Page 96 of Choosing Forever
“I hope you know that you’re going to get kicked in the ass, D.”
“I’ll take it,” I say.
She joins me behind the booth. With the line dispersing for the time being, she pinches the back of my arm, making me hiss.
“Don’t try and be funny.”
“I’m not. If Delaney kicks me in the ass, then I’ll know she cares enough about me to be bothered.”
“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.”
“Are you saying you’d have an issue with Daisy kicking you in the ass? After all those years of your silent pining?”
Bryce scowls at me, mouth flat. “You’rereallynot being funny now.”
“Again, I’m not trying to be. It’s honesty, B. I’m done with pretending like I wouldn’t get donkey kicked in the chest by one of the broncs on the ranch if it meant I’d earned a few uninterrupted hours with Delaney.”
“That’s . . . pathetic.”
I shrug, unbothered by that. “So be it.”
“Well, I don’t think pissing her off is going to earn you those hours, so if a donkey kick it is . . .”
“Why is she pissed, Bryce? Why did she come over and immediately cut my time short earlier?”
Her eyes dart off to the side before slowly returning. “Your groupies are still hanging around, probably trying to listen to what we’re saying. Damn small-town gossips.”
“I don’t care if they hear or not. I’m done giving a shit about what anyone in this town thinks about me.”
Bryce nods, seeming to straighten as her mood tips into one more serious than before. “Alright then. Just don’t come running to me complaining when the gossip train pulls into town tomorrow morning.”
“I’m sure it’s already here. Now, tell me why you think Delaney came over and interrupted what I was doing earlier and why she’s made herself scarce now that I’m the kisser?”
“Oh, I know why. You’re both jealous fucking idiots. I’m just saying that you’re playing a dangerous game here.”
“Well, a safe one hasn’t done me any good, has it?”
“You could push her too hard.”
“I thought I did that already, but she’s here again.”
“You’re playing risky, Darren.”
“I’m done with playing it safe. She’s my woman, and I want her back.”
Her scowl cracks just enough for me to know I’ve gotten to her. “What exactly happened between you two?”
“What do you mean?”
She lowers her voice, turning to give the line a full view of her back. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always known you should have been together. I just feel like I’ve been kept out of the loop here. I’m getting whiplash.”
“I thought I was doing fine, Bryce. A year ago, I made peace with the restlessness that I’d been feeling. I slept for the handful of hours I could get and learned how to live with that bone-deepexhaustion. But then I spoke to her again at your opening at Shade’s place, and . . . it hit me.”
“Okay, maybe we shouldn’t talk about this here,” she mutters, eyeing the field in front of the booth.
“I need her. I haven’t been myself since she left. There was always something wrong with me. A problem I could never fix.”
In a rare moment of softness, Bryce squeezes my wrist. “I know. We know that, D. Whatever you need from me, you’ve got it.”
