Page 19 of Sin With Me

His unexpected death is still a lot to process and my mental health has been shit since we said goodbye to him.

No matter what I do, I can’t get the image of him lying lifelessly in the hospital bed, looking at peace for the first time in years, and watching the doctor remove his life support.

I hadn’t cried that hard since Harlow was fighting for her life in the ICU seven years prior.

Between his death and coming to terms that I’m a thirty-one-year-old single woman with nothing to show for it sent me down an emotional and mental spiral.

But throwing myself at Wilder and snapping at his rejection means I’ve officially hit rock bottom.

As I drive us through downtown toward Wilder’s family ranch, a squirrel races out onto the street, and I quickly swerve so I don’t hit it.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, relieved no one was on the other side of the road. “Did he cross?”

“Uh, Del?” Wilder’s hesitant voice grabs my attention, and I fear I didn’t miss the squirrel after all. When I turn toward him, he tilts his head. “There’s lights behind ya. You gotta pull over.”

Glancing into my rearview window, I cuss again at the sheriff’s SVU behind me. “Fuckin’ great.”

I lied…thismight be rock bottom.

He’s going to think I’m drunk.

Pulling over, I shift into park and then dig through my center console for my insurance card.

A tap on the window makes me jump and then I frown when I see it’s one of Sheriff Wagner’s deputies.

“Delilah Fanning,” Wesley drawls, then peeks around me with his flashlight to see who my passenger is. “And Wilder Hollis. Interestin’ choice.”

“What seems to be the problem,Deputy?” Wilder asks in his smart-mouth tone that usually gets him into trouble.

Wesley snaps his gaze to mine, ignoring him. “License and proof of insurance?”

I grab my wallet and panic when I can’t yank out my ID.Why is it always so damn hard?My fingers are sweating and not making it any easier.

“Sorry, here.” I hand it over.

Wesley stares at it and then back at me as if we didn’t go to the same high school.

“Is there a reason you were swervin’?” he asks.

“A squirrel ran out in front of me,” I tell him. “I didn’t wanna kill it.”

“A squirrel, huh?” His deep voice echoes as if he doesn’t believe me and then he wrinkles his nose. “Have you been drinkin’, Miss Fanning?”

“I had a couple,” I admit.

“Hoursago,” Wilder interrupts. “Quit