Page 102 of Bull Rush

“It is because you’ve already had three shots. I get wanting to drown your sorrows, but let’s not drown you, too, okay?” She raises her brow.

“I don’t want to remember any of this.” I stare down at my whiskey and Coke. “I just want to go back in time and fix it. I can’t lose him twice. I can’t.” The tears threaten, and Marlowe rubs my back, and I throw back the rest of my drink. It doesn’t even burn like it should and for some reason, that brings the tears. Now I’m that girl, crying in the bar over her man while her friends huddle around her drunk ass trying to convince her she’ll be okay.

“You know I love you, and I hate to say this, but…” Dakota shakes her head. “I think you’re gonna have to go throw yourself at his mercy.”

“How?”

“Beg?” Dakota winces as she makes the suggestion.

“Get naked?” Bristol adds.

“Oh, better yet—put on some of the lingerie you got for your honeymoon.”

“Yes… let’s remind him of how I tortured him when he first got here.”

“I’m fairly certain that man likes being tortured.” Dakota pours me another drink, this one very obviously ninety-nine percent Coke and one percent whiskey, and I frown at it and then her.

“Maybe just remind him of how much you love him?” Marlowe gives me an encouraging smile. “But the getting naked and begging thing might not hurt.” Her smile turns slightly pained as I glare at her. “Sorry, but I don’t think they’re wrong.”

“Men are easy creatures to manage once you figure out their weaknesses, and you already know Ramsey’s. So use them,” Bristol encourages. “And then once you’ve got him where you want him, tell him how you really feel now.”

“Am I crazy for wanting to make it work with him?” I stare at the bubbles rising and breaking on the surface of my drink.

“No. Somehow… someway… it’ll work out. You’re like magnets, always finding your way back to each other no matter the obstacle in between. You’re meant for each other.” Marlowe’s got all the right words even though she doesn’t know exactly how right they are.

“He’s going to try to run again. I know it. I’ll probably go home, and he’ll already be gone.”

“Then you go to Cincinnati after him.” Dakota shrugs.

“To Cincinnati?” I ask, giving her a shocked look.

“If you love him, and he loves football… maybe let the man have one last season.” Bristol looks at me thoughtfully.

“But the ranch needs me. We have to rebuild the stables, and I had plans for remodeling the inn.”

“Does it need you?” Dakota’s brows raise. “Or could it manage without you for a few months as long as you make trips out here? Grace, Kit, Elliot, Kell… hell, even Cade is doing a good job of keeping things running while you’ve been dealing with the aftermath the last few weeks. Bo and Anson, I’m sure, would be willing to check in on things too.”

I take a long chug of Coke, wishing it was more whiskey. She had a point. A point I didn’t love because… I like feeling needed around the inn and the ranch. I like being the one to make sure everything’s functioning. I like putting in the long hours it takes and going to bed exhausted.

But I also really love being married to Ramsey Stockton. I love watching the way he lights up on the field, and I’ve never gotten to see him play in his home stadium in the pros. I didn’t hate the idea of listening to tens of thousands of people chant his name when he sacks the opposing quarterback for the third time like he did in college.

“She’s thinking about it,” Bristol notes.

“Maybe she needs another drink?” Marlowe points to my half-empty glass.

“Yes. One more shot for good luck. I’m going to need it for the begging I’m about to do.” I push my glass forward, and Dakota tops me off before she looks at Marlowe.

“Can you take her home?” Dakota asks.

“Yep. I don’t mind,” Marlowe agrees.

FIFTY-ONE

Hazel

“Wait… one pit stop,”I mumble as Marlowe tries to keep me on track to the door.

“What’s that?” Marlowe looks at me perplexed when I wander toward the truck Ramsey’s been driving since he got here.

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