Page 45 of The Rogue

She had to swim through a murky sea of her own thoughts to try to figure out what he even meant by that. “Riding horses,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Yeah. I... I love this.” Finally, she got her head back on track. “I really did. I loved everything about it. I loved spending time with you. And I loved getting out on the ranch. It reminded me of better times.”

“Good,” he said, the corner of his mouth tipping up into a smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

It was like everything slowed down. Like she was back in the barn all those years ago, and here too.

And with that feeling came a pull toward him she wanted badly to ignore.

She nodded, feeling a little bit like she couldn’t breathe. She helped him pack up the things, and they got on the horses and rode back down the hill.

She couldn’t go there. She had to put everything back in its own little box. Where it had always been. Because every time something like this had bubbled to the surface she had been really good at putting it away. She wasn’t jealous of that girl who had slept with him when they were in high school. She was just annoyed that she knew him in a way that Rue didn’t.

She wasn’t envious of pieces of his lifestyle because she wanted to live it with him; it was just a fascinating window into a life she didn’t have.

That was all. That was all,that was all.

Her life was already in pieces.

She couldn’t afford to shake its very foundation.

Rebellion was one thing. But she refused to destroy the most important thing in her life.

Chapter Ten

“You’re being kidnapped.”

Rue opened her bedroom door when she heard the female voice on the other side.

It was Fia, with Arizona and Bix, all looking determined.

“Why... why?”

“Because,” Fia said, “we know you’re sad, and you have every right to be because screw that guy. But we thought you needed a girls’ night and since King’s Crest is your safe space we thought we would do it here.”

“Here?”

“Not here, here, we’re going to Bix’s because Daughtry is working.”

“Come on!” Bix said cheerfully, grabbing Rue by the arm.

“I’m not dressed!” She had stripped down to her sweats after the trail ride and had taken a nap.

“You’re just fine for our version of girls’ night,” Arizona said.

“I’ve never had one,” Bix said, looking large eyed. “Please come.”

It was, she told herself, sympathy for Bix that propelled her on, and not the sheer force of will of the women involved.

She was piled into Arizona’s truck and they took the two-minute drive across a field to Bix and Daughtry’s house. It was small and charming, with a neatly kept front yard that had endless planter pots—empty now due to the cold weather.

There were red lights strung up on every exterior surface, giving the whole place a glow. “I never really had any holidays growing up,” Bix said, explaining as they went in and found it to be an even more explosive Valentine theme in there than it had been outside. “I might go a little overboard with everything.”

“This is impressive,” Rue said, trying not to feel sad over her empty house and how she would usually have put all her decorations out by now.

“Thank you. Now that I’m not living in a van, or with criminals, I can actually enjoy putting out cute things!”

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