Page 62 of Reckless

“Um…”

I look up at her. She’s biting her lip as she watches the road ahead.

“Um?” I repeat.

“So, I had a phone call while I was in the store.”

“Yeah?” my gut clenches. Not sure why.

“With my friend, Drew.”

“About?”

“You,” she glances at me.

“Oh yeah? In what way?”

“My plan is to spend the afternoon and evening with them, and that means staying overnight at their house. Where they live is big enough to park the RV.”

“I see.” I glance out of the windshield, staring into the distance where the city of Sioux Falls is spread out. Is this where she tells me I’m being left in the RV on the driveway to hide away like a dirty secret?

Wait. She told her friend about me?

“Jude.”

Her voice draws my head back to Krista. Her look is sad, and I clench my jaw, ready for the blow.

“You think I’m going to leave you, don’t you?”

“What?” Is my confused response.

“I told Drew about you because I won’t leave you.”

It takes a second for that to compute. Jesus, when did I become so damn vulnerable? I’m afraid of being rejected. People have surrounded me for the last eight years. People who want to be near me, who brag about it when they spend time with me. It came with the fame and somehow became normal.

All I’ve wanted these past few months is to get my freedom and space. To be allowed to just be. To think. Get my head on straight. I should celebrate the fact I’m getting time to myself while Krista does her thing.

It isn’t how I feel.

I want these people, these friends of Krista’s, to like me. To want to be around me.

Krista pauses as we make it to the lot outside the Falls and get the RV parked up.

“The thing you need to know about Drew and Wayne.” She turns her chair and leans forward. “They’re not your average people. They’re not like me.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, intrigued.

“Wayne is a billionaire. He owns a huge chunk of… well, this state. And other places in North Dakota. His family has always had money. Not that he was handed anything on a silver platter. He had to prove his worth and go to college, which is where we met. We didn’t know how much money he had back then.”

She’s rambling. And I let her because this is interesting news.

I’m well off. I wouldn’t need to work another day in my life and still be comfortable. I’m not a billionaire. With that level of money comes particular kinds of challenges.

I don’t know a thing about this guy, but I can already guess he’s cautious about where he goes and who he meets. If I want to go out anywhere, this is the perfect guy to do it with.

But Krista is concerned. Both for me and her friends. You grow very untrusting quickly when you have money and fame.

“The place we go to every year belongs to his family. Lots of security. The area is closed off and only people Wayne trusts are allowed in. You wouldn’t have to worry.”

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