Page 96 of Love Me, I Dare You

Mayor King shakes his head, not seeing any other way out of this other than to part with the truth—-the whole truth. “Jase didn’t find out about my child until about two months ago, coincidentally about the same time you showed up in town. I thought you’d told him and that’s why he was completelyfreaked. But he overheard a conversation between his mother and one of her friends. Only he hadn’t heard it was a son.”

It’s all making sense now. The missing puzzle pieces I never had are putting this all into perspective. “He thought Monroe could be his sister.”

“It’s me.” This comes from Beau, who sidesteps around Monty to stand before the man he claims is his father. I nod in understanding, but I’m confused as to how my brother knows the truth. “Franklin confessed it to me when I went to go see him for the last time, two days before he took his last breath.”

There’s no trace of emotion on my brother’s face, just a simple understanding—a resignation to the truth he bears. To be frank, it should have been obvious. Beau’s the only one of us with hair a gleaming shade of gold and not the stark, almost black hue the rest of my siblings carry.

“Okay everyone, back up,” Theo announces on the mic that he’s currently still holding. “The Stingers Tavern and HoneyBees booths are closed until further notice. Family emergency. Please find your way out through the nearest exit.”

Leave it to Theo to step into damage control mode. Given his recent interaction with the media he’s familiar with crisis control and putting some of those strategies to use.

Loudboosandawwsring out amongst the crowd. “Don’t worry, I’m in town for a few days. I’ll make it up to y’all. Stay tuned on my social media account for information about a private concert I’ll be hosting here in Crossroads.” The boos erupt into full-blown cheers as, in no time, the crowd clears out, leaving only those whose last name is Bishop or King behind. Except for Billie Cole, of course.

“This can’t be done here,” Bailey says, looking around at the group that’s hung back. “Mama, daddy, you both need to leave. Neither of your children are in a position to have a respectfulconversation with either of you. So I suggest you wait us out if you want to have any sort of relationship with us.”

With a slight nod, and her head hung low, her mother turns away, Mayor King following directly behind her with his tail between his legs. Now it’s all about damage control after the spectacle they just put on in front of the entire town.

Bailey looks down at her feet for a moment, contemplating her next move, before meeting my gaze once more. “As for the rest of us,” she says, her eyes never looking away from mine. “Stingers in twenty minutes. This can’t be discussed out here.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Bailey

My head hurts, my body aches, and my heart lies in shambles after everything that’s just come to light. I've been caught in a perilous storm, my emotions running wild like raging waves in the endless ocean, being pulled in and pushed out to shore by the perilous winds. Each word said was a strike of lightning, illuminating the darkness of every truth spoken, claiming us to its mercy. Now, the ground beneath me has collapsed, leaving me suspended in a void of disarray and pain.

How do I move on from this? Can I piece myself back together when the very fabric of my being feels torn apart?

The weight of everything Nash and I have overcome thus far presses down on me, a heavy burden threatening to crush me under its immense gravity, trying to convince me it was all worth nothing. Yet, somewhere deep within me, a flicker of resilience remains, assuring me that even in the midst of this chaos my family’s caused, there is a path to healing. A path to our happiness.

Yet one question remains. What does that look like for the two of us?

After leaving Raven, Poppy and Alexis to gather a few men who work at my family ranch to help them close up for the night, the rest of us drove out to Stingers. Nash refused to let me ride with anyone else, but the entire drive to the bar, I refused to speak to him. Not necessarily because I was angry with him, but I had no clue what to say.

We arrived twenty minutes ago, the last to walk through the doors of the bar. Billie did everyone a favor and lined up shot glasses along the bar, filling each of them with her liquor of choice—luckily not tequila.

It’s been over twenty minutes of silence, but frankly, I don’t think anyone knows what to say. Things like this aren’t supposed to happen. Two families who grew up divided in their own households and amongst one another. Rivals in every aspect, yet here we stand, united despite the hardships thrown our way.

Monroe sits at the table to my right, Monty’s arms wrapped around her as she sips a cup of hot tea Billie made her as soon as we arrived. Nash is leaning against the bar, Theo and Beau, the only two not incredibly shocked by the news, partake in a hushed conversation behind him. Then there’s Jase who stands behind the bar, alone after Camden drove back to Raleigh with Holly, taking Brynn with him. My little sister was too distraught by the news to join us, instead choosing to go home with my brother than spend another minute in my parent’s house. I should have offered her to stay with me at the apartment, but I don’t know where Nash and I stand.

To be honest, I am angry with why he left, choosing to run instead of staying and fighting for what there was between us, but I can’t blame him for it. He was a child, a mere twenty-year-old man who had no prospects or anyone to guide him in the right direction. Monty could have, but he was too consumedby caring for a teenage Monroe to realize the predicament his brother was in.

Though what good would it do us to worry so much about the past, it consumes our entire future?

Jase is the first to break the silence, unable to stay quiet much longer. “Did you do it, Nash?” he asks as Billie hands out the shots. He takes his, willing the courage to keep talking. “Did you fuck my sister again after I asked you not to touch her?”

That was not at all what I was expecting to come out of his mouth. Neither was Nash if the laugh he lets out is any indication. “Are you really asking me that, Jase? Who the fuck are you to talk when you’ve been fucking her all this time?”

I cringe at Nash’s question, yet again saying it like it was a horrible thing. Was I caught off guard by the confession that my best friend had, at some point, slept with my brother and was now having his baby? Yes, but I do not in the slightest fault her for it.

I know we’ll have to one day talk about it and hopefully, in time, she’ll trust me enough to share what really happened, but I won’t be pushing her to do so today. I love Monroe, and having her as part of my family in any way is more than I could ever ask for.

Do I fault my brother? Only because it’s obvious he’s hurt her.

Jase stutters slightly, regretting he didn’t think his question through before speaking. I can tell he’s angry, but I think it’s more with himself for being such a hypocrite. “It’s not like that. This just happened…”

I don’t want this to turn into another shouting match. We’ve all gone through enough to continue this decades long hatred between our families. Especially now that we know we are not the ones to blame.

“We’re not here to argue about that,” I say, stepping toward Nash, who looks like he’s about to jump over the bar to strangle my brother. “That’s something for Monroe and Jase to figure out on their own, without all of you breathing down their neck. This changes nothing.”

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