Page 86

He started walking off, but I was so angry I had to follow him the few steps to his pickup. “Dad, wait,” I called.

He stopped and looked at me, a questioning look on his face.

“So it’s okay for you to call on Rhett when you need a favor, but it’s not okay for me to get to know him again?”

“It’s different.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because you’re not desperate.” He got in his truck and drove away, but I stayed where I was, feeling torn between these two men as tears brimmed in my eyes.

Rhett came to me, putting his arms around my shoulders, but I felt stiff under his touch. “I’m sorry,” I said, wiping at my eyes.

“It’s a lot to get used to,” Rhett said gently.

“What did he say to you before I came out?”

Rhett cringed.

“Tell me.”

He took a breath. “He said you deserve better than a...”

“Rhett, tell me.”

He cringed again as he said, “…a piece of shit womanizer who only cares about getting his dick wet.”

My lips parted, feeling a punch in the gut just from hearing the repeated words. “He said that? In those words?”

Rhett nodded curtly.

I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for Rhett to hear firsthand. “What did you say back?”

Rhett tilted his head. “I told him that I was trying hard to be what you deserved.”

“And he didn’t believe you,” I finished.

His lips quirked at the side. “Looks like you’re not the only Gibson with a hard head.”

Smiling despite myself, I leaned into his hug, but my features quickly fell. “I can’t choose you over him, Rhett.”

He kissed the top of my head. “It’s too soon to worry about that. Why don’t I take you back to your house so you can get ready for work?”

I turned in his hug, looking up at him. This really was a different Rhett. The one I knew was hotheaded and said what was on his mind. He was a lot like my dad that way. This confrontation could have been disastrous. Instead, he was kind, understanding to my dad, to me. “So this is what it feels like to fall all over again?”

He brushed back my hair. “This is what it feels like to have me catch you on the way down.”

42

RHETT

Maggieand I texted each other, talked on the phone Thursday night, and had a hell of a game Friday night that the girls barely won in an extra inning. But when I asked her to stay over at my place Friday, she said she had to pack and get ready for our rodeo trip the next day.

I tried not to read too much into it, but I could still feel myself stressing as I put fresh sheets in the camper Saturday morning. I was so lost in my thoughts I almost didn’t notice Cooper walking over with his duffel bag. I nodded his way as he opened the storage space underneath and shoved it in.

“Why do you look like you stepped in shit?” he asked.

I continued into the camper. “I slept with Maggie Wednesday night.”