up before strolling back to his tent on the other side of the fire. Thebrothers were in small groups, roaming around the campsite. They were busy having a good time, but they knew better than to drag me into it. They lied so much they’d forgotten the truth.
Prick, I thought, which instantly reminded me ofRoxy. What the fuck would I even say to her? She’d think the call was mainly about what happened and not her.
I shoved the end of my sleeping bag in, closing the tent. Sticking close to the edge of the dark campsites, I stopped when I was three away from ours. No one could sneak up on me.
Sitting on a log around the darkened fire pit, I dialed her phone number from memory. She’d filled her employee paperwork with her actual information, and I’d stolen her phone number right before we’d left.
The phone rang before clicking over to her voicemail. I called again—nothing. She didn’t have the burner phone’s number. After the day she had, I didn’t blame her for not answering a strange number.
Hitting the phone against my leg, I wanted to throw it across the unlit firepit. Caving, I sent her a text.
(520) 589-0819
Call me back, sweetheart.
I waited. I’d give her ten minutes before I tried another round of calls. It hadn’t even been a minute when my phone rang with an incoming video call. Did I answer? It wasn’t like I hadn’t had video calls, but I didn’t want to reveal anything that would put a target on her back.
You’re sitting at an empty campsite. Answer the call.I hit the green button, waiting until her face appeared in the screen. She was lying in bed, the ugly motel walls behind her. The exhaustion was clear on her face as she curled under the covers.
“I can’t see you,” she said, adjusting the phone she must’ve propped up.
I turned my phone’s flashlight on.
“Hi,” she said, laying back down on her pillows.
“Hey, how are you?” My hand came up to palm my face at how stupid I sounded. I was lucky, catching it before she could see the motion in the camera.
“Fine.”
“Roxy, you’re not fine. Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I held my phone in one hand, tracing the dark shadows under her eyes on the screen. She looked worn out—the kind of tired that made people do dumb shit out of fear.
She huffed a few times before the entire story came out in quick bursts, not bothering to breathe in between. “When we walked out the back door, the bar melee had just started. I came here, and that’s it.”
“They’ll be gone before I get back, but this was an opportunity for Scorpion to play hero. He’ll make sure they’re reminded to call first before they show up at our doorstep next time.”
“Yeah, but Angelica took me in when she didn’t have to, and now, the saloon can’t open until the renovations are done. I caused that. I’m going to pop over there tomorrow to see if they need a hand and check on my car.”
“You’re determined to be a martyr for this, but all you did was give those guys a chance to fight. Now, they’ll be good for at least a few days. Angelica’s been asking for some updates, so don’t worry about it. Plus, if you try to apologize, she’ll just wave it off.”
“Would you have fought?” Her eyes blazed through the screen. Subconsciously, she wanted reassurance that she belonged.
“I would have.” I’d never sat out a fight as long as I was here.
“For me or as a Saint?” she pushed.
“Hey, I should let you sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.” I was running as if I were doing Mach 5. I couldn’t give her the answer she wanted, probably because I had never stopped to consider she could be mine.
“Right.” There was a hiccup in her tone, and that was when I realized she wasn’t angry. She was done.
The screen went black in my hand.
Fuck. I’d royally fucked up. I could have said yes. Instead, I’d let her believe she was just another woman I was trying to conquer.
I thought about calling her back, making her talk to me until she fell asleep on her own. I had two more days on the road, and every nerve was screaming at me to fix it. Hovering over the green button, I stopped right as my thumb came close enough to hit it.
If there was a chance to make amends, I was going to have to do it in person.
