Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I nod slowly and lean my head against Bomber’s flank. I breathe in his musky smell and nuzzle against his soft hair. The horse’s heart is a steady thump deep between his ribs and I wish I could wrap my arms around him and hug him close. “At least there’s that.”
“Did you figure out the succession stuff? You mentioned you were worried about what would happen to the ranch.”
“Nothing’s solved,” I admit, which only makes my guts twist more. “Dad wanted to leave it to me, but I didn’t want it, and now I don’t know what’ll happen.”
She whistles and shakes her head. “You turned down an actual ranch? Like, your own ranch? You must really hate your family.”
“You have no idea.”
“Where’s War these days? I half expected him to follow you home. You two had a bit of chemistry the last time I saw you together.”
I shoot her a look. “It’s not like that.”
“No? Could’ve fooled me.”
“I don’t want to talk about War.” I pat Bomber and move away from him, leaving the stall. Kat hops down and follows me, hands shoved into the pockets of her jeans.
“Which to me says you and him did something you shouldn’t have.”
I pause in the paddock and take a deep breath. “That’s one way of saying it.” I think of War’s hands on my body, his lips at my neck. Those hours we spent at the top of the tower together were some of the best of my life. I didn’t know I could feel that way, that overriding and incredible passion. I thought I was stuck in this gray area, never quite feeling anything, always running away from my own emotions.
Instead, War woke something up. His touch, his kiss, the way he loved my body and praised my every move, it was addictive and overwhelming, and now he’s like a song I can’t get out of my head, but it’s a song I love to sing.
“What happened out there, Melody?” Kat asks and stands close next to me. “I just want to know if you’re okay, and what I can do if you’re not.”
I squint into the distance and wipe away tears. “I’m not okay,” I admit. “I’m really, really far from okay.”
Kat leads me to the picnic tables, sits me down, gets us both some tea, and hold my hand. “I’m listening,” she says.
And I tell her. Some of it, not all of it, but I tell her about hooking up with War and catching feelings, I tell her about Daisy and my uncles and how everyone treated me like I was a monster, and how even after all this time that place is still a nightmare, and those people are still awful, and going back there only made me certain I never want to go back again.
“But if things were getting good with War, where is he now?” Kat presses and I sip my tea to buy myself some time.
I could come up with a story, and I could even make it convincing, but I’m tired of lying and making shit up and wrapping the truth in a pretty veneer. “He was working for my dad the whole time,” I finally say.
“Didn’t you know that already?” she asks.
“Turns out, my dad wanted War to convince me to marry him.” I clear my throat, trying to stop the stone that lodges there. I tell her what I know and how it all came crashing down.
Kat sighs and comes around to sit next to me. She hugs me tightly, really tightly. “Fuck him,” she says. “God, Melody, I am so, so sorry. I’ve never seen you care about a guy before and now suddenly it’s like—you really fell for him, didn’t you?”
I nod, feeling so stupid, but she’s right. I fell for War in a way I never imagined. I thought I loved him, and I thought he loved me too, or at least I believed him when he said it and I wanted it to be true so badly.
But I knew he was a liar. I knew it, and I decided not to think about it, because I liked his lies and I wanted them to be real.
Instead, I ended up burning myself, and I don’t think I’ll ever trust again.
“I just want to put it behind me,” I say. “It’s over now.”
“If you want, I can have Ford put a hit out on him. We know some people.” Her eyebrows shoot up. “Dangerous people. You know what I mean?”
“No, thanks, I don’t think using your mob connections will help me now.”
She laughs and shrugs. “Offer stands.”
“War has his own problems. Or at least I think he does. The problem is, I don’t know what he told me was real, and what he said just to trick me into liking him.”