“Nothing! We had a stupid fight and I left!” I shout, my eyes snapping to his.
“Addison! Your shirt is inside out, and so help me God…!” His chest heaves.
I look down, and my heart stops when I see the tag on my shirt sticking out like a sore thumb. And just like that, I lose it.
“It wasn’t—” My voice breaks. “It wasn’t like that,” I tell him. I don’t want him to think something bad happened. He’d be out the door so fast I wouldn’t be able to stop him.
“Then what was it?” he says, voice on edge, taking a step back.
I sniffle and wipe my face. “He just…he got mad when I didn’t want todoanything. He always wants more and—”
“Break up with him.” Cody doesn’t hesitate.
“No.”
“I don’t like him,” he says, “It’s been two years. If he doesn’t get it by now, he never will. Break up with him.”
“You’re just like the rest,” I mutter and storm upstairs to my room, my vision blurry with more threatening tears.
I guess I can’t talk to anyone about us. One wrong thing to anyone and they’re demanding I break up with him.
I sit on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands, praying for this drama and constant fighting to stop. For just a second. Because I feel like I’m drowning.
Then the bed shifts. Someone sits beside me, and a strong arm pulls me in, careful but determined.
“You’re okay,” Cody mutters. His voice has a rough edge but he’s trying to be sensitive.
I break all over again, my face pressed into his chest, and hejust holds me. Suffocating me in a hug I didn’t know I needed.
He doesn’t say anything. He just stays.
Chapter 16
Wesley
I park in front of Addison’s house at 4 a.m. and she comes out the front door ten seconds later, arms full of stuff—two bags, a blanket, and a pillow.
I get out and a small laugh escapes me. “Addie, it’s just a day trip,” I remind her, opening the passenger door of my truck for her.
“I know,” she says, as if that means nothing, and shoves everything on the floor.
“Where you gonna put your feet?”
“That’s what your dash is for.” She smirks and climbs in. I stifle another laugh and shut the door after she gets settled.
I’m hauling a twenty-foot trailer behind me to pick up a new cattle chute. Since ours is older than I am, it’s time for an upgrade.
I was surprised and a little hesitant when she volunteered to accompany me to Billings, Montana. Addison hates car rides, especially anything over an hour. Why she volunteered for a seven-hour trip is beyond me. I can’t help but think maybe things between her and Brantley aren’t good and she wants to get away from it all. However, I’m not gonna ask. It’s not mybusiness and we agreed I’d stay out of it. So I am. I’m being a friend and helping her clear her head.
Getting onto the road, I glance at the clock, noting what time we left so I can see how long it takes. My dad’s gonna wanna know.
Addison rummages through the bag at her feet, using the screen light of her phone as a flashlight.
“Your parents were fine with this, right?” I ask.
“Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Just cause, like—”
