That made her laugh. For a moment. Then she got quiet as we rumbled along the dirt driveway out of our land. “Sorry.” I felt her sadness. “I shouldn’t tease you about him.”
“No, it’s fine.” She sighed as her eyes drifted to her side window, her expression melancholy. “If we weren’t who we were…”
She let it drift off. “Yeah.” That was all I could say. I was starting to feel the same about Aiden. If life were different. If we weren’t who we were. I could see myself being happy with him. If he wasn’t a known player, of course. “Do you think people can be addicted to other people?” She glanced at me. I hurried to return my attention to the road. Any number of animals could leap out in front of a car out here.
Her nose, covered with pasty white and gray makeup, crinkled. “Are you asking me if I think one person can be compulsive over another, then yes. Obviously. Look at why we ran.”
Oh. Oh, yeah. “Sorry, that was stupid of me. Forget I asked.” I took a sharp right to head to Jumping Pony.
“No, I don’t want to forget. Are you worried you’re falling for Aiden?”
I snuck a peek. She was watching me closely. I had a thought to lie, but she knew me too well.
“I think maybe I’m starting to think of him in ways that would be future romance thoughts. Like me, him, and Lady living together in his house, and it freaks me out on one hand, but on the other…”
“On the other, it seems like a dream come true?” I nodded, forcing myself to slow down in case the high beams missed a deer or antelope stepping out into the road. “Can I tell you something that must stay between us?”
“Sure.” Drying corn stalks lined both sides of the country lane we were traveling.
“I feel the same about Linc.”
I shot her a look. “I knew that.”
“Did you?” She seemed surprised.
“Yeah, it’s obvious.”
Her exhale was hearty. “I try so hard to not let myself feel anything more than brotherly affection for him, but he’s just soperfect. Big, strong, gentle, protective. I dream of curling up with him wrapped around me, keeping me safe fromhim.”
“He would be happy to do that,” I said, slowing to make a left turn. The radio was turned down, but I could still hear the soft strains of an old Patsy Cline song. Patsy was singing about falling to pieces every time she saw someone who only wanted friendship. Man, fate was a cruel bitch at times.
“Yes, I know, and yet I can’t allow him to. We cannot bring danger to this family we’ve found. I will not allow my mistakes to harm any of the Bastians.” Her sad green eyes lifted from her hands as they lay in her lap. “But you—”
“No. We made a pact. We stay together. No matter what.”
She wearily nodded, the heater blowing in her face to tickle her wildly teased blond hair. She was far too pretty to be a monster. The real monsters were the ones who lingered outside fire halls with whiskey on their breath and hate in their hearts.
“Yes, we did. And your veterinarian might be a heartbreaker.”
“Maybe.” I had to concede the point.
“Or maybe he just hasn’t met the right man yet.”
Her voice held such hope that I had to smile a little. “Yeah, maybe. Guess we’ll never know how things will work out.”
“I guess not.” She returned to watching the dark night move past. The songs on the radio changed, but the mood in the cab stayed gloomy. It wasn’t fun to discover you were falling for someone who probably was only interested in you for your body. Maybe Iwasas dumb as the kids on the playground used to say I was.
A rotating sign with a big blue pony lit up the night sky. Easing off the gas, I hit the blinker to pull into the parking lot of Jumping Pony. There were dozens of trucks and cars in the massive parking lot, so I crept along looking for a spot when I spied Baker and Aiden having a pretty heated conversation outside the front door of the club. Dodge, Linc, and Hanley werethere as well, but it was my eldest brother shaking a finger at my…Aiden that pissed me off.
“God damn it,” I snarled, whipping into a space beside a rusty Dodge van that looked like last year’s loser at the Bastian Grange Fair’s demolition derby. I flung the door open, cracking the sliding door of the van, my eyes on my meddling older brother. The van door slid open with a squeal as I exited the truck, Bella’s pleas not to go off half-cocked falling on deaf ears. If Aiden was going to fuck me and then forget me, that was my business. Not Baker’s.
A cloud of thick, sweet smoke rolled out of the van with four Learys. I found the one I wanted, Rip, the biggest and meanest. All those nights cleaning Lady’s wounds as she whimpered in pain roared into my already angry brain.
“Did you just dent my fucking van, you fa—”
My fist met his face before he could finish the slur. It was a good right, nice clean uppercut that snapped his head back. My hand hurt pretty badly, which was a good sign. It meant his hateful face had to be hurting too.
“That’s for shooting Lady!” I shouted before he shook off the punch. He and his brothers jumped on me. Bella screamed for help.
