Page 43 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
“That’s not mine—just—stop.”
Trish laughs, full-on delighted. “You’re blushing.”
“I’m leaving.” I toss the toy on the counter, backing away from both of them.
I’m not convinced they won’t physically pounce on me.
“You’re missing out,” Peggy-Ann calls after me, picking up the purple toy and running her fingers around it.
“I’ll take the risk.”
I shoot Bucky a look that saysPlease save me next time,then head toward the back to tell my brothers I’m out.
I came here for a drink and five minutes of peace.
Instead, I got rope rumors, threesomes, a dildo, and a chair I don’t even own.
God help me.
I need the fuck out of here. That’s when I feel a sting and see a dart lodged into my shoulder.
What the actual fuck?
8: MAKING A POINT
JADE
––––––––
THWACK.
I stare at the pointed part of my arrow embedded in Hart’s flannel shirt.
Everything around me slows, and my mind goes blank, like it forgets how to work.
I shot Hart Wilde with a dart.
Then panic takes over, and my thoughts crash into each other all at once.
This is not good. I threw that sucker with all the venom I could muster, but not intentionally at him.
Not that he’d believe me.
Not that anyone would believe me.
I hate him, I do, but blood? That’s crossing a line, even in Rocky Ridge Creek, where lines are crossed more than not.
But is it crossing a line?
Last year, my daddy shot Levi in the torso, so maybe I take after him. Although, that was before the feud had been resolved. Town-folks see things differently between our families now, so yeah, I crossed a line.
Shit.
Only no one notices.
Bucky and his worker are busy tending to everyone who piled in after the town meeting. Hart’s brothers are distracted, throwing elbows to notice my dart-induced assault. And my sisters have long since stopped watching me, instead playing competitive Cornhole while analyzing the pages of my book.
Hart notices.
