Page 64 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
Leaning against the wall, I waited for Ridge to drive away before I crossed the field. It felt like my legs were made of concrete, yet my pulse was racing by the time I reached my car. I lifted the wiper and snatched the Taco Bell napkin before the breeze carried it away.
Instead of a note, there was an address and a hand-drawn map. A laugh burst out of me. The artwork looked like something a kindergartner would draw.
There was a bigger house surrounded by trees that looked like broccoli spears and a fork in the road that led to a smaller house with a lake behind it. I only knew it was a lake because he’d written LAKE inside the blob. An arrow pointed to the smaller house with the words, RIDGE LIVES HERE.
Beyond the house were a fence and a few more blobs with four stick legs and another arrow, HORSES.
Across the top of the map/drawing was a half sun:I owe you a sunset.
At the bottom, he’d written:Come and find me.I dare you.
I entered the address into my phone GPS, just in case, and stashed the napkin in my glove compartment. Anytime I needed a good laugh, that napkin would come in handy.
After taking care of all that, I rolled down my car windows and stared into space. Should I go? Should I blow him off? What to do. What to do.
“You okay?”
I jumped at his voice and looked into a pair of amused green eyes. “Hey, Holden.” He was my favorite Cavanaugh brother. The most chilled-out of the three.
“Hey, Evie.” He gave me a big white smile. “So, you and Ridge, huh?”
Where had he come up with that? I shook my head. “Definitely not.”
“Whatever you say.” He sounded amused, like he knew something I didn’t. He was Ridge’s boss, so maybe he did.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Evie
Call me crazy,but I accepted the dare.
My car bumped over the ruts in the gravel road, and I drove through a metal gate that had been left open. Up ahead was a farmhouse with a big front porch. That must be where his brother lived.
I turned right at the fork, and a few minutes later, I pulled up in front of a small, two-story timber frame house and parked next to Ridge’s truck.
Taking a deep breath, I climbed out of my car and up the porch steps. After another deep breath, I squared my shoulders and knocked on the front door. It swung open, and Ridge, in all his glory, filled up the entire doorway. He wore a loose gray tank top, black basketball shorts, and high tops with the laces undone.
“About time,” he said, running his hand through his shower-damp hair as his eyes roamed down my body. “Looks like I owe you a sunset. Luckily, I know the perfect spot.” He spun his key ring around his finger, and I backed up as he stepped outside and locked the door behind him. “Come on. We’re burning daylight.”
I didn’t know where we were going but I wanted to make myself clear before I went anywhere with him, so I followed him to his truck and stopped next to the driver's side. “Hang on. If we’re going to do this—”
“Do what, Evie?” He slid into the seat and closed the door, leaning out his open window with an amused look. “We’re just going for a ride in my truck.”
“We need to set some rules.”
“Rules, huh?” He gave me a slow, lazy grin, his eyes flitting over my face. “You look cute today, Cherry. With your lopsided bun.”
I refrained from straightening the messy bun on my head. Nobody had ever called me cute.
“Just forget it. I don’t even know why I’m here.” I turned to go. His arm shot out, and he wrapped his hand around my upper arm.
“Stop running away from me. It’s getting old.” He stroked the underside of my arm with his thumb. “I didn’t mean to mess things up for you. I didn’t mean to barge into your life and make things worse. Hand over my heart. That wasn’t my intention.”
He released my arm, and I turned to face him. His hand was, quite literally, over his heart, and he was giving me his puppy dog eyes, those big browns so wounded you would thinkIwas the one who had donehimwrong.
That look had gotten him what he wanted more times than I could count. Not with me, but with others. It was how he’d always gotten out of trouble at school. Even after getting caught cheating last year, the teacher cut him slack.
That was Ridge’s superpower. When he showed his vulnerability, he was almost impossible to resist.Almost.
