“Long shower?”I tried not to think about Reagan in the shower.I tried really,reallyhard.
“Actually, no.I think it’s the water heater.I need to have it checked.”
“Did you tell Amy?”
Reagan shook her head and took a sip of her beer.“Nah.She’s stayin’ with Wolfe and Rhys most of the time, so I don’t wanna bother her.”
“I’ll check it out if you want me to,” I offered.
Her head snapped over and I could see the battle brewing in her eyes.
“For free,” I added with a grin.
“I’ll see how it’s doin’ later on.If I still have a problem…”
She didn’t finish the sentence and I knew she had no intention of asking me for help.Didn’t matter.I'd look at it anyway.
“You comin’ out for barbecue tomorrow?”I asked when she was quiet for too long.
“Probably not.I need to go see my mother.Check in.She wants to talk about … you know.”
I didn’t know.Lifting my eyebrows, I silently encouraged her to continue.
“About breakin’ up with Billy.”
I looked away, the familiar anger shooting through my bloodstream.I hated that bastard, hated that I'd sat back all these years and watched Reagan get shit on by the guy.
“She thinks I should give him another chance,” Reagan added, her tone soft.
I jerked my attention her way.“What?”
Her smile was sad.“I know.I don’t get it either.But that’s her way of thinkin’.After all, she stayed with my dad all those years and God knows neither of them was happy.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say to that.Nothing that wouldn’t make me look like the world’s biggest prick.Billy Watson didn’t deserve Reagan.She was far too good for that asshole and she deserved a hell of a lot better.
“But it’s a lecture I’ve been expectin’.Once I get that outta the way, we’ll be fine.”
“You gonna take him back?”I hated that I had to ask that.
“Fuck no,” she barked.“For the first time in my life, I feel like … I don’t know.I feel like I’m my own person.That I don’t have to dread goin’ home.I’m done with Billy and his shit.”
I had to look away, not wanting her to see the relief I felt.Every damn time she’d broken up with Billy over the past decade, I had hoped she would move on for good.I'd always been disappointed when she took the loser back.
I still wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t get back with him, but I was holding on to hope this time.After all, it really was all I had left when it came to Reagan Trevino.
Reagan
I had no idea why I was sharing such personal details with Lynx.But he’d asked and I had no one else to talk to these days, so it had come rushing out of me.It felt good, too.Getting it off my chest, sharing some of the shit I had to deal with.
Truth was, I didn’t have any close friends.Partly because I'd always been that way, not getting close to anyone I wasn’t related to.And partly because my relationship with Billy had caused me to alienate most people.Not many people liked Billy.He had some good buddies, but he treated most people as though they were beneath him.
Which left me without anyone to bounce things off of.
And no, I couldn’t talk to my mother.I had tried plenty of times, but she insisted that I had committed to Billy, therefore I had to take the good with the bad.Didn’t matter that I continuously reminded her that I hadn’t married Billy and had no intention of ever doing so.According to my mother, that didn’t even matter.She was old-fashioned like that.Which was probably the reason she had stuck by my father until the day the man died.
“Well, don’t you two look all cozy.”
My head snapped around to find Billy walking toward us.I chanced a quick glance at Lynx, realizing the man had hopped down off the truck already.
