Chapter Eight
Olivia had a decision to make and she needed to make
it before she got home. Which would be soon. Every mile brought them closer and
closer to that moment when she had to choose.
Keane was driving Gigi’s SUV with the precision of a man who
knew if he didn’t concentrate on the road, things would go poorly.
Garrett sat next to him in the passenger seat. Not that he
wanted to. He offered it to her, but she climbed into the third row so she
could talk to her friends.
She wished she had more tequila. She wasn’t drunk enough to
make these mistakes properly.
Or was it a mistake? She might need to consider it a
strategic move. With Scott and now Jason back sniffing around, it made even
more sense to hide behind two guys who had liked her without knowing how big
her bank account was.
They probably would never call her poor rich girl or make
fun of her family. Or curse her family.
She leaned in, trying to keep her voice low. “What did he
say to Jason?”
She was sure Garrett had stayed behind to lecture the man on
lawsuits and how he could file one if Jason didn’t leave her alone. She was
happy Keane had come with her because she worried the sheriff wasn’t afraid of
Keane’s dad and might haul him in if he clocked the fucker. Garrett wouldn’t.
She already knew him well enough to know he would threaten people in a
different way.
Gigi turned in her seat, eyes gleaming with mirth. “He was
so badass. He did that thing that confident people do when they want to
threaten someone.”
“He did.” Miranda joined in. “He was all ‘you touch my woman
and I’ll kill your whole family.’”
“I did not say I would kill anyone,” Garrett interrupted.
She didn’t need him involved in this conversation. It wasn’t
like he could go anywhere, but she happened to know he was good at
role-playing. It was time for him to role-play invisible man. “I need to talk
to my friends. You are not here.”
Garrett turned back, grumbling, “Fine, but I didn’t threaten
to kill anyone. I would never do that. The threatening. Not the killing. I
could totally kill someone, but I wouldn’t be stupid enough to warn them. Ruin.
Make them wish they were dead. That’s what I threatened. But not kill them
myself. It’s important to get the facts straight.”
“He’s right. There was no mention of killing, but he did the
other stuff, and then Jason was nasty and I’m pretty sure he broke his nose,”
Gigi said. “It was masculine and neat. He popped him clean.”
She was surprised. She’d thought Keane would be the one to
get physical. “Garrett hit him? What did Jason say?”
“Nothing,” Garrett insisted.
Keane turned his head slightly, his masculine jawline
drawing her eye in the shadows. “Hey, she needs to talk to her friends. We’re
not here.”
“But we are,” Garrett insisted.
“Pretend because I don’t want her to disappear with them
again,” Keane explained. “If she doesn’t get this out of her system, she’ll
have to do it when we get home. I haven’t even had supper. She can at least
show us where the food is.”
She hoped her parents had food. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Of course you weren’t. Didn’t you have dinner at the bar?”
Keane asked pointedly.
“Oh, we did. The barbecue was great. Really went well with
the margaritas,” Gigi supplied helpfully.
“Again with the sorry.” She hadn’t actually eaten that much.
“That’s the last question you answer from us. We’re not
here,” Keane insisted. “You have until we get to the ranch to decide if you
want to play this safe or if you want a spanking and a whole bunch of orgasms
tonight.” He turned the radio on. “Now pretend you’re alone with your
girlfriends.”
Miranda grinned her way. “I think you should take the
orgasms. That sounds like a good deal.”
Oh, but they wanted so much more than sex. They might not
say it, but they wanted more. They wanted to try.
But she’d had two reminders today about where trying got
her.
“I don’t want to make a fool of myself.” She kept her voice
low. With the music they might not be able to hear her.
Gigi’s tone went soft. “You are not making a fool of
yourself. You never have. Livie, all you’ve ever done was be in a relationship
and be kind. It is not your fault that the men ended up being dickheads.”
“Gigi is right,” Miranda added. “There is no foolishness
about trying to care for someone.”
“And if I don’t want to try anymore?” Olivia asked.
“Now that is foolishness,” Gigi replied solemnly. “Because
letting those morons keep you from the life and the love you deserve is
foolish.”
Miranda leaned in. “You’re in a place where you have to
decide which road to take. A crossroads of sorts, and I think it’s wrapped up
in all the change that’s happened lately. Your brothers got married. Bobby is
in love. Your parents are moving into a retirement phase, and you’ve got a lot
more responsibility coming.”
