Page 85 of Rope Me In

“How long were you with him?”

“I met him not too long after I graduated from college six years ago. We broke up earlier this year, so just under that.”

I’m glad it’s dark so she can’t see the tightness in my jaw. “What made you stay with him?”

She chuckles. Her tone is both sad and angry. “That’s a good question. I’d like to say I don’t know, but he was the first man to see me. Or at least Ithoughthe was. Turns out, he just saw my talent and wanted to use me for it. I stayed because he was the first consistent thing I had in my life besides school. For a while, it seemed like he cared, and I had never gotten that from my parents. He gave me a family with the band, too. Were they the best family in the world? No. But they were better than what I had. At least I was wanted and useful to them.”

I stroke my palm down her arm, so many things I want to say in response running through my brain. That she deserves better than a mediocre group of people who use her for their own personal gain tops the list. But like me, I know she wants someone to listen, to be there for her without judgment.

“So why did you leave?”

Presley tenses but doesn’t make a move to get up. “We got offered a record deal. I was supposed to sign on the dotted line the day I came here. That’s why Derek was so angry. But Kade, I couldn’t.” She takes a deep inhale. “I couldn’t do that to myself. I just kept imagining the rest of my life with that band, with Derek constantly putting me down and telling me that even though I was one of the best players he’d ever heard, I was still replaceable. He knew that was my biggest fear, to be tossed aside like yesterday’s trash. That’s why he sent those pictures that night of my replacement. He was hoping it would make me come back, some fucked-up power play to get me back in the band.”

The rage I felt when I punched him zings through my body, my sore knuckle throbbing from the memory of connecting with his smarmy face. This beautiful woman didn’t deserve anything that happened to her.

I kiss her forehead. “You did the right thing by leaving.”

She shifts so she can look at my face again, her gaze penetrating into mine even in the darkness. “Really?”

“You stood up for you, for your life. You’re incredibly talented, Presley. When I saw you play today…fuck, darlin’, it was beautiful.You’rebeautiful. You deserve to be heard and appreciated. Not just your music, but you.”

“Kade.” She sighs, her head dropping to my shoulder at the compliment.

“Look at me, Presley.” When she eventually does, I tuck a piece of hair that’s come loose from her braid behind her ear. “You’re not replaceable. You’re remarkable.” She bites her lip at my words but continues to look at me. “Believe me when I saythat. There’s a reason you stand out—and it’s not because of your hair and tattoos. It’s because you’re you. I know it may not mean a lot coming from a fuckup like me, but believe it. The people who don’t see that, they’re the replaceable ones.”

Presley sits up, and for a moment, I panic that she’s going to leave. But then she’s pulling me up and throwing her arms around my neck. I feel wetness from her eyes on my throat as she hugs me. “You’re not a fuckup, Kade. You’re human. And you’re not replaceable, either.”

I hug her tighter to me as I try to take in her words. “I think my family would disagree.”

She shakes her head before pulling back. “You fight with them because you love each other. I’ve seen the way Gavin looks at you, the way Blake did at breakfast. I can’t speak for your mom or your gran, but from what you’ve told me, I’m going to say they’re in pain, too, and don’t know how to communicate with you.”

I stare at Presley’s hands as she continues to speak. “You said something to me last night in the truck, that we can’t control the actions of someone else. That only Derek was to blame for what happened last night. Do you remember?”

“I remember.” I remember because as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt like a hypocrite. But I hadn’t wanted to think about it.

“I can’t speak for you, Kade, and I can’t speak to your situation, but I do know my own. If I had a family who loved me as much as yours does, I’d do everything I could to make it right with them.” She squeezes my hand. “And I’m not saying that has to be now or that they don’t need to take responsibility for their part in all this, but they couldn’t control the actions of your dad. They’re just trying to pick up the pieces, too. Like you are.”

“He left the land to the one person who didn’t want it,” I say, exasperated—not at her but at the part of me that wants to cling to my anger.

“Is that really what this is about?”

I look from our entwined hands to her eyes, the moon and the stars illuminating her features.

She brings her hand to my cheek. “You’re still young. You had to grow up fast, and I can relate to that. But when we were talking about you never leaving the state of Texas, what did that feel like?”

I swallow, saying the first word that comes to mind. “Sad.”

She runs the pad of her thumb over my lips as the wind picks up around us. “There’s a whole world outside of Texas, outside of your ranch.”

“What are you saying?”

“Do not limit yourself to what you think you need to want, what you think you need to be. It sounds like you have the opportunity now to do something else if you want.”

My thoughts from earlier this week spring to mind again, of what it would be like to leave. My muscles grow tense, and an innate part of me that was bred to live and die on this ranch screams that it’s not an option. But the rational part of me knows she’s right. My brother and Blake could handle this ranch, no problem. They don’t need me.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“This”—she looks around—“isn’t going anywhere. But you can, Kade. You can.”

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