Page 48 of Barbed Wire Fences
I grab my knife and slice off a small piece before popping it in my mouth. It’s warm, with the slightest bit of butter taste and fluffy. “Holy shit, this is amazing.”
Before Molly can respond, Regan Marshall slides up to our table, her dark auburn hair pulled into a high ponytail, a towel tucked into the waistband of her fitted jeans. Her bright blue eyes sparkle—familiar like Molly’s, but softer and not quite as intense—she grins as she drops into the empty chair next to Molly.
“So glad you like it,” she says, her voice warm as she leans forward. “I’m experimenting. The sweet potatoes are from the garden I started at the manor, and I used cottage cheese and loads of butter to make the texture even fluffier.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s working,” I say, gesturing to the plate with my fork.
Regan beams and reaches across the table to pat my hand. “It’s good to see you again, Jael. Rhett mentioned that you were in town.”
Ah, Rhett. God, I wonder what he told her. I wonder why he was even talking about me. Hearing his name makes me feel both excited and embarrassed.
“It’s good to see you too,” I reply with a small smile.
Regan and Molly were both a year ahead of me in school, and while Regan and I didn’t run in the same circles, our paths crossed a few times because of Molly. I’d never heard a bad word about her, or any of the Marshall siblings for that matter. In fact, that has me wondering…
“Rhett mentioned he’s been spending more time with Cash and Colt lately. Are they close?”
Molly and Regan give each other a look before turning back to me. “Ah, you don’t know.”
I raise a brow before Regan shrugs. “You two were always so close, I just figured it’s something he would have brought up when he saw you. He made it seem like you’d picked up right where you left off when you got to town.”
I bite my lip because that’s how it felt, until last night. Until I messed up. Until the problems from our past showed up in the darkness of that basement.
Foolish for me to think they could stay away for long.
I take another bite of pancake, savoring the flavors, and wash it down with a sip of coffee. It’s not what I’d usually pair with a meal like this, but I can’t indulge in the Marshalls’ homebrewed spirits since I’ve got a shift tonight. Plus, the hangover I’m still nursing is lingering like a bad memory.
I chew my lip, my gaze flicking to Molly, who gives me a knowing look. She’s not the type to spill secrets, but I can’t tell how much she’s pieced together about what happened between Rhett and me in Lainey’s basement before I stormed out of their house.
“Well, things were good at first when I got town. I saw Lainey, Lark, Molly, Rhett, and a few of the plumbing guys last night for game night at Lainey’s,” I say, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“Oh, that sounds fun!” Regan says brightly, her smile warm. “We should do a game night just us girls soon. Lydia would love to join.”
“I’ll invite you next time,” Molly promises, returning her friend’s grin.
Regan’s attention shifts back to me. “So, how was it seeing everyone again?”
I hesitate, the words sticking in my throat as I exhale deeply. Last night at Lainey’s hadn’t ended the way I’d hoped. When Brandon dropped me off at my hotel afterward, I was pissed—at myself, mostly, for ruining the moment with Rhett, but also at Rhett for shutting down.
Then again, I’m sure I deserved it. I wasn’t the one who kept in touch after I moved away, and everything fell apart. In fact, I was the one who ignored his text messages and phone calls until they eventually stopped coming at all and he forgot about me.
When I woke up this morning, I told myself to let it go. To drop everything: the kiss, the feelings, the weight of what we used to mean to each other. I blamed the alcohol and the loneliness for making me impulsive enough to suggest we sleep together. It was stupid, reckless, and a brutal reminder of the poor decisions I seem to always make.
“It was… honestly a little difficult,” I admit, biting my lip as the memory stirs the pain I'd pushed down back up.
Molly leans forward, her expression soft with encouragement. “You looked like you were having so much fun. What happened? Is there anything you want to talk about with us?”
“Rhett and I might have had… a moment,” I confess, the words spilling out reluctantly.
“A moment?” Regan echoes, raising a brow.
“Yeah, downstairs in Lainey and Lark’s basement. We’d been drinking, and it just… it felt good to be touched again.” I shake my head, hating how pathetic that sounds, even to my own ears. “God, that sounds so desperate, but it’s been a while since I’ve had any kind of attention from a man. I think I’m just… I don’t know, starved for physical contact or something.”
“That’s not pathetic at all,” Regan says gently, and there’s something in her tone that makes me wonder if she’s known that feeling in the past too.
“It’s just…” I pause, searching for the words. “It’s Rhett. We have so much history together—complicatedhistory. And before I knew it, he was kissing me, and I kissed him back. And it felt good. Not just because I’ve missed being wanted by a man, but because it was him.” I let out a shaky breath, my voice softening.
“He’s always been so important to me. We had years of friendship, and then it all fell apart when I left town. I think I’d blocked out how and why it all went wrong. But having him hold me again… it felt healing for just a moment.”
