Page 77 of Rough
I have no idea what makes me do it, but I step back from them, right next to the pond, and start tugging my clothes off, throwing piece by piece at them. All three of them are silently watching as I expose more and more of my body to them. Remy stoic as always, Wilder breathing harshly like he’s fighting himself to not come towards me, and Clyde, with so much need rippling inside of him, his eyes seem to burn.
Once I’m finished, I hold my arms out so they can see literally everything. “If you’d wanted me like this, you’d never have left. You wouldn’t have been able to.”
I take a step closer until I have to tip my head back to look into all of their faces. They’re standing together like an impenetrable wall, which is exactly what they are. They always were. One I’ve been too short to climb over.
To Clyde, I say, “I hear what you’re tryin’ to say about preferrin’ the country, butthisCountry,” I jab a finger between my bare breasts, “was the country you grew up in and you moved away.”
“Only ‘till I realized there was no place like home,” he whispers.
I leave them hanging onto all of my clothing except for the shirt dangling from Remy’s fingers. Ripping it from him, I ball it up in anger.
“Fuck your sayin’s. They don’t do anythin’ but imply shit that I’m supposed to figure out. Nobody’s got time for that. Ya’ll can have the rest of my whiskey.”
Spinning around, I give them a view of my ass as I jerk my shirt back on and run to my truck. I reach inside to grab thesecond pair of shoes I keep under the seat and tug them on, then take my keys from the ignition. I feel almost fully sober, but I need the night air to finish the job, so I walk.
I walk away from them and their fucking stupidly amazing kisses.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Betsy
Staring up into the eyes of three gorgeous, and dare I say,angrymen’s faces has me learning a few valuable lessons very,veryquickly.
One, don’t think you can kiss them all, strip yourself naked, yell at them, then expect them to be okay with you walking away like the queen you thought you were.
Two, don’t ever leave your whiskey behind along with your truck where you keep your rope for catching stray cattle.
Three, always know where your horse is and keep him saddled at all times. But that’s not as most important as number four.
Don’t taunt a cowboy.
Clyde is standing in the middle of them, unblinking and unmoving, with the exception of his hands. I don’t need to drop my eyes down to see that he’s working the end of the rope into a lasso, running his fingers over the coarse binds as he widens the loop inch by inch.
Wilder has his arms crossed with one hand lifted to hold a few fingers against his mouth like he’s considering what to say to me. Unlucky for me, he decides to fill me in just now, and I’mreally considering giving it a go and attempt to outrun Clyde’s rope.
“So, we got to talkin’ last night—”
“Oh?” I ask sweetly, mocking his welcoming tone. “That’s nice that ya’ll got to spend some time together. Was a real nice evenin’.”
His eyes flash with a hint of warning, and I swallow back my next retort. “The view of themoonwas spectacular, but that’s not what the hot topic was.”
Clearing my throat, I’m less sure this time when I repeat my initial question of, “Oh?”
“Yeah.Oh,” Remy says, deciding to speak up now. I don’t know how the hell they all look so good after a night of drinking, but it kind of annoys me a bit because I feel like I’m dragging. He looks around, asking, “You got the boys here workin’?”
I relax, thankful that I actually have a good reason to not do this right now. “Nope. So, if ya’ll don’t mind, I’m just going to get to it.” I jerk my thumb over my shoulder and take a step backwards, only to freeze when Clyde moves at the exact same time, letting the lasso dangle down the side of his leg.
“Perfect,” Wilder says loudly, clapping his hands together. Then, turning to his friends, he grins. “Good call on gettin’ here before the sun rose to get all the mornin’ chores done. Now our girl doesn’t have anythin’ to do until this evenin’.”
“Excuse me?” I cut in, but go unanswered.
Remy nods in agreement. “Thanks. It’s always easier to get shit done with more hands. Now, we got all day long to convince Bets here that we’re stickin’ around for the long haul.”
Since I’m apparently not part of their conversation, I sneak in another step and fucking Clyde, again, matches me at the same moment. With narrowed eyes, I glare at where he’s swinging the rope back and forth like he’s ready to start winding up. “You wouldn’t fuckin’ dare.”
“Try me,” he bites out. “We’re done with you runnin’ off like a scared little kitten every time we try talkin’ to you.”
“Sometimes people make terrible decisions,” Wilder says, turning back to me. “It’s not always a reflection on what they think of others. Just immature decisions to be selfish. We didn’t mean to hurt you by leavin’, but we did.”
