Chapter 45
What just happened?
I watch Kaylee from across the yard, scowling in my direction before stalking away, and for the first time since meeting her, it doesn’t feel good to watch her go. It stings and I’m not sure what the fuck to do.
I knew I should have taken her aside. Was she really that upset? Did I do something else? I pan over every second we have been together today, trying to find the flaw, trying to pinpoint whatever it was that could have been read wrong.
I glance back at Danielle and then it hits me.
Fuck. She saw us hug. Pretty damning evidence of a problem, even though it ain’t one.
“It was nice to see ya again, Danielle, I’m glad to see ya doin’ better. You’ll have to excuse me, but I gotta go find my girl.”
“Thank you again for helping me see that Jordan isn’t for me. I know I should’ve seen it on my own, but I’ve been so much happier without him. Especially now with someone who treats me better.” She smiles at me but my concentration is now fully pointed elsewhere.
So much so, that I nearly forget to acknowledge her. “Don’t mention it. We’ll have to come find ya later so you can meet Kaylee. See ya around.”
I start to shift toward the crowd and am met with two familiar faces.
“Hey, where did Kaylee go?”
Sawyer and Daisy’s gaze follow mine as we collectively watch Kaylee’s taillights come to life.
“What the hell did you do?” Sawyer questions.
It doesn’t take her long to put her car into reverse, sending my entire body into drive.
Yeah, not today. I’m not letting this happen without trying to, at the very least, fix it. Ignoring his question, I run after her as fast as my damn boots will take me and then some, because as she drives away, so does my heart.
I slam into multiple people while making my way through the crowd, one guy yelling to watch where I’m going, another just grunting as he moves out of my path.
Gasping for air, I slow to a jog as I reach the trunk of her car.
Fuck, even with all the training I’ve been doing for rodeoing, I’m beat.
Keeping my breath even, I try my best to maintain my pace with her.
At least she’s not going anywhere fast. Not with this many people in her way as she drives toward the Rawlings Ranch gate.
She doesn’t notice me in the rearview, but I see her and the tears that stream down her cheeks. Picking the pace back up, I jog toward the front of the car, reaching the driver’s side door.
“Stop,” I belt out and she turns, looking at me in disgust.
The car keeps moving forward, but this time a bit faster.
The crowd grows smaller around us with every step, and so does the amount of obstacles in her way.
Fuck, I cant let her leave. Something tells me if I let her go now, I won’t ever get her back.
I won’t let that happen, not without a fight.
Racing forward, I put myself in front of her car, hoping she doesn’t want me dead and that she’ll stop.
She slows to a crawl and I pace backwards, my chest still heavy as I suck in air while I look through the windshield at her.
“Get out of my fucking way, Rhett.” Anger slithers out with every word.
I walk backward, doing my best not to trip or get hit, but I’m running out of steam.
Turning around, I jump up, sitting on the hood as she continues to move forward, the sound of her hood taking on my weight.
“What in the hell are you doing?” She spits the words like flames, like her anger alone will get rid of me.
Clearly, she hasn’t learned my persistence yet, especially when it comes to something I want.
“Stoppin’ ya from doing whatever the fuck this is.” I flail my arms around like a mad man as I yell the words.
She slams on her brakes and I slide forward off her hood, turning around quickly to brace my hands on it like I have the power to stop it if I wanted to. Trying to cover the evidence of her sadness, she wipes away her tears and replaces them with a scowl.
Anger may coat her features, but it can’t hide the beauty I see within her eyes. The escape that I want to reside in even more now than before I upset her.
“This is a mistake,” she snaps.
Concern hits me like a ton of bricks. “What is? Us? Why?”
She nods. She isn’t going to end this without even giving me a chance to explain, is she?
“Because I already know how this plays out.” I hold my breath not ready for the blow I know she’s about to deliver. “Lets not pretend this is anything other than a bit of fun. I saw you with that girl and I’m not interested in your games.”
“That’s not wha—”
She cuts me off. “Yes, it is. You liked the chase and it was fun while it lasted, but the game’s over. This…” She points between us. “Is over.”
Nausea rushes to my stomach, and from the look in her eyes, she’s reading it as if I didn’t hear what she said.
Rolling down her window part way she leans toward it and yells, “Get out of my way or I’ll run you over.”