She knew her friend was speaking the truth. “Josh and Grim
will help me. And Nicole. She’s been learning parts of the business.”
“But they’re going to be nesting, and if what they told me
is true, they want to start trying for kids,” Gigi pointed out gently.
“Miranda’s right. It’s a lot of change, and with Scott and Jason bursting back
in like a horrifying reunion, I worry you might not see it if something good
comes into your life. I worry you’ll reject it because you’re scared it will
turn bad again. I wonder what might have happened if those two assholes hadn’t
decided to tag team you today.”
She seriously doubted Jason and Scott knew each other, much
less planned this. It was shitty timing. She was right about that, but she
didn’t understand what opportunities it had given her. “Well, Garrett would be
at a motel, and Keane would be in the bunkhouse. I had already had the talk
with them when Scott showed up.”
“So the universe gave you another chance since you screwed
up the first one.” Gigi obviously wasn’t letting this go. “You need to shove
the idea of shame and foolishness out of your head. Scott and Jason are the
past. They only have the power over you that you give them. So don’t give them
any.”
Miranda took her hand and turned it over in her palm,
tracing the line she found there. It was a scar from childhood. A memory on her
skin. “Were you foolish when you got this?”
Olivia smiled. It had been so long since she thought about
the day. “I was the king of the mountain that day. I beat everyone up that hill
and came down even faster. A lot of people would call me foolish and a dumb kid
and maybe I was, but I still remember what it felt like to have the wind in my
hair and the sun on my face, and I was proud. Even when I fell I was proud of
how I did it.”
“And that’s why you try,” Gigi concluded. “Even if you don’t
want something long term, you take their deal and have fun and even fall in
love a little. I don’t think these guys are going to willfully break your
heart. Set out your boundaries but have some fun. Let yourself go. Find that
kid who beat every boy in Bliss up the mountain.”
She remembered the day and it warmed her. She had been known
for being a crazy kid, always running wild and having fun adventures. Her
fathers freaked out and also loved how free she was. Her momma had feared for
her life at times, but she always talked about how strong her little girl was.
And then she grew up and got caught in the daily grind of
responsibilities. She let go of that crazy kid she was and started fearing
things she shouldn’t. Failure. Looking like a fool.
Maybe it was time to get that kid back. In the most adult
way possible.
She didn’t use to sit around worrying about what people
would think of her if she did this or failed at that. She just did it and life
was this mighty adventure. If she failed, she tried again. Nothing stopped her
when she was a kid.
Her mother kept mentioning how she should get out more, take
a vacation. At the time it felt like maybe she wasn’t doing as well as she
thought she was. But what if her mom was worried she was drifting too far from
who she was, that she could lose that golden part of herself if she never
nurtured it?
“I used to make decisions based on my gut. The first one
I’ve made in a long time was to spend the night with those men and it turned
into a calamity,” she whispered.
Miranda shook her head. “No. It turned into exactly what you
needed to get through something you hadn’t counted on.”
“You’re thinking about it the wrong way,” Gigi agreed. “What
if the universe knew what was going to happen and they’re a gift? What if they
were placed in your path to remind you that you don’t have to face things
alone? That you can open yourself up and it’s not a mistake.”
“That you can spend time with two hot Doms and crush your
enemies at the same time,” Miranda added.
Olivia sat back the rest of the ride, letting her friends’
words work through her head. The music playing was some power girl ballads Gigi
had on earlier, and the fact that Keane didn’t try to switch it made her like
him more.
And she already liked him a lot.
She liked them both a lot.
The trouble was she remembered how dumb she felt when she
overheard Jason telling his classmates he was only into her for the money. She
remembered watching as Jessica put a hand on Scott’s arm and told her not to
take it too hard.
She definitely remembered how worried her parents were after
both incidents.
Would they have been so worried if she had gotten back on
the horse in a decent amount of time? If she hadn’t buried herself in work? She
thought they’d been worried about her terrible taste in men, but what if they
were worried about how she had taken the rejection?
Kid Livie would have shrugged and found someone else to play
with, and if anyone said something she would have kicked their shins and gotten
in trouble. But it would have been worth it. Her kid self understood that some
things were worth the pain.
She was quiet while Keane found his way back to the ranch.
At a proper speed this time and without death-defying U-turns.
Neither one of those men had made fun of Gwen or her nearly