22. Chapter 22
Chapter twenty-two
Parker
The door to Maddox and Ivy’s cabin opens, and my cousin meets me with an empathetic gaze.
“Hey, Ives.” I clear my throat.
“Hey.” She peeks over her shoulder before looking back at me. “She’s vulnerable right now, Parker, but you two need to hash this out. I can tell it’s weighing on you both.”
I nod, running a hand through my hair. “That’s why I’m here.”
A flicker of red hair appears in the doorway behind Ivy. Her blue eyes are puffy, and dark circles decorate her perfect skin.
My chest tightens.
“Firefly.” I pause, trying to regain my composure. “Can we talk?”
Laiken reaches for a blanket on the couch, then wraps it around her shoulders. She doesn’t answer, but she steps past Ivy and brushes past me.
Ivy mouths good luck before closing the door. I turn in my boots and follow Laiken’s back all the way to the edge of the tank. Where it all began.
Laiken lowers herself to the grass, facing the morning sunshine that’s threatening to climb over the ridges. When I approach, I do the same, draping my elbows over my bent knees.
The silence isn’t awkward. It’s charged. Like the universe knows what I’m about to tell her. The truth.
“You were standing right there.” I point across the tank. “You had on a purple sundress and those gold cowboy boots you never took off.” My lips tilt into a smile at the memory. “You were chasing fireflies.”
I remember it like it was yesterday. We were two teenage kids.
The day I fell completely at the mercy of Laiken Sheppard.
She was beautiful, sweet, and her laugh had me mesmerized.
I stayed back after everyone else went up to the big house.
We chased fireflies until midnight. I remember her words.
The ones that branded into me like the cattle on this ranch.
“You like fireflies, huh?” I ask.
Laiken grins, her red hair blowing away from her face when the breeze hits, showing off those splattered freckles.
“Don’t you?” She cranes her neck to look up at the night sky. “They light up the dark. Even if you contain them, they still keep glowing.”
The smile on her face widens as she hugs the Mason jar to her chest. “I want to glow. I want to be someone’s light in the dark.”
I knew right then and there, without question, Laiken Sheppard was forever going to be my light in the dark.
“You stayed out here with me until midnight.” Her voice is soft, almost reserved. “My mom was so mad. That was the first time I’d ever missed curfew.”
I peer over at her expression. She’s not smiling, but she doesn’t look angry.
“There’s a lot I need to say. And I know it’s long overdue.” I sigh. “But I need to get this out. To tell you what really happened.”
She dips her chin, her eyes still trained on the glistening reflection of the sunrise over the tank.
“It was right after the summer I won at Houston.” I swallow my emotions. “It was after the rodeo, and a bunch of us were tailgating behind the chutes. I didn’t drink much. You know I don’t like to drink when I’m competing. But Rhodes…”
“Rhodes?” She whips her head toward me.
“Rhodes was there. He was riding too. It’s no secret we never got along. Hell, he never got along with anyone. He’s a mouthy bastard. Most days, I could ignore him. But that night…he crossed a line.”
Her brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
I turn to face her. “He brought you up.” I hold her gaze. “He said some things. Horrible, vile things. He knew about us somehow. Knew how to push my buttons.” I clench my jaw. “The things he said, I won’t repeat. But I lost it.”
“Parker,” she whispers.
“You remember when he was in the hospital for that week? It was all over the media.”
“They said he got injured behind the chutes,” Laiken says with confusion.
“He wasn’t injured by a bull,” I admit with shame. “It was me.”
Her gasp echoes in the empty space between us. “What?”
“It was bad, Laiken. I was so angry. At everything. Dad’s absence was hitting us hard and Mom…”
“Your mom?” Laiken echoes. “What happened with Maggie?”
“She had just been diagnosed with ALS.”
“Parker…” Laiken’s voice cracks. “You never told me.”
“I never told anyone. She didn’t want anyone to know. She still doesn’t, actually.” I take another deep breath. “I didn’t realize I had hurt him that bad. That he was unconscious.”
Her hand curls around my bicep, showing me support even when she hates me. Because that’s who she is. She glows.
“The next day, I found out he was pressing assault charges against me.” I drag my eyes back to hers. “And that’s when I met Jet Jackson.”