Page 83 of Rope Me In

I expel a small breath then hand her a sandwich wrapped in tinfoil. It’s not the most romantic, but I tried. She takes it from me, opening it slowly while I do the same with mine.

“My dad was complicated,” I say eventually, after I swallow a bite of ham and cheese. “He was a good man, but he had some issues. He drank too much and probably acted more like a friend than a father most of the time, but I loved him, and he loved me. He loved our family. The old man always made sure we knew that, even if he didn’t outwardly show it with hugs or words. He liked working the land, and he loved Randall. He never left Texas—not once. And he hardly ever left Randall unless he had to.”

Presley’s eyes bug out of her head. “Seriously?”

“It’s not uncommon for people from a town as small as this to never leave. Sometimes it’s for financial reasons, and other times, they just don’t want to. The latter was the case with my dad. Like I said, he loved this place, this land, and Texas. He passed that love down to me.”

“Are you saying you’ve never left Randall?”

I take a sip of soda and shake my head. “I did a few youth rodeos a couple of hours north of here that Momma or Gran would take me to, and of course, I’ve been to the city. But I’ve never left the state of Texas, if that’s what you mean.”

“Never?!”

I laugh. “Pick your mouth up off the floor, darlin’. Like I said, it’s not uncommon around here. I almost left once for a reining competition in Arizona, but it didn’t work out. After that, I’ve just never had a reason to.” I can’t help the wave of sadness that crashes in my chest when I think about my answer. It’s just another reminder of the dreams I once had that were crushed.

Presley cocks her head. “If you had a reason to leave now, would you?”

I puff out a breath. “If you would’ve asked me that question three months ago, I would’ve said no. But now, I’m not so sure.” I brush the crumbs off my lap and stare into her questioning sapphire eyes.

Presley puts down her sandwich, mirroring me. “What happened three months ago?”

My gaze lowers to my lap before I look out at the sky. I brought her here to not only share Devil’s Rock but also to tell her about my accident. I wanted this moment to happen. She deserves to know about it, especially if this goes further between us—whatever “this” is—and I hope it does. It’s another surprising thought I never would’ve had before, but I’m not mad about it because it excites me more than anything ever has.

“Have you heard anything about me?” I ask before I blab something she may already know. “The gossip is strong here, if you haven’t noticed.”

She huffs a laugh. “I’ve noticed. But I haven’t heard much, just people talking about an accident. And there was that night with that woman, the one named after a bug.”

“Cricket.” I smirk.

“Yes, her.” Presley scrunches up her face. “She said something to the effect that you weren’t the same since the anniversary of your dad’s death and the accident.”

“I was never with Cricket, by the way. She cheated on Gavin before he met Blake.”

She waves her hand like it’s nothing, but I grab it in midair and squeeze. “She likes to come into Night Hawk when he’s not there and flirt with me. She thinks I’ll sleep with her to hurt him, but I won’t. I’ll admit, I’ve led her on a bit to piss off Gavin, which isn’t right, either, but I have never and will never do anything with Cricket.”

She squeezes my hand back. “You didn’t have to tell me, but thank you. I’m glad you didn’t have sex with a woman named after a bug.”

I laugh with my whole chest. “I’m glad, too. My brother was not so lucky.”

This time, she laughs as I let go of her hand, taking another sip of my drink.

“So you got in an accident?” she asks once we’ve settled again, our food now forgotten at our sides.

I look around the canyon. I was right that the sunset would be beautiful. The rocks seem to glow in the warm light, but that warmth does nothing to quell the anxious energy curling inside me as the memories of that night start to flood back.

As if she can sense I need her closer, Presley scoots over until our thighs are touching and she can rest her head on my shoulder. The gesture is grounding and gives me what I need to continue.

“The night of my accident, I came here after I’d fought with my family. I was angry and drunk. It was stupid of me, but I—” I swallow. “I was blinded by my anger—anger at my brother for his lies, anger at my dad forhislies, anger at my family for their judgment of me and for always siding with Gavin or ignoring me altogether. I realized that they never took me seriously, even if they pretended to.”

Presley holds my hand, her thumb gently brushing over my still bruised knuckles.

“What made that day worse was it was the anniversary of Blake’s brother’s death, who died in a horseback-riding accident years ago. They hold a remembrance at the cemetery each year, and after I found the business plan that Blake made for the dude ranch, I flipped, thinking she was trying to buy the ranch out from under us to help expand her family’s business. I went to the cemetery, confronted Gavin, sucker punched him, then drove to a bar and got into a physical altercation over a woman I was seeing at the time.”

I dare a glance at Presley, hoping I haven’t shared too much information. Given how our relationship started and what she’s heard about me through gossip, I know it’s not a surprise for her to hear that I was with another woman.

Presley’s eyes are nothing but soft and understanding. She squeezes my hand. “I’m listening.”

Those two words sink into me, words I’ve wanted to hear my family say for a very long time now. I blink back the sting in my eyes and exhale. “I went back to the house, and my family was there with Blake, smiling and laughing and eating fucking barbecue, and I—all I saw was red. I took a bottle of whiskey to the barn loft and drank until I couldn’t see straight. Next thing I knew, I was getting on an ATV with plans to come here. Blake tried to stop me, but I told her off. I don’t even know how I made it here without crashing.”

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