Chapter 6 #2
“You shouldn’t have put your dick inside her in the first place!
And fucking her raw when you know the kind of person she is?
Do you know how that made me feel, having to get tested because I didn’t know how long you’d been screwing her behind my back?
” I shoved him harder this time to make him stumble.
“I don’t even know if there were others before her, you selfish, fucking prick. ”
“There was no one else. It was just the one time and before we got serious!”
“You’re a fucking liar! You expect me to believe you aren’t a whore? For all I know, my dad’s not the only one fucking my brother’s fiancé, since all of you seem to think it’s fucking fine to cheat because promises mean squat around here.”
“Say what you want about me, Matty, but leave Ozzie out of this.” He stabbed a finger into my chest. “Your brother’s a piece of shit to Ozzie. The whole town’s talking about it, man. Why is your dad the one helping him to plan his wedding?”
A bark of laughter came from me. “How fantastic. You wouldn’t even defend yourself when I confronted you about cheating, but I’m glad to see you’re so protective of Ozzie, you fucking manwhore.”
This time Hudson shoved me. His palms slammed into my chest, and I stumbled back a step, but I caught myself and threw myself at him. We collided hard, wrists locked, hands grappling, our boots grinding into the dirt as we struggled to stay upright.
“I swear to God, Matty!”
“You swear what? You gonna deny you stepped out on me?”
“That was four years ago, and when we just started our fling! I didn’t know it would become more serious.”
That he thought four years was enough time for me to forget about it showed how little he’d cared. That I’d been all in for a relationship that had one-sided feelings.
I tripped him.
He dragged me down with him.
We hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and fury, dirt puffing up around us like smoke. I landed hard, elbow grinding into the earth. Hudson climbed on top of me, his breath hot and ragged against my cheek.
“Get the fuck off me!” I snarled, shoving him, but he was stronger, always had been. But my anger gave me the strength to twist out from under him and flip our position so I was the one straddling him, fists knotted in his shirt.
“You cheater,” I spat, face inches from his. “You don’t get to pretend you’re innocent in this, and I’m the bad guy.”
He flipped us again.
Fast.
One moment I was in control. The next I was flat on my back, wrists pinned above my head, Hudson’s body pressing into mine. His breath came fast, his pupils were blown wide, and his mouth was trembling.
“Let me go.” I jerked against his grip.
“No. Not until you hear me out once and for all.”
“I’ve heard enough from you to last a lifetime, Granger—”
“I’m sorry!” he shouted, sending a spray of spittle in my face.
The words cracked between us like thunder.
“I know I don’t deserve another fucking second with you, but I never meant to hurt you.
You may not believe me, but I came to genuinely care for you.
It just took me a little longer than you to get there, and by then, it was too late.
I should have told you, but I didn’t know she would wind up pregnant.
Matty, I swear to you on my life, it was the one time and not after we became serious. ”
That voice. Raw. Wrecked. My chest buckled under the weight of it.
“You gotta believe me.” Hudson slammed his lips against mine.
Hard.
Messy.
Desperate.
And God help me, I let him.
It was instinct. Muscle memory. That familiar curve of his lips, the soft scrape of stubble, the heat of him breaking me open like he always did.
My body betrayed me before my brain could catch up.
I surged up into him, biting his lip, tasting blood and bitterness and something sweet like home. I shoved him down with my weight, reclaiming my position on top, and kissed him like I wanted to hurt him, like I wanted to devour him whole. Like I wanted him to bleed the way I had.
Hudson moaned into my mouth, hands clawing at my shirt, tugging me closer. “Matty… please… Miss you so much.”
“Shut up,” I growled, trailing my lips down his throat, tasting dust and sweat and him. I couldn’t stop kissing him, but I didn’t have to hear his lies.
Before I knew what I was doing, his jeans were halfway down, and I had him shoved on his knees with his back to me, exposing the curve of his ass, the sharp line of his hip. I reached for my zipper.
“Please, Matty,” he whispered. “It’s been so long, but I never forgot this. Never forgot how good it felt to be fucked by you. You’re the only man who’s been inside me. That hasn’t changed.”
That snapped me out of it. His lies. If he hadn’t said anything, I would have gladly fucked him, but I refused to take any more of his untruths.
As much as I wanted to believe him, I couldn’t.
What the fuck am I doing? This is the man who left me numb for years.
I staggered back like I’d been electrocuted, chest heaving, hands shaking.
Hudson turned, confused, dazed, lips swollen, and pupils still black with want. His cock was hard, curved up toward his stomach. He looked sinful. Fuckable. He looked like a four-year-old bad decision that was hell-bent on ruining my life. Again.
I laughed.
Cold. Cruel. It was the only armor I had left. The only armor I’d allowed myself to wear since his betrayal.
“You really thought I was going to fuck you?” I sneered, voice sharp as barbed wire. “Jesus. You’re pathetic.”
He blinked. “Matt—”
“I wouldn’t touch you with a fucking barge pole.” I zipped up my jeans with fingers that trembled more than I wanted to admit. “But you? Look at you. Dropping your pants, begging for it. Tells me everything I ever said about you was true.”
His face twisted. “Don’t—”
“You’re willing to spread your legs for anyone.
Was no other man around that night you chose Heather?
If you had found a man that night and not knocked her up, would I have ever known?
Would we be four years deep in a relationship while you snuck around behind my back because I wasn’t enough for you? Because you still needed some pussy?”
The punch I expected didn’t land. But his silence hit harder.
He parted his lips like he wanted to say something, but the words didn’t come. Just… a look.
Like I’d killed something between us.
As if whatever was there wasn’t already dead.
Good.
Not good.
Fuck.
He stood slowly, tugging his jeans back up, dignity in tatters.
“You’re right,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I don’t know you anymore. This isn’t the Matt I fell for that summer.”
“No, it’s the one you created when you took a crap all over my love for you.
” I shrugged like everything that had just happened hadn’t rocked me off my feet.
Because that kiss hadn’t been a ploy. It hadn’t been meant to shame him.
That kiss had been real. The chemistry between us was hotter than ever, which only made the anguish in my soul increase.
We would have been so good together.
“You’ll never forgive me, will you?” he whispered.
I turned my back on him, lest he saw the tears burning in my eyes. “Fix your clothes and get back to work. You’re not getting paid to get laid. Put your hands on me again, and I’ll fire your ass.”
I walked away.
Because if I stayed—
If I looked back—
I would sink to my knees and beg him to forgive me for all the foul things I’d said. For ignoring his daughter this morning. For treating him like I still didn’t care about him.
But why should I? He was the one who’d fucked up. Not me. I was just the karma he had to face for as long as he insisted on working on the ranch.
There were other ranches around Bristlecone Springs. Why did he stay?
“Hudson,” I called over my shoulder without looking back at him.
“What?”
“Lawson’s wanting to take on a new ranch hand. Maybe look into it. You don’t belong on this ranch. You were right. I’m sick and tired of fighting with you.”