Page 131 of Branded Betrayal

“Really?” Nash says, doubt in his voice.

“She has every right to date and build a life. She’s moving on. I’m . . . happy for her.”

“Well, she didn’t say how serious it is. I mean, she said he’s nice, but—”

“Nice is good. Nice doesn’t lie to her face. Nice doesn’t sabotage her ranch.”

“Hey,” Colt says from behind us. “The new space looks great, Nash.”

“Thanks,” Nash says, his eyes still on me.

“We were just talking about Savvie’s new boyfriend in Denver,” I say, busying myself with cleaning out the troughs. I kick at some stray hay in my path, blood boiling as it courses through my veins.

“Shit,” Colt mutters.

I turn around and force a smile. “Guys, this is a good thing. She needs a decent guy by her side. She deserves that.”

“You’re a good guy too,” Nash says quietly.

“Yeah, but I fucked up my chances. That’s how it goes. You don’t get an endless number of shots. I got more than I should have and still managed to screw them up.”

Images of her with another guy invade my brain without warning, her and some faceless guy in all sorts of positions that make bile shoot up the back of my throat. Some other guy is kissing her, touching her, fucking her, listening to her talk and laugh.

I had all of it, and I let it go. I just hope the bastard realizes that he’s struck gold in her.

In her.

Fuck.

I don’t want to think about that. At all.

“Is that how you really feel?” Colt asks.

I twist around, narrowing my eyes at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he says, walking toward me. “I look around this place, and I see all you’ve done. You took her ideas, implemented her plans, got things running around here again. You breathed life into it.”

“Yeah, and?” I snap.

“None of it can make her love you again,” he says in a low voice. “I’ve watched you work yourself to the bone, trying to make this place perfect for her. But she doesn’t want it. She’s moved on. And it’s time for you to do the same thing. You need to figure out your life now.”

I slide down the wall of the barn. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“I don’t, either, but you’ve gotta start by acknowledging that this place is yours. What you repaired, how you’ve helped resurrect it, it’s all yours. She’s gone, and you need to accept that. You created something great here, Blaze. Something to be proud of. Maybe that’s where you start.” He sighs and drops down next to me. “It sucks to look ahead, but think about the alternative. Dad spent his whole life stuck in the past, wishin’ and wantin’ for things he couldn’t ever get back, and look where that got him. And you. And us.”

He rests a hand on my shoulder. “You deserve a life too. That’s all I’m saying.”

A deep sigh shudders my chest.

Because Colt’s right.

There’s nothing left to fix.

Except myself.

Chapter Forty

Savannah