Page 89 of Any Second Now

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“No, it’s okay.” Raleigh stares sightlessly into the giant bunch of flowers. “I have a few things to do.”

She won’t even look at me.

I want to pull her into my arms and kiss her goodbye. But I don’t think that would be welcome at this moment.

So I slip out of the RV and jump into my Wrangler, flooring it to get out of the campsite. My phone buzzes in the cupholder, so I slow to a stop before turning onto the main road. Maybe it’s Raleigh asking me to come back.

Nope. It’s a text from an artist who I contacted recently, the one whose card I got at Horsetooth Brewery the other week.

Matt - Artist from Brewery

I have availability a week from Sunday

Me

great

Matt - Artist from Brewery

I’ll send you a sketch of what I have in mind soon

I open my text chain with Raleigh, filled with flirty texts and images of cross-stitches and screen shots of comments from our viral video, and tap out a message.

Me

I would like to take care of the paint job repair for the Pink Palace. But I’ll need your permission to be, ah, a little creative

Raleigh

That is totally not necessary

Me

you won’t regret it. well, you might, but time will tell

Raleigh

lol. Okay, you’ve got me interested

This has gotta be better than a boring bouquet of roses.

Shit, am I really competing with Raleigh’s loser ex-husband? I’ve never been one to fight for a woman. If one of my teammates hits on someone, I’m out. I just haven’t ever cared that much.

But Raleigh?

I think she’s worth fighting for.

CHAPTER 17

Oh, Come On

RALEIGH

Jacob answers the phone right away.

“Raleigh, I’m so glad you called,” he says without waiting for me to say anything.

“Why are you sending me flowers?” I push back one of the curtains and watch the back of Atticus’s Wrangler depart the campsite.

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