Page 54 of Rope Me In

So she was in a band. I wonder what she plays, or maybe she sings or plays guitar—maybe both? When she lifts her gaze back to mine, her eyes are set with determination instead of anger, fear, or sadness like I would have expected.

“Let’s play a different game,” she says.

I nod, happy she suggested it. We need a little change of pace after I brought the mood down. “True or Dare then?”

“I don’t know if—”

“If you don’t want to answer, you drink. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want or say anything you want to keep to yourself.”

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, thinking over my rules. After a moment, she nods, and I can’t help the relief that floods through me. I don’t want this night to end yet, and by her agreement to play, I don’t think she does, either.

“How about you go first,” I say.

She places her shot glass back down then shifts so she can remove her flannel shirt from around her waist before setting her blue gaze on me. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth,” I say, liking that her action leads me to believe she’s making herself more comfortable to stay awhile longer.

Presley’s eyes narrow as if she’s puzzled that I chose truth, but she doesn’t miss a beat. “Why don’t you and your brother get along?”

My chest stings. “You don’t ease into anything, do you?”

She eyes me like I’ve got her totally wrong. But from what I’ve seen so far, she doesn’t seem like the type of person to think things through. The fact that she moved to a small town like Randall then took a bartending and ranch hand job with what sounds like little to no experience—that’s rather impulsive to me.

Not that I’m much better. I don’t often think a lot of things through.

“You drinking then?” she taunts.

I lift the corner of my mouth. “I don’t back down.” Her lips mirror mine as I collect my thoughts to answer. After I take a sip of water, I look her in the eye. “Gavin and I—it’s complicated. It’s not that we don’t get along, it’s that he doesn’t listen to me. He doesn’ttryto listen to me. He likes to lecture and talk at me instead.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” she says.

I sigh. “You really want to get into this?”

She leans back on her palms, her handful-sized breasts becoming more prominent so I can see them outlined under her white T-shirt. “You wanted to play,” she says softly. “You chose truth.”

She’s right on both counts. I puff out a breath through my teeth before I begin. “My dad died last year from a heart attack. He left the ranch to Gavin after he said he’d leave it to me.”

Presley stays quiet, her focus on me and her eyes soft. I lick my dry lips and take another sip of water.

Once I find my voice again, I let the story spill from my lips. I tell her about the lie Gavin told and how the dude ranch came to be, but I leave out the parts about my fight with him at the cemetery and the accident, because that has nothing to do with my relationship with him currently, not really.

When I’m done, Presley stares wide-eyed at me. “I’m sorry, Kade. You didn’t deserve that.” Her tone is so genuine, so real, it makes my chest smart. I don’t think I’ve everhad anyone side with me, had anyone apologize—reallyapologize. And she doesn’t even have anything to apologize for.

I clear the emotion now clogging my throat. “Thank you.” I set my water bottle down before I ask. “What about you—truth or dare?”

Sensing that I need to change the subject, Presley sits a little taller. That almost full smile comes back to her lips. “Dare,” she says.

I should’ve known that’s what she’d pick. My brain sorts through different dares, ones I’ve made my friends do over the years. When an easy one comes to mind, I eye the open loft door. “I dare you to moon the cows.”

She snorts. “You’re serious?”

I shrug. “You wanted a dare.”

She blows out a sharp breath but gets up off the ground, walking over to the open loft door before turning to face me. “Are you going to watch?” Her skin flushes.

“I have to make sure you do it. Remember, you can always drink,” I hold up the half-empty bottle of whiskey.

She glances at the bottle then puts her hands behind her. She pulls her leggings down and up so fast I almost blinked and missed it.

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