“What about it? I’ll be fine. Sadie will be fine. She knows, you know, we all know—well, other than your brothers—that I didn’t do anything.”
“It doesn’t even matter anyway!” I let the exasperation out. “Seriously, it’s all harmless stuff. Someone cut the fence where there weren’t any animals. Moved hay bales, which was stupid, but a prank. The horses were let out in the barn, but that can happen if I just forget to close the damn stall. It’s all meaningless and stupid, and now you’re going to have a record because you won’t just tell Jimmy the truth?”
Tristan smiles and moves his hand to cover mine. “I own my ranch. I own my land. I don’t give a shit about having a recordfor a damn misdemeanor, but I do care about what happens toyouif this gets out. So, yeah, you’re going to walk out of here, pretend you could not care less about what happens to me, and then I’ll see you tonight. Okay?”
“This is wrong, Tristan. Lying for me. Lying so that I don’t have to face the consequences of my own decisions.”
I chose to meet him. I chose to have him ride with me back to the barn, to kiss me in the stable, and then I went inside. All of that is on me, and now he’s the one who will pay for it.
“I made the decision, too, and I’m choosing right now to do what I think is right, and that’s keeping our relationship quiet.”
His words, that statement, cause my stomach to tense. My millions of insecurities come flooding forward, and I instinctually step back, but his hand tightens.
I look into his brown eyes, the ones that have given me a sense of purpose and trust. I see the questions building as he tries to decipher my reaction.
Instead of pulling into myself, I decide to voice my fear.
“Are you embarrassed of me?” I ask on a whisper.
“No. Not at all. Shit, Lark, all I want to do is protect you. Let me do this my way this time, and if I get arrested again, I’ll let you handle that one.”
He’s trying to joke, but it’s not funny. I pull my lower lip between my teeth. “I hate this.”
“I know, and that’s what makes it okay.”
Before I can say anything else, Jimmy pushes the door open, and the two of us step back from the cell, as though we never touched.
“Everything all right in here?” Jimmy asks.
“Yes, Officer Langston. Everything is just great. Lark is leaving, and I’m sure she’ll find another way to torture me…” Tristan pauses. “Or my family.”
I hate the words. “Yes, I’m sure one of those will happen.”
Because tonight, when I see him, he’s definitely going to suffer.
Chapter 33
Tristan
“Well, this wasn’t on my bingo card for today,” Harper says as she hands me my phone and wallet. I’ve been released from jail, and now I’m getting all my things back so I can go home and try to get my family to let this drop.
“Yeah, mine neither.”
She smirks. “I always knew you’d be the first to end up with a mug shot.”
“Really? I would’ve bet on Dad.”
“No, it was you. You have that defiance inside of you.” She looks at Jimmy as he enters the holding area. “You’re dead to us.”
He rolls his eyes. “If you think I wanted to do this, you’re wrong.” Jimmy turns his attention to me. “And you did this. You know something. There’s a part to this puzzle that I don’t know, but I sure as fuck will.”
Yeah, yeah. If he were any other cop, I might be worried, but I’m not. He’ll guess and probably get really close, but I’ll never confirm it.
“Sounds good. I look forward to your theories that will be wrong,” I say, putting my wallet in my back pocket. “Also, I broke your toilet.”
Jimmy huffs. “How?”
“I kicked it.”