She’s got every right to be mad, especially since she doesn’t know what happened, but there ain’t no way in hell I’m moving.
“You’re gonna have to run me over then, but there’s at least fifteen cops back there who will see it.
You’re far too pretty for jail, Angel.” I make the joke, realizing this isn’t the time to be funny, but a smile finds itself on her lips for a moment.
That’s the only sign I needed to know I’ve got a fighting chance.
“Move.” Her voice this time is lighter—angry, but lighter.
“Not until ya talk to me.”
Sadness fills her eyes once more. “Rhett, there’s nothing to talk about.”
I blow out a breath. Jokes won’t fix how she’s feeling, I’ve got to do more while I still have the chance.
I’ve got to ignore any built-in stops I have for speaking my heart.
“Kaylee, please just talk to me. That wasn’t what it looked like.
Let me at least explain.” I don’t know her past quite like she knows mine, but I can only imagine how bad it might have appeared from the outside looking in.
“I’m more than sorry. I don’t want to hurt ya…
Honestly, I want to be the very reason ya don’t feel hurt. Please just talk to me.”
“I saw enough, I don’t need to hear your pretty lies.
” The damage of what she thinks she saw is written plain as day in the tears still streaming down her cheeks, and it makes me angry that the place this hurt came from was something I did, but also a bit angry that she won’t give me the chance to explain.
“Ya don’t know what ya saw, ya just think ya do.
” I don’t yell, but for the first time ever with her, I sound angry and the shift in her expression from furious to stunned is obvious.
She doesn’t speak, but she does put the car in park.
“Can we talk? Give me five minutes and if that doesn’t change your mind about me bein’ a piece of shit, then you’re free to leave, no questions asked.
” I pause. “If ya say no, then just run me the fuck over. I can’t stand the thought of losin’ ya, so I might as well be dead. ”
The slightest smile returns to her lips. “Is that not what we are doing, Casanova?”
I smile at the remark and hope that the joke is an indication that she’s willing to at least listen to what I have to say. “Well, I think I’ve been doin’ the talkin’, but what’s new?” The tension melts off me at the sight of that smirk that lingers on her lips before disappearing again.
She huffs, almost like she, too, just lost about half the tension in her body, then reaches over to unlatch her seatbelt before unlocking the driver-side door.
Walking away from the hood, I keep one hand on the car, unsure if she’s just going to drive off once I’m no longer in the way, but instead she scoots over toward the passenger seat.
The door swings open much smoother than the creak of my truck and I get in.
I’m thankful that my chances of fixing this aren’t too far gone.
Taking a seat, I groan. “I ain’t gonna beat around the bush. That girl used to date a rider that the rodeo world deemed my highest competition. His name’s Jordan Daily. He’s a fuckin’ prick, but what he did to her is far worse than anythin’ he can ever do to me.”
“Okay, so what, she wants you to replace him? Is he here? Were you trying to make him jealous?” Each question coming from her lips gradually becomes laced with more and more venom.
I extend my hand across the seat, placing it on her warm, tan thigh.
“No.” Looking into her eyes, I know she can tell I’m being honest, but ‘no’ isn’t enough, and I’m aware of that.
“She was thankin’ me. At one of the ropin’ competitions I was at, her boyfriend and I got into it.
Let’s just say, he took it out on her. I told her she didn’t deserve that.
That no one did. That if she ever needed someone to get her out of her situation, I’d help.
No questions asked." I inhale slowly, before letting out my breath in a sigh. "She saw me tonight and said she left him. That Jordan wouldn’t be causin’ her problems anymore and she had convinced herself too long that it wasn’t that bad, that he’d change.
I guess it took me pointin’ out that his problem was himself, not her for her to leave.
That’s why she hugged me. She was just glad someone finally cared.
I guess she’s been seein’ someone else now.
He was grabbing her a drink while we were talkin’ and I was goin’ to introduce ya to them until I saw ya walkin’ away. ."
Her expression softens, the majority of her anger withering away like smoke on the wind.
It’s like the raging inferno in her is put out as soon as I ease her worry.
But I don’t want to stop here, I don’t want to just excuse a situation no matter what it was.
I want to show her what she means to me, and I know just the way to do it.