“OK, I’m a douchebag. I have to ’fess up, because this shit is eating me alive,” Major said, as he stepped into the barn with a saddle thrown over his shoulder.
I continued rubbing down my Appaloosa, Kryptonite, and ignored his comment. I had to get the stallion’s stall cleaned out next, and I didn’t have time to deal with Major and his drama.
“I’m fucking Cordelia. I’ve been fucking her for like two months. She’s really good at sucking my dick. Sorry, but I’m a man, and she came on to me, and I let her blow me. Then I turned her over the sawhorse and fucked her. It was a weak moment. I was horny, and she came strutting in wearing these cutoff jeans shorts that showed part of her ass and a little top that barely covered her tits. She’s hot, man. I asked you if you were still fucking her, and you didn’t answer. I figured it meant she didn’t matter.”
That was why Cordelia had left me the hell alone. I should be giving Major money for this. “Glad she’s servicing you well.” I patted Kryptonite, then turned to lead him over to the stall I’d already cleaned.
“So you don’t care that I’m tapping that ass?” he asked.
“You did me a favor. She wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
Major let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I was worried you’ve been in this sour mood because I took your go-to fuck.”
I didn’t even respond to that. There was no point.
“The day she came to get her panties, I was close to fucking her then. She was dressed in a little short skirt, looking like a damn porn star. But I called and texted you, and you didn’t answer. I let her go then. But the next day, when she showed up in the barn, I fucked her. You weren’t coming out of your house that week. It was that week you were in such a bad mood.”
Right on time. He started things up with her when I really needed everyone out of my face. No telling what I would have said to her if she’d started that shit up then. I didn’t want her, but I didn’t see any use in saying anything hurtful. She didn’t deserve that.
“Where were you that weekend, anyway? That time I texted you? You came back here angry at the world. And you’ve been fucked-up ever since. Was it Rosemary Beach? That girl you were going to see?”
I wasn’t talking about this with him.
Wait. What text?
The world around me stopped, and my empty chest suddenly felt heavier than lead. Please, God, no. Don’t let this be what I think it is.
“Major,” I said, almost afraid to ask. Did I want the answer? Could I live with this?
“Yeah?”
“What text?” I asked, before I could stop myself.
“The one I sent you about Cord getting her panties under your bed and asking if you were still fucking her.”
No . . . no . . . no . . .
“Major, I never got that text. When did you send it?”
“I told you—”
“No. I need to know the date and time you sent that motherfucking text!” I shouted. The horses whinnied, but my head was pounding, and the heaviness was taking over my lungs.
“Shit, dude. I’ll check. Calm down,” he grumbled, pulling out his phone and scrolling through the text messages.
“Uh . . . June 29 at nine a.m. Called twice before that, too. No answer or response.”
I dropped the supplies from my hands and walked out the door. I kept walking. I just fucking walked. I walked until I was as far away from Major as I could get, until my house vanished from sight.
Then I tilted my head back and let it all out in an angry roar.
She’d seen that text. That was what had sent her to the corner, looking at me as if she had shattered. A fucking text had taken her from me.
Reese
Maryann Colt had talked the whole way on the drive from the airport. She had slept for the entire flight. I hadn’t been able to do anything but stare out the window. My thoughts had been on Mase and the boy she’d described. He sounded exactly like the man I had fallen in love with. One text had made me doubt everything. All he had done to show me how much he loved me, and I hadn’t even let him explain.
I hadn’t been a charity case. He wasn’t trying to fix me. He was fighting my battles because he loved me.
He didn’t even know about the text. I had deleted it before putting his phone back. He had no idea what had changed that morning. I was now going to show up at his house unannounced. I knew that just because his mother said he wanted me, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have to fight for him.
He could have moved on in other ways. Cordelia could be keeping him warm at night. I wouldn’t think about that.
I listened to Maryann talk instead. I had to focus on her words, not on what I could be facing soon. But no matter what it was, I would fight. He had fought for me once. I was going to fight for him now.
“His house is up the road a bit. He might be in bed by now. It’s late, and he’s been going straight to sleep after dinner. But knock on the window to the left side of the house if he doesn’t open the door. I’m gonna let you walk from here. I don’t want him to see my truck. It’s all on you now. You go show my boy he’s worth fighting for.”