Page 51 of Hart Breaker

“I’ve taken no oath, but you have my word,” she assures me. “I’m hoping you’ll still get me those tickets? I already sent Ryder the message.”

“Yeah, of course.” I roll my neck in hopes it relieves some of the tension. “I’ll get your number and have them sent to you.”

“I appreciate you.”

“That makes one of us,” Riley mumbles.

“Riley, you can’t?—”

“No disrespect to your new friend,” she cuts me off, “but my personal life is fucking personal.”

With that, I shut my damn mouth, and within a couple of minutes that seem like hours, Ryder’s stepmom, my new friend, is pulling off the strip and into some sort of park that is completely empty.

She puts the car in park, turns, and looks back. “You good?”

Riley nods.

“I’m going to step out to give you some privacy; please don’t steal my car.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I assure her.

She looks at Riley for validation.

“He’s not typically this ridiculous. Your car’s safe.”

“My name’s Beth; if you need me, call out my name.”

I laugh because it reminds me of that KISS song. Her eye roll tells me she’s heard that a time or two.

As soon as Beth is far enough away, Riley smacks me with her flowers. “You don’t get to laugh at her when you’ve just basically hijacked her from her life, Hart.”

“Beth, I hear you calling, but I can’t come home?—”

She smacks me again. “You don’t think I know that? I’m an 80’s and 90’s rock girl, asshole.” She leans back. “Your freaking time starts now.”

“You can’t give me,” I sing, “just a few more hours …”

“We’re not at the fucking Brewery tossing jokes back and forth across my bar right now, Hart! What you just did was wrong!”

“What you’re about to do is far worse!” I yell back.

“And what exactly was I about to do?” she snaps.

I wave my hand up and down. “Marry someone who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Oh yeah, and you think you deserve to?—”

“I don’t know if I deserve you,” I cut her the fuck off. “I’ve spent my whole life not trusting too many people. Blue Valley changed that. You … you … Fuck!” I knot my fingers in my hair. “The day I heard you were engaged, I felt some sort of way. I even told my sister that I wanted to put you on a shelf so no one could ever hurt you, and he will, Riley. She told me to go for it, but my hands were tied. Do you wanna take a guess as to why?”

She looks down.

“You lied to me, fucked me out of that whole first crush experience, and let me believe I fucked your sister, so I’d never allow myself to even jerk off to the thought of you.” Okay, that may have been too much info, but whatever. “I never felt this”—I pound my fist against my chest—“this fucking thing I swore never beat right because I didn’t connect like that with all the chicks I’ve fucked. I didn’t even know I fucked you, so it had not a damn thing to do with sex. It was all here.” I motion between us. “You lied to me—fucking hurt, too—and you may think I don’t deserve this moment, and that’s cool. But I will never regret not opening myself up and bleeding all the fuck over because pissed or not, you, Riley Mae Brooks, don’t deserve to live a life with someone who doesn’t want to make sure no one ever hurts you again. Someone who chooses fucking golf over a few hours with you, even if it’s just staring at you across your bar. I’m begging you, please don’t marry him, even if it’s not to date me, just find someone who deserves you.”

“That was”—she pauses—“a lot.”

I close my eyes and beg, “Don’t marry him.”

“Hudson.”

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