Page 43 of Ridin' True

“Hi.”

I stopped dead in my tracks at the mouth of my kitchen, the tears in her voice unmistakable.

“What’s wrong?”

“Alejo. He was just here, and he was out of his freaking mind.”

My shoulders slumped, and I closed my eyes as I reached up to cover them with my free hand. Bella kept speaking, obviously trying not to sob.

“He took every bit of money he could find. All the cash mami likes to keep hidden for emergencies, it’s gone. He even stole Ellie’s piggy bank. She had a hundred dollars in there. She’s been saving it for two years. I’m telling you, Lexi, he was on one. It was bad. It was so bad.”

I didn’t know what to say, and I suddenly felt so tired.

“I’m sorry, Bella. I’m sorry you had to experience that.”

“He’s going to score, you know that, right?”

I let my hand fall to my side as I scowled into my kitchen. “Yeah. Obviously. But there’s nothing to be done about it. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. He always does.”

“What? That’s all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do, hmm?” Remembering she had no idea what Alejo had put me through that week, I told her, “He came to me for ten thousand dollars the other day. He’s been lying to us about his job. He’s a liar, Bella, and an addict and I—I don’t know how to help him. Okay? I just—I can’t anymore.”

“Well, mami’s really upset.”

I freed a desperate sigh. “Is she there?”

“No. She had to go to work. She has the Kellermans’ today.”

“Alright, well—I, I can’t do this right now. I’m sorry. I’ll come by tomorrow, okay?”

Unexpectedly, in spite of my conversation, I felt instantly weightless.

Jed’s arm wrapped around my chest, pulling me against him. He was warm and solid, and I melted into him as he pressed a kiss into my hair.

“Yeah. Fine,” said my sister, obviously disappointed I hadn’t woken up with a cape and superpowers.

“Isabella, I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Love you, too. Bye.”

She disconnected before I could say another word, and I freed a heavy sigh.

“Everything okay?” Jed mumbled, his lips still buried in my hair.

“Any idea where I could pick up a little girl piggy bank? Probably Walmart, right? Maybe Hobby Lobby.”

“Darlin’?”

I stepped out of the comfort of his hold as I turned to face him. He was still in only his boxer briefs, and he had messy, sexy bedhead, and it was unbearably hot. There was a completely justifiable reason as to why I woke up happy and scared at the same time—because this was my life. I could never get too comfortable.

“Look, there’s a reason I’m still single,” I blurted, holding up my phone. “My family is a mess. My brother is an addict who makes astronomically poor decisions. And everyone always looks to me to save the day and I—it’s complicated, I can’t change it, and I can’t escape it. And I like you. You’re pretty great. I mean, you’re the kind of dad who builds his son a skate ramp in his backyard, and that’s actuallyreallysexy. And you’re, you know, generally sexy all on your own with allthatgoing for you,” I said, waving my phone in his general direction. “And in an ideal world, I’d be making you breakfast right now in an attempt to impress you with my cooking—because Icancook. For real. I learned from the best. And you’d eat my food, and you’d want to go out with me again because the sex was greatandthere was breakfast but—my life is a mess!

“I can’t make you breakfast because I need to go to Walmart or Hobby Lobby to get a piggy bank for my niece, and then I have to go to the bank before they close so I can get a hundred dollars in small bills to put in that piggy because myjerkof a brother stole Ellie’s piggy for a score!”

Exasperated, I covered my eyes again and muttered, “My God, can I not catch a break?”

Jed ran a hand over my hair, stopping at my nape before pressing another kiss on top of my head. Then, his tone laced in amusement, he replied, “Damn, you’re cute.”