“I’m intrigued.”
I look down at his chest and trace my fingers along the crown tattooed over his heart. “I was always home schooled. My mom traveled a lot for her shows, so it was just easier—”
“What kind of shows?” Rafe interrupts.
“Rodeos. She was pretty big before her accident.”
“Your mom rode bulls?” His brows furrow. That was definitely not what he expected me to say.
“No,” I scoff softly. “She was a barrel racer. Anyway, I didn’t have a lot of friends, considering I didn’t go to school, other than Gwen.” I look up at Rafe when I hear him release a deep breath. He actually rolls his eyes. “Stop, she’s a good friend.”
“Whatever you say,” he tells me, and I know it’s just for my benefit.
I decide to drop it and tell him my story before I lose my nerve. “There was this girl. Her mom and mine ran in most of the same races, so we’d see each other a lot. Her name was Tammy Gaines, and she was a brat.” I shake my head, thinking about how she would tease me. “One day, all of us kids were having a race, and she was next to me in line, talking crap about me and my mom. You know, mean kid stuff.”
“I don’t think I like her very much,” Rafe states flatly.
“Me either,” I agree. “I wanted to beat her so badly. I didn’t care if I lost to everyone else, as long as I beat her, but she was a few years older than me and fast. I realized pretty quickly I was about to lose, so I tripped her. I stuck my foot out and caught her back leg, and she went down.” I slap my hands together, still seeing Tammy hit the ground.
“She deserved it,” Rafe growls adamantly.
“No, she didn’t. She hit her face, and it ended up breaking her two front teeth right in half.” When I close my eyes, I can still see her bloody mouth and how strange she looked with barely any front teeth. “I lied to everyone. I said it was an accident, and they believed me. I felt so guilty, I helped carry her to her trailer and searched the ground for her teeth for hours after it happened. I saw her about two weeks later, and her teeth were still messed up. The dentist fixed them, but it was a bad job.” There was a lump of white on the front of her teeth that looked like it needed to be smoothed out and reshaped.
“I have never admitted that to anyone, not even Gwen.” I don’t regret much, but I regret doing that to Tammy.
Rafe cups my cheek, tracing my lip with his thumb. “I would have done so much worse. You’re too nice.” He searches my face.
I click my tongue, about to deny his assessment, especially after what I just told him, but he stops me, seeming to sense what I’m about to say.
“You are, and I like having your secrets.”
“It’s one of those memories that pop up when you’re trying to fall asleep and makes you cringe,” I disclose. I’ve dreaded telling anyone that story, but maybe now that I have, I can let it go.
“Like I said, you’re too nice. That would not make the list of what keeps me up at night.”
“Oh yeah, what does?” I meet his eyes again now that he didn’t seem to judge me for what I did. Maybe telling him about where I worked won’t be so bad after all.
“You want to know what’s been keeping me awake for far too long?” His voice is husky and deep, and that alone is enough to shift the atmosphere.
“What?” I barely manage to whisper while looking at his lips.
“You, Lucy Lawson. I can’t seem to get you out of my head. Not since the first moment I saw you.”
I smile indulgently. He did a great job of avoiding the question. “That’s not true. You didn’t even remember who I was at Tractor Supply.”
“I might have only pretended not to know who you were and where I recognized you from.” He doesn’t seem at all apologetic about his lie.
“That’s not very nice.” I narrow my eyes playfully. “You know, I thought maybe Gwen and that Jay guy might have had something to do with us meeting up, but after I thought about it, it didn’t make sense. It’s not like Gwen knew I was going to the feed store ahead of time.” I realized that fairly quickly after my brain wasn’t mush from him asking me out.
“Nope. I found you all on my own.” Rafe pulls me a little closer so my face is darn near buried in his chest. I can still smell his peppery leathery cologne. My eyes close. This is nice. I don’t even mind that he got one of my secrets and didn’t tell me any of his. In my head, I’m already thinking about all the questions I still want to ask him, but I feel like there will be plenty of time for those later.
* * *
When I open my eyes,I know right away I’m not at home in my bed. The room is dark and quiet, but this plush mattress isn’t mine. I lift my head from the pillow and look around. I’m alone. I squint, seeing the darker depths of the bathroom door. Rafe wouldn’t be in there in the dark. The door to the bedroom is ajar, so I lie still for a while, thinking he will be back any moment. When he doesn’t return after a few minutes, I slide off the bed and tug the sheet around me so I don’t have to turn the lights on to find my clothes.
The hallway is dark, so I almost reach for the light, but there’s a glow farther down the hall illuminating enough to lead the way back to the kitchen.
A door deep in the house closes loudly. It’s a heavy thud, making me think it might even be the front door. I consider returning to the room, but it has to be Rafe. I don’t think anyone would be visiting at this hour, well, I hope not anyway. It has to be after two in the morning.
