Page 21 of Fall for You
Be chill. Be mature.
With a little sniff, he glanced across the park without seeing a thing, then looked back at her.
“So. What brings you to Montana?” he asked. “I thought you left us small-town folks behind.”
Her eyes flashed with something hot and fiery. Oddly, that made him feel a little better. There was the old Ronnie—like a mini dragon, flaming with barely concealed annoyance that made his heart kick out of time, then race with a combination of rage and…something he wasn’t ready to identify.
“My sister’s getting married. I’m here to help her with last-minute wedding details.” She said it grudgingly, like it pained her to admit it.
His gaze automatically dropped to her left hand. “You never married?”
“No time for relationships,” she shot back. “You?”
It felt like a duel. Two gunslingers meeting at dawn.
He shoved the thought aside and focused on his answer.
Was he married?
No. But he’d nearly been. He’d thought he would be by now…
And while he wasn’t sure if Ronnie had even known about his relationship with Loretta, he still felt like she was pricking at an old wound on purpose. So his tone came out more childishly mocking than he intended as he repeated her words. “No time for relationships.”
Her brows arched and her jaw worked, her scathing look telling him in no uncertain terms that he was being a child. “So glad to see nothing has changed around here.”
His lips twisted. “And so good to see the local celebrity still has such awinningpersonality.”
Her nostrils flared again, her shoulders pinging back as she rose to her full height, which really wasn’t much, and spat out, “Always so good to see the Kings’goldenson.” Her sneer and mocking tone were like a slap to the face.
Yep, they’d just jumped back in time, shed any adult maturity they might have possessed, and given it all away for the chance to throw out sarcastic insults and growl at each other like incensed dogs.
He had to get out of here before he said something really stupid.
He turned to walk away, but she beat him to it, hightailing it down the dirt pathway that ran through the park. Little dust clouds puffed up from her sneakers, and he could practically hear her cursing his name.
He swiveled and stormed off in the opposite direction, muttering words that would get him a disapproving glare from his mother.
What had he been thinking, going over to talk to Ronnie Colbert?
That it might actually be fun to playfully tease his sister’s childhood friend?
Pssh.He should have known better.
Chapter Eight
Ronnie didn’t even remember the walk home.
She spent the entire time lost in an inner rant, thinking about what she’d said, what he’d said, what sheshouldhave said.
It wasn’t until she was halfway to her room and heard her name called that she realized…they had company.
“Ronnie, is that you?” her dad called from the living room.
Ronnie quickly backtracked, and when she saw her dad, sister, and Lewis all sitting there staring at her, she forced all thoughts of Dallas King from her mind.
Putting on her best smile, she wove around the couch with her arms stretched wide. “Lewis! How good to see you.”
He stood with an answering smile. The worddopeyflittered through her mind, but she replaced it withsweet.
