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“Say something,” he grunts. If it were anyone else, it would have been a pleading request, but I know better. From Chance, it’s a command, and one that won’t be ignored.

“And when you said you wanted to see me? Was that a lie, too?”

I don’t know which answer would be better for me. If he lied, I could tuck it away with all the other reasons I have not to trust him, and justify that our time together is just a way for me to give into all the things I’ve never let myself do before.

But if he means it, that will open me up to accepting the feelings that I have for him.The ones that I won’t even truly admit to myself that I have. I’ve been locking them up tight because no good could ever come from letting them surface and acting on them.

I let myself look into his ice blue eyes, unable to read the emotion that currently crosses his face. There was anger originally, maybe some masked indifference, but now there’s something else.

“I don’t do anything I don’t mean, Dakota. You’d be wise to remember that.”

There it is. That emotion that I couldn’t put my finger on. Whatever the unnamed emotion is, is so hot that it sets my body on fire. It can’t be desire. Surely whatever he’s feeling toward me right now couldn’t be that, but whatever it is, it’s hot. It’s sexy. And it’s aimed at me.

Once my brain catches up, I’m left wondering what it means. Does he want to see me? Spend time with me? Did he actually want to send me flowers and impress me?

Now that the questions are creeping in, unease fills my body. I’m always able to read people, that’s my thing. I can tell when a witness is lying on the stand. I can tell when opposing counsel isn’t being completely honest. I can tell when someone is just an asshole.

But with Chance right now? I have no clue.

“Here are your drinks!” Krissy says as she approaches the table. “Uh, what did I miss?”

“Nothing,” Chance scowls as he grabs his beer from her hand and takes a sip.

“Okaaaay,” she says, drawing out her vowels, handing me my glass of wine. “Have we decided on dinner?”

“Burger and fries,” Chance grunts. I shoot him a look and he reluctantly adds, “please.”

Krissy looks at him, shock written all over her face, staring at him a moment before she brings her attention back to me. “Um, okay. And for you?”

“I’ll have the Bacon Caesar Wrap, please, Krissy.” I hand her the menu.

“Coming right up.” She shoots Chance another questioning look before taking his menu and walking off.

“Do you have to be so rude all the time?” I whisper tersely.

“I said please.” He leans back, taking another sip of his beer.

“Not by your own volition.”

We enter into another stare down before he leans forward, placing his beer on the table and wrapping his hand around the glass. “Look, if we are going to make this work, you’re going to have to just put up with this shit for a little while longer. I’m not going to change, so don’t even try.”

“I’m not going to try to change you, Chance. I know full well that once the rodeo is over, I’ll never see you again. It’s not worth my time. I just thought that maybe it would help if you were a better person during the time we had to spend together.”

“Well, stop. I’m not some project for you to take on, got it?”

I feel the anger rise in my body. I know I have to stop. There’s no use wasting my energy fighting with a man that has no desire to change. If he wants to be a washed-up cowboy with no one around to spend time with him, that’s on him. What he does with his life after this blasted rodeo is no longer my concern.

Plus, judging by the glances that are coming our way throughout the room, I’m doing more harm than good just trying.

“Fine. Just try to be less of an asshole to Krissy, got it?”

Not waiting for a response, I pick up my phone and start scrolling aimlessly, acting as if I were looking over an important email when, in fact, I’m trying my best not to cry. I don’t know why I care so much, but I do. It bothers me how horribly he treats those that genuinely care about him, and how much he’s just going to push them away if he keeps acting the way he does.

Taking a steady breath, I realize that it’s a lie, because I do care. I know why I care.

I just wish I didn’t.

Chapter Sixteen