Page 115 of Burn the Wild

And then she’s out the door, slamming it so hard I jump.

Mouse glares at me as if it’s all my fault.

I tear a hand through my hair. “Fuck.”

Ifollow Ruby through the glass door and blink at the bright lights inside Main Street Drugstore. I feel like I’ve been in a cloudy fog for the last week. Angry, sad, and stupid. But that’s what I get for getting too close. For letting Ford Montgomery in.

He charmed me. With his broody good lucks and aw-shucks grin and we’re-just-friends promises. I trusted him.

And it was a mistake. Because I lost him.

But did I ever really have him?

He wants to know, and I don’t blame him. But how do I talk about it? All these years, it’s been my dirty little secret. I’ve never told anyone. It’s not like ripping a band-aid off. It’s like peeling the skin off my skeleton. All the gory parts will show. What if he’s disgusted by what he sees? What if one day he decides I’m not enough anymore?

It’s better this way. The closer I get to being free of Gavin, the closer Ford comes to learning the truth.

“Reese?”

I shake myself out of my daze and take in Ruby’s smiling face. I hitched a ride into town with her, because I refused to borrow Ford’s truck. After our fight, I don’t want anything from him.

Except him.

I miss him. It’s been a week since he called it quits. A week since I’ve been in his bed. Since those calloused fingertips haverun up my body with the gentle ease I’m used to. My body aches for him. But he’s right. It’s better this way.

No strings. Just friends. Without any of the benefits.

“C’mon,” Ruby says. “You haven’t had a Resurrection shopping experience until you’ve bought cow dewormer and a bolo tie.”

We shop the aisles, and I add a box of hair color, nail polish, a few bags of gummy bears to my basket. Then I make my way toward the pharmacy. I want to show Gavin I’m still filling my prescription. But I’ve stopped taking the pills.

The spectacled pharmacist looks up from her screen. Snaps a bubble. “You’re sure this is your prescription?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s mine.” I watch as she slowly moves the orange bottle and a clipboard to the counter.

I sign my name as the pharmacist snaps another bubble. “I don’t know. What did you say your name was again? Are you—”

I grab up the pills and turn on my heel before she can ask any more questions.

“Are people always this nosy here?” I ask Ruby as we check out.

Ruby giggles. “Small town. Your business is their business.”

I laugh. “Should put that on the town crest.”

Linking arms, Ruby attaches herself to my side as we push out the front door and exit onto Main Street. The hem of her floral sundress flares as she bounces us down the street. “Let’s go see Dakota’s bakery.”

We turn the corner when I feel eyes on me. I freeze. My heart pounds in my chest. A black SUV is parked two blocks away.Gavin? Paparazzi?I squint, trying to get a better look. Before I can, it slowly drives off, turning down a side street.

“Reese?”

I shake off the chill that’s settled in my bones.

“Let’s go.”

A purple paradise awaits us in Dakota’s bakery. Every shade under the sun decorates the shop. Though it’s still under construction—paper screens obscuring the windows, and the countertops unfinished—the décor is above and beyond. Marble and lilac accents, floral garland, penny tile, and a flashing neon pinball machine complete the space.

“Oh, Dakota,” Ruby gasps, hands clasped to her heart. She spins, taking it all in.

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