21
Darana
The walls vibrate as if the heart of the desert were beating within the bar’s wooden walls.
The air is thick with uncontrolled laughter, the sweet aroma of cheap bourbon, smoke from the kitchen, and the dust we kick up with our cowboy boots against the plank floor.
The string lights, haphazardly strung between the ceiling beams, bathe everything in a golden hue that makes people feel especially affectionate.
I’m leaning against the bar with Joanie, swirling the ice in my glass.
I don’t know if this is my second or third whiskey, but I don’t give a shit.
Today, I need the alcohol to dull my temper a little so I don’t end up jumping onto the bar.
Or worse, crossing the dance floor to drag someone away by the hair.
Camila is in the middle of the dance floor, and it looks like the whole place is spinning around her.
She’s laughing with her head thrown back, showing off that pale throat I’m dying to bite.
And Maddie is glued to her. Way too close.
With her hands where they shouldn’t be and that little smirk that turns my stomach.
“She’s certainly an opportunist,” Joanie murmurs beside me, taking a swig of her cider without taking her eyes off the show. “She spots her prey and throws the lasso.”
“What she should do is find someone else to mess with,” I snap at her in a fit of rage before taking a long swig from my glass. The alcohol burns my throat like hell, but it doesn’t put out the fire inside me.
Joanie lets out a little giggle, clearly amused by my jealous outburst. Then she nudges me in the ribs with her elbow.
“You know what Maddie’s like, Darana. She’s a textbook heartbreaker. She’s not into relationships or sappy stuff; she’s all about the thrill of the conquest, marking her territory, and then acting like she never even knew you.”
I glance at Joanie out of the corner of my eye, looking less than pleased.
“Now you’re defending her?” I cut her off.
“I’m just telling you that Maddie doesn’t hold back,” my friend insists, tilting her head as she wipes the rim of her glass.
“She comes in like a whirlwind, turns everything upside down, and then takes off, leaving a mess behind. It’s not in your best interest to get involved, Calloway.
Especially with your ex-sister-in-law in the picture. Or whatever she means to you.”
I feel a knot in my stomach tighten until it hurts.
Because what’s happening on the dance floor isn’t just innocent flirting to pass the time anymore.
Maddie spins her around, and her hands shamelessly slide down Camila’s tight jeans, settling on her waist with a confidence that makes my head spin.
And Camila doesn’t pull away. On the contrary, she moves in sync with her.
I watch as their bodies brush against each other, as Maddie leans in to whisper in her ear, and as Camila lets out a soft laugh that hits me right in the chest like a stab in the back.
“Whatever she means to me.”
I close my eyes for a second, clenching the glass until my knuckles hurt. My heart is pounding like a tractor engine. I take a deep breath, but the air smells like her—her damn perfume mixed with the hubbub of the bar.
When I open my eyes, I see Maddie brushing her lips against Camila’s neck as she talks to her. And that’s when I lose it.
“Keep the change,” I tell the bartender, slamming the empty glass down on the bar without looking back.
“Darana!” my best friend yells after me. “We know each other, and you’re going to cause a scene!”
I don’t care. I’m not going for another drink; I’m going after my date. Well, after the woman who would be my date if the world hadn’t already proven me wrong.
Country music thumps through the floorboards, people step aside when they see my face, and I feel the town’s stares pinned to my back, sensing the drama, but I don’t care.
When I reach her, I don’t ask for permission or bother being polite. I just take action.
I grab Camila by the wrist—making it clear there’s no room for argument—and give her a gentle tug to pull her close to me. Her skin burns beneath my fingers, and the electric spark that runs up my arm almost makes my legs tremble.
“I’m taking her,” I snap at Maddie, shooting her a hostile glare.
Maddie, far from backing down, lets out a cocky, dangerous laugh—the kind that revels in the commotion. She takes a step back, raising her hands in a gesture of peace.
“I knew it wouldn’t take you long to make your move, Calloway,” she teases me brazenly. “Enjoy the ballad, girls. But don’t get too confident—the night is still young, and I like to finish what I start.”
I don’t answer her. The moment Camila turns fully toward me, the entire bar vanishes.
Her eyes lock onto mine, and I swear the world comes to a screeching halt.
The music changes as if by magic, and one of those slow ballads starts playing.
It feels like the entire universe has conspired to get under my skin.
I place my right hand on her waist, digging my fingers into the fabric of her satin blouse to pull her toward me. Camila, who looks at me in surprise, rests her hand on my shoulder, gripping the fabric of my shirt.
