Page 88 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

I dropped to my knees beside her. “Hey. Hey, look at me. Breathe. You’re okay.”

She tried, but her whole body convulsed again, another harsh wave wracking her frame.

Asher came up behind me, already dialing. “I’m calling Doc Harper. Now.”

Beckett ran a towel under cold water, crouched, and laid it gently against her neck.

“I’m fine,” Riley rasped.

“No,” I said. Too fast. Too sharp. “You’re not. Stop pretending you are.”

Because this wasn’t a hangover, it wasn’t adrenaline crashing from the night before. This was different. This waswrong.

And just like that, the air in the room changed.

No more tension. No more words I didn’t say.

Only fear.

Loud and cold.

And getting her help, now, was the only thing that mattered.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Riley

The rideinto town was a blur.

The sky was still pale with early morning light, and I pressed my forehead to the cold glass of Asher’s truck window, trying to stop the world from spinning.

The smell of coffee and vomit clung to my skin, sourness still crawling up the back of my throat. I didn’t want to be sick.

I didn’t want to bethat girlright now. The one who couldn’t handle rejection from Garrett without ending up on the bathroom floor.

But worse than the nausea was the silence.

Beckett was driving. Asher sat in the back with me, keeping a steady hand on my shoulder as if I might collapse again. I didn’t look at Garrett, even though I could feel him, rigid in the passenger seat, all sharp lines and clenched jaw.

The same man who’d kissed me like he needed me.

Then said it was a mistake this morning.

When we pulled up to the clinic, I moved fast.

Too fast, maybe, but I neededspace. I shoved the door open, ignoring the way my legs trembled, and stepped out into the chill morning air.

Beckett started to follow, but I held up a hand without turning.

“I’ve got it,” I said quietly.

“Riley—” Asher started.

“I said I’ve got it.” My voice was rough, but steady. “Please.”

It was Garrett who stopped them. “Let her go,” he muttered.

And that should have made me feel better.

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