Page 101 of Bull Rush

“I don’t know if you need to. It’s pretty self-explanatory.” His tone is so cold it makes my heart ache from the frost.

“I know I said I was going to put the paperwork in a safety deposit box, but I filed it. I figured the state requires the ninety-day cooling-off period anyway. This way, when it was over, we could go our separate ways without having to wait even longer for the paperwork to go through. We could get back to normal faster.”

“So you weren’t even going to give me a chance?”

“Ramsey, at the time… Please, remember, at the time I didn’t know. I didn’t want to admit to myself how much I still loved you or that Curtis was twisting everything and manipulating me. I didn’t know you still loved me. I thought you just wanted the ranch back and wanted to punish me for moving on while I still lived here. I thought this would all be a disaster between us and that I needed to plan a wedding to marry Curtis. I thought you’d go back to Cincinnati to play again, and I could go back to my life the way it was.” I rush through my words, hoping if I can say them fast enough, it’ll stop the spread of the poison—like cutting off a limb to keep the rest whole.

A sad smile comes and goes from his lips, and I frown as I wait for him to say something—say anything at all—to let me know he’s not quitting on us just because I fucked up.

“Well… that’s my news. The team wants me back.”

“What? When?” It feels like someone’s just stabbed me in the gut with the way his words make my heart drop and take all of my hope with them.

“Immediately.”

I can hear my heartbeat echoing in my eardrums.

“But you’re not going, right? I thought that was over. I thought you were committed to the ranch and helping your brothers. That we were going to rebuild all this together.” I try not to sound as desperate as I feel.

“I thought that too.” He looks down at the decree. “But now we’re not even married, and this is all yours.” He lets out a huff of air and shakes his head. “It’s funny how the world fuckin’ works, huh?”

“You don’t mean that.”

“No, but you did. You got what you wanted. The divorce. The ranch. The inn. All of it. You don’t need me.”

“Ramsey! You’re being fucking ridiculous. None of that matters. You can’t do this to me again.”

“What matters is you lied.” He palms the piece of paper onthe table. “We don’t lie to each other. That’s the difference between us and everyone else in this fucked up world, Haze.”

“You promised. You break that and you’re a liar too. You promised me that you were going to be here for me. You said you loved me.” The tears are coming hot and heavy now. I can’t stop them and I don’t care to. Not with the way he’s looking at me now—like he can see straight through me to the other side, where there’s a life waiting without me.

“And you ripped my fucking heart out!” He pulls the paper from the table and crumples it, tossing it to the floor. He turns his back to me and starts to walk away.

“Don’t you dare fucking walk away from me!” I yell after him, furious that after everything he’s just going to walk up the stairs.

He looks back over his shoulder, his face faltering for a moment before he regains his ire.

“Or what?” He dares me to say what I’m thinking.

“You can walk out of here for good!”

“Was already planning on it, sugar. Kinda the point of a divorce.” He turns to the stairs and makes his way up, pausing halfway to look back at me. “I’m gonna pack tonight and get a flight out of Denver in the morning. Grant and Levi will look after you and the ranch if you need them. You’ve got your brothers here to keep you safe.”

An hourlater I’m sitting at Seven Sins as Dakota pours me another shot.

“I thought we were gonna get to have a second burn-the-dress party. The first one was so much fun. This thing where you’re crying and pouting, not so much.” Dakota gives me a pitiful look.

Marlowe and Bristol push their empty shot glasses toward Dakota. I called an emergency meeting at the bar and had just finished telling them my sad sob story.

“You really filed it?” Marlowe scrunches her nose.

“I know I fucked up, but I thought…”

“You thought you were going to marry Curtis. Then he turned out to be a giant piece of shit.” Bristol nods her head like it’s a perfectly sensible thing.

I haven’t told them the whole story. I’d kept it to the important parts. Curtis was manipulating me the whole time to try to get the ranch. I found out. He was gone. Drove out of town, never to return. I didn’t want them to have to keep my dirty little secret, but I’m worried keeping it from them might eat me alive. Especially when the secrets are starting to mount up.

“But I lied to Ramsey. I told him I’d put the papers in the safety deposit box,” I say as Dakota slides another drink my way. I take a sip. “This tastes like it’s watered down,” I complain.

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