Page 26 of Knot Her Cowboys
“Whoa there. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“To yell at assholes.”
Cash stepped to the side, bowing and sweeping his hand down the direction of the stairs. “Don’t let me stop you.”
Dakota also got out of my way as I charged ahead, both of them following me out of the big house. Bare feet probably wasn’t the best choice, but the dust was surprisingly soft beneath my feet. Levi followed hastily after us, and I heard the three of them talking but couldn’t quite understand the words.
I didn’t even make it all the way to our cabin before a car horn scared the shit out of me. I spun around, seeing Bruce and Bryan in our rental car.
Bryan rolled the window down. “There you are. Get in, babe. We’re leaving.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
They both frowned and I took a step back when they unbuckled their seat belts, their car doors swinging open.
“Anne, don’t make a scene,” Bruce admonished.
“Oh, I’m gonna make a fucking scene and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. You don’t get to say that to me anymore after the stunt you pulled.”
“Anne,” Bryan said softly. “Be reasonable. Bruce got kicked out. We can’t stay.”
I growled when he took a step closer. “Hecan’t stay. I can, you can, but I bet you didn’t even think about making this work so my birthday didn’t get ruined, did you? You’re all so fucking worried about me embarrassing you that you don’t even give a shit he almost made me drown. You didn’t stand up for me at all. What the hell kind of behavior is that?” I ripped off my engagement ring and threw it at Bruce. “You don’t ask someone to marry you and stop caring if they live or die.”
Bruce rounded the vehicle and I took another step back, hitting a warm body and lifting my head to see Cash right there, Dakota and Levi at his side.
“And you don’t accept a proposal and hang all over other alphas,” Bruce hissed.
“Oh my god. Cash is my friend. I’m allowed to hug him.”
“And what’s your excuse for the other two?”
“They pulled me out of the fucking river, Bruce. I think that warrants a little touching to haul my ass out of the water.”
Cash set a comforting hand on my shoulder, all three alphas at my back rumbling with a low growl.
“You know, we accepted that you didn’t come untouched when we started this relationship, and we were willing to overlook that, but I see old habits die hard.”
I bristled. “Fuck you.”
“This place isn’t good for you,” Bryan said calmly, keeping one palm on Bruce’s chest to stop him from advancing. “You’re clearly struggling with the stress of being back here. Why don’t we stop at a doctor in the nearest city?”
I let out an indignant squeak. “This place isfine, and it’s not the stress of here, it was a fucking near-death experience. I’m allowed to have feelings about it. And it wouldn’t have been an issue if either of you cared about that. You didn’t even get off your fucking horses when I fell in. No. Bruce was worried about getting his shoes wet and you were too busy placating him. So fuck that and fuck you guys. You can go to Germany by yourselves.”
“We have a deal, Anne,” Bruce snapped. “You can’t bail on Oskar and Karl.”
“Watch me.”
“Baby, we’re sorry.” Bryan moved closer, arms open like he was coming in for a hug. “We love you. Let’s just go get a nice hotel, have some lunch, and talk about this. Don’t throw away your whole future because Bruce made a misstep.”
“Hey!” Bruce frowned.
Bryan ignored him. “We have a plan. I know you’re upset, but a meal and a nap will make it all look better.”
I shook my head, leaning harder against Cash, his cedar and sage tainted with burnt edges.
“It won’t fix it,” I insisted. “It won’t fixanything. Why did you propose when I got accepted for Tuscany?”
Bryan gaped. “We…we?—”
