Chapter 30
LUCY
“How are you holding up?” I ask as we head home. Since we left the arena, Colton has been incredibly quiet, and I’m worried he’s struggling to process everything we just watched. But at the same time, I don’t want to push him if he isn’t ready to talk.
“I promise I’m fine. It’s just, I don’t know how many times I’ve watched other riders get bucked off.
Hell, I’ve been thrown on my ass more times than I can count.
But watching it tonight was different. Not because I’m sad it wasn’t me out there, but because I’ve realized how damn fast it can all come to an end, you know? ”
I nod, understanding what he means.
“I think that’s completely fair,” I tell him, running my fingers across his weathered knuckles, and encouraging him to continue.
When he falls silent, I ask quietly, “Do you still miss it?”
He sighs, rubbing his hands over his eyes.
“I never thought that would be such a hard question. To be honest, I think a small part of me will always miss it. The feeling you get when they open that gate is like nothing else in the world, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the rush.
Outside of that, the sense of community it builds is unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced.
We may compete against each other every weekend, but those guys were the closest thing I’ve had to a family in years. ”
I nod even though he can’t see me as we drive through the dark country roads of Mills Corner.
“I think that makes a lot of sense,” I tell him, trying to understand what that would be like.
“But, at the same time, I’m really fucking happy with my life now, Lucy. These last few months have been incredible, and I’m so obsessed with you. I—“ he starts, pulling into the driveway of Cedar Creek.
My breath catches as I wait to see what he’s going to say, hoping he’s going to confess to feeling as crazy about me as I am about him. But when I follow his gaze back to the house, I see my mama's car sitting out front.
I freeze, trying to remind myself that I should be happy that she’s finally feeling well enough to come home. But instead I’m hit with a tidal wave of disappointment that I can’t spend tonight—or any other night in the near future—wrapped in Colton’s arms.
Our time is officially up, and now we’ve got to figure out how to come clean about how we’ve been spending the last few months.
Colton narrows his eyes, looking into the distance before he asks, “Wait, isn’t that Amelia’s car too?”
I squint, trying to see through the darkness, but as we get closer, I realize that he’s right.
“Uh, yeah, it actually is. Do you think something’s wrong?”
“Probably not,” Colton says calmly as he pulls up in front of the house. “But whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”
I nod, nerves running through me as we get out of the car. Colton walks around and drops a quick kiss on my lips, squeezing my hand in reassurance. “Let’s go see what’s going on.”
He drops my hand, gesturing for me to lead us inside the house, and I miss his contact instantly. Straightening my shoulders, I force myself to walk up the walkway of the house, stopping to lean down and pet Daryl and Denise as they run to me.
I pat their heads, and their short tails wag in excitement before I stand and tell them, “I’ll come back for more pets in the morning, okay?”
The pigs blink back at me, making themselves look as pitiful as possible. Shaking my head at them, I walk up the steps and prepare myself for whatever might be inside.
As soon as I step into the living room, I know something’s wrong. Amelia is curled up on the couch, crying while my mom and Aunt Martha sit on either side of her, trying to comfort her.
But she seems inconsolable, big sobs wracking her body, and I look at Colton in alarm.
As I step further into the room, my mama sees me, and I don’t miss the relief that flashes across her face when she sees me.
“Hey, y’all. What’s going on?” I ask, hurrying over to sit on the floor beside the couch.
Amelia looks down at me, noticing me for the first time, only to start crying harder as she reaches for me.
“Mitch—had—a—a—fiancée—in—s—s-Saddle—Ridge,” she cries.
I freeze, positive that I heard her wrong. But as I look between my cousin and my mama, I know I didn’t.
“What the flying fuck?” I mutter, rage filling my body as I piece together what this means.
My mom gives me a disapproving look, but for once, she doesn’t comment on my word choice, highlighting the severity of this situation.
“How did this happen?” I ask, looking over to see Colton standing beside us, looking as confused as I feel.
Amelia cries harder at my question, and my Aunt Matha pipes in.
“To be honest, we’re not really sure. All we know is the poor girl showed up at Mitch’s apartment to surprise him, and she found Amelia there with him.
Obviously, neither of the girls had a clue the other existed.
The fiancée called off the wedding with Amelia sitting there.
And then when Amelia said she was leaving him, Mitch lost it.
He started going on and on about how much better he could do.
Called her a bunch of names and told her she needed to get out. ”
“How in the world did this even happen?” I ask, trying to piece together what she’s saying, but struggling to make it make sense. “I thought he was basically attached to your side.”
Amelia wipes her tears, hiccuping as she tries to talk. “He was w—w—when he needed s—something, but h—he had a lot of boys' nights.”
Rage fills me as Amelia continues to cry, and I gesture for my mama to move so I can sit beside my best friend. Colton, Mama, and Aunt Martha all slide into the kitchen, leaving us alone as Amelia continues to cry in my arms.
“I’m s—so so—sorry, Lulu,” she sobs. “I know I—I’ve been the w—worst friend ever. M—Mitch told me I—wasn’t allowed to t—talk to you. I should have never listened to him, b—but I was trying to keep us from fighting.”
I stare, stunned. I didn’t make it a secret how I felt about the asshole, but hearing that I was right about him hating me that much.
“I—I tried to ignore it. But e—every time I came home from seeing you, he’d start a fight with me. And I just wanted to be happy,” she admits miserably.
“That’s not what’s important right now,” I tell her, rubbing my hand up and down her back to calm her down.
“You can say I told you so now,” Amelia says with a miserable smile. “You were right about Mitch all along, and I was just too stupid to listen to you.”
“You’re not stupid, Mel,” I tell her, hating how she’s putting herself down.
“Now you listen to me, and you listen good. You may have made some choices I don’t agree with, and obviously, I was hurt when you basically ghosted me, but we’ll work that out later.
For now, I want you to know that nothing that man did is your fault, do you hear me?
The sneaking around, the cheating, the manipulation?
All that’s on him. Nothing you did would make you deserve to be treated that way, and it says way more about him and his character than it does about you. ”
Amelia cries as I soothe her, hugging me hard. “Oh, and let me just say, if you ever pull that shit again, I’m coming for you,” I add, causing her to laugh.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she says, “Now, can I stay here with you tonight? I don’t want to be alone right now, and something tells me we have a lot to catch up on.”