And we start to move. Very close together.
The heat radiating from her clouds what little brainpower I have left. I feel her ragged breath against my neck and the way her body molds to mine as if we were made for each other. And I don’t even need to speak.
Because I’ve been carrying years of forbidden glances from when she wore my brother Elijah’s ring on her finger.
“You shouldn’t let just anyone put their hands on you,” I murmur.
Camila raises an eyebrow and bursts out laughing.
“Is that really what bothers you?”
I give her a subtle tug toward my hip, forcing her to press herself completely against me.
“It pisses me off that you play house with the first girl who comes along.”
Camila bites her lower lip, fixing me with a gaze that’s pure electricity before the storm.
“And do you have that right, Darana?” she whispers, tilting her head back until her lips almost brush mine. “Do you think you have any claim over me when you don’t even know what you’re doing?”
I catch my breath, stumbling slightly but recovering without letting go of her as I hold her tight against my chest. Because the answer is yes—I’m dying to throw it all to hell—but the ghost of Elijah and Calloway pride are holding me back.
“It’s not the same, and you know it,” I tell her as my fingers glide down her back, feeling her skin prickle beneath the satin.
Camila wraps her arms a little tighter around my neck, leaning her weight against me, but this time she digs her fingers into me with anger.
“Of course not, Darana,” she hisses in my ear. “Tell me what the hell you’re up to. What are you playing at with me?”
Hearing my name on her lips with that demand tears me apart. I feel a chill run down my spine. We keep moving; her fingers dig into my shoulder, crumpling my shirt, and I notice her chest rising and falling at the same frantic pace as mine.
I’m sick of this.
“I’m sick of pretending!” I snap at her, unable to hold back any longer. “I’m tired of acting like nothing’s going on. I did it before, when you were with my brother, and I’m not going to keep doing it now. No matter how much you’re meant to be with someone else.”
Camila lifts her head and fixes me with those eyes that shine beneath the lights, with an intensity that makes me dizzy.
“So what do you want me to do? Give up my career and stay here? Tell me the truth already.”
Her words strike a blow straight to my pride. My hand shoots up her back with urgency until it tangles in the hair at the nape of her neck, forcing her to hold my gaze.
“I want you to stop pretending Maddie interests you in the slightest,” I blurt out with an honesty that burns my lips. “I want you to admit once and for all that when it matters, you’re looking for me. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
Camila lets out a breath, narrowing her eyes in shock. Her fingers dig deeply into my back, pulling me closer, bringing her lips within a breath of mine.
The ballad seems to go on forever, dragging out the torture as if the universe were mocking our pride. When the music begins to fade, I feel a jolt of anxiety right in the middle of my chest. I don’t want her to pull away. I don’t want to be alone again on the other side of the bar.
But Camila reacts. Slowly, as if it were costing her her very life, she pulls her body away from mine. She lowers her hands and ends up resting her palms against my chest, gently pushing me away to create some distance.
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Calloway,” she says, forcing a small smile.
My heart sinks, leaving a dull ache in my stomach.
“Camila…” I begin, taking a step toward her so I don’t have to let her go.
But she shakes her head, turning away before I can grab her again.
“You know perfectly well I can’t promise you anything, Darana.”
It’s as if I’ve been punched right in the pit of my stomach. I’m left speechless, gasping for air, and looking like a fool in the middle of the dance floor.
Camila holds my gaze for one last second.
There’s something in her eyes… a wild longing that’s the exact mirror image of my own.
But even so, she turns away, shakes out her hair, and walks back across the pub to her group as if we hadn’t just caused a magnitude-ten earthquake in the middle of a ballad.
I see Maddie move closer to her again, but Camila whispers something in her ear and, from a distance, gives me one last look.
I’m left standing frozen in the center of the dance floor, motionless, as the music picks up again and people start jostling around me once more.
I swallow hard, yank my cowboy hat down over my eyes, and force my legs to move so I can get out of here.
The night air hits me in the face. I take a deep breath—once, twice, three times—but my chest still hurts as if a stampede of cattle had run me over. I lean against the wooden railing, clenching my fingers around the handrail.
“Damn it…” I mutter, kicking a post halfheartedly.
I close my eyes, trying to sort through the mental chaos I’m dealing with and regain my damn composure.
But for the first time in ten years, I know it won’t do me any good.
Because Camila Bennet has returned to Willow Creek to steal my sanity, and this time I don’t have the faintest idea how I’m going to make it out of this storm alive.