Page 72 of Rough
Grabbing his shoulder, I only meet her eyes for a moment, and it’s all I need. She’s scared, and that pisses me off. “Ryan,” I snap out, gaining his attention. “I think Tara’s lookin’ for you. I need Bets for a few.”
The drunk fool whips his head around, a salacious smile growing. “Oh yeah? Thought she was your date tonight, Rem?”
“She is, but I don’t mind. Why don’t you go find her?”
I have every intention of confronting him later, but for now, I just want him away from Betsy without incident. My furygrows when he leaves and I watch as she rubs her arm where he grabbed her, wincing. “Thanks, Rem. I was ‘bout to nut punch him, but there’s a teacher right over there.” She jerks her chin up and I catch our gym teacher watching us.Fucking asshole should have stepped in five minutes ago.
Looking back at her, I squat down and place my hands on her knees. “Want me to get you outta here?”
Her sigh is one of both relief and disappointment. “Yeah. ‘Spose so. Night didn’t quite turn out the way I was hopin’. Plus, my truck needs a jump, but I don’t feel much like dealin’ with that right now.” She glances over my shoulder. “Won’t Tara be upset?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll get you home. Come on.” I stand and hold my hand out to her, grinning down when she slips hers into mine and stands with a jump. I walk her out to my truck, and side eye her once we’re away from the crowd. “Why’d you come here with that guy? Anyone would’ve been better than Ryan Hansley.”
“He’s the only one who asked,” she says softly, not meeting my gaze. I frown, confused. I’m sure there’d have been plenty of boys who’d have loved to have her here with them.
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
She doesn’t answer me, jerking the passenger door open, then grumbling as she bundles up the skirt of her dress to get inside. Shoot, I probably should have opened the door for her, but she’s already scrambling inside, so I just shrug and lift myself into the driver’s seat.
Turning over the engine, I steer my truck out of the lot and begin the twenty-minute drive back toward her farm. There’s country music playing on the radio, so I tap my thumb on the wheel, repeatedly checking on her as we drive in silence.
The longer we go, the more uncomfortable I feel with the way she’s just staring out the window. Betsy isn’t one to mope, so the fact that she looks so sad right now is eating away at me.
“You okay, Bets?” I give her a minute to answer, but when she doesn’t, I try something different. “You look real pretty tonight. Never seen you in a dress before.”
I slam on the brakes in the middle of the road when she hiccups out a sob, then starts laughing brokenly. My eyes zero in on the side of her face and she’s looking everywhere but at me. When she uses her palm to wipe under her eye, I realize I’m way out of my depth here.
“Bets… What…” Her shoulders shake and she turns further away from me.Jesus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bets cry unless she was furious with one of us.“What’s wrong?”
“Fuckin’ nothin’.” Her words break on her answer.
I say the only thing I can think of. “Best not cuss. It’s not becomin’ of a lady, accordin’ to your Pap.”
The way she starts laughing actually worries me more. It’s manic, like she can’t control herself, and she’s got her arms wrapped around her waist as she bends forward, chuckling through her hiccups. The strap of her dress falls off her shoulder again, so I reach forward to pick at it and pull it back into place.
“I feel so stupid, Rem.Sostupid.”
I’m not sure how to respond, so I just wait on her as the song ends, changing into a slow song. When she glares at the dash, I raise a brow, drawing her attention. Pointing at it, she glares at me. “Even the fuckin’ radio is mockin’ me.”
Her eyes are blazing and watery, fire licking behind them, and I swallow from the intensity. I’ve never seen her like this before and it’s got me off kilter.
“How’s it mockin’ you?”
“No one asked me to go to prom. It’s my junior year,myprom, so I should have been able to go. Then Ryan freakin’Hansley overheard me tellin’ someone I didn’t have a date and asked me. He’s a pill, but I figured at least if I had a date, I could’ve danced with him. I just wanted to feel like a girl for one night instead of what everyone says at that godforsaken place, have a boy pick me up for a dance, and wear a pretty dress. Then actuallydanceat prom.” She’s breathing heavily, fighting back her anger over how the night’s gone. “ThenI have to drive myself. He’s drunk, jumpin’ around with his buddies, and runnin’ around to dance with all the girls who didn’t have dates. But I waited. Finally, he comes up to me and I think, oh finally, he’s gonna ask me, but no. He wanted me to sneak off to the bathrooms with him.”
Another tear escapes, but she doesn’t notice. “I’m just disappointed, is all. I’m ready to just go home and go to bed.”
Grinding my jaw, I stop myself from turning the truck around to lay into that fucker who disrespected her like this. I’m furious that she didn’t get the night she wanted, even if I had no idea she was wishing for things like slow dances and pretty dresses.
The country singer keeps on signing over the radio, and I shove the truck into drive, only to pull over to the side. We’re a couple miles from her place, but we’re on a remote road and no one’s going to be driving down here at this time of night.
Once I shift into park, I leave the truck running and jump out my side and march over to hers, yanking her door open.
“The hell you doin’?” she snaps at me, finally wiping that tear away and staring at it like it’s done her wrong.
“Gonna dance with you, Bets. Get outta the truck.”
“Don’t be an idiot… Wait, are you serious?”
