Page 55 of Karma's Kiss

“DATE?” He laughs caustically. “You’re kidding me.”

I jab my finger into his chest. “That girl was obsessed with you andyou knew it. You took advantage of it!”

Deep down, I don’t believe any of this anymore, haven’t for a while, but he’s got me so worked up that it feels good to fling baseless accusations at him. After all, he’s charged and sentenced me for crimes I didn’t really commit. I might as well do the same.

“You were always the golden boy, Sawyer. Getting any girl you wanted.” I sound utterly disgusted by it.

His jaw rolls with anger, but I don’t stop.

“When I came back to town and you made it clear you were interested in me, Kendra saw it as the perfect opportunity to give you a taste of your own medicine. You came on to me so strong and I’d just about had enough of men in general after Matthew, so Kendra suggested I accept your date and break your heart the way you’ve broken so many hearts before me.”

I see his good opinion of me dying a swift death—the residual warmth draining from his eyes—and yet I can’t stop. It feels too good to get the truth off my chest.

“And yeah, like an idiot, I went through with it against my better judgment!” I explode, flinging my arms out, really letting it all go. “God, it was such a stupid plan. There was no real end goal. I guess you were supposed to fall for me and then I’d ghost you or something, but you just couldn’t do what I needed you to do.” I narrow my eyes accusingly. “You kept pushing and pushing andpushing, and making it impossible to stay away from you. At The Black Door, I called off Kendra’s half-baked plan. I wanted nothing to do with it, but it was too late. Your little Charlotte heard me on the phone with Kendra and ran straight to you. I can only imagine what she said and how shesaid it, painting me as the villain. Well I don’t care, Sawyer.” I slow down here, enunciating every word. “There you go.All of it.”

I heave a deep cleansing sigh and start to walk away, but not before I turn back one more time. “And by the way, I’ll happily stay away fromyourvineyard! For all of eternity, in fact! Tell Queenie I’m walking home!”

I make it about a mile away with the hot Texas sun scorching me from above before I’m so overheated I peel off the side of the road and take a seat in the shade beneath a giant oak tree. I’m hoping to be rescued by Queenie, but a squirrel finds me first, eyeing me suspiciously with its beady little eyes.

“What?”

The squirrel cocks its head to the left.

“I’m kinda busy sulking here, leave me alone.”

It skitters up the oak tree and accidentally—or more likely,on purpose—pelts me with an acorn from above. I rub the spot on my head and glower up at it. It’s probably Sawyer’s squirrel. He’s trained it to torment me.

Gravel kicks up on the road and an old beat-up red truck slows to a stop in front of me.

Crawford reaches over the seat to roll down the window, smiling at me from behind the wheel. “Want a ride?”

I cross my arms. “Does your grandson know you’re here being nice to me?”

“Well he’s the one who told me to come pick you up…”

“Where’s Queenie?” I ask suspiciously as I get to my feet and swipe the dirt from my backside.

“Finishing up that rehearsal you walked out on. We could all hear you and Sawyer, by the way. Not like you two were trying to keep your voices down.”

“Great.” I yank open the door and slide onto the weathered seat, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Don’t fret. I’m glad y’all were shouting, that way I could hear properly. The whole thing sounded real interesting and Sawyer’s all worked up, but I guess not enough that he wasn’t worried about you out here all on your own.”

I keep my gaze focused out the window. “I don’t care about Sawyer.”

“All righty. Message received loud and clear. Why don’t I put on some music for us?”

He barely touches the volume dial before I launch in, “For the record, I didn’t do anything wrong. Not really. I might have told Kendra I was going through with her plan, but I didn’t ever actuallydoanything to Sawyer. Iwantedto go on dates with him and I really liked him. Or so I thought.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Again he reaches for the volume dial, but he’s not fast enough.

“It’s just what is he doing with Charlotte? Is he really going to pursue something with her? Because they aren’t a good match if you ask me. What do you think?”

“I—”

“Never mind, don’t answer that. What am I doing still worrying about Sawyer? He kicked me off the vineyard, you know.”

“I heard.”

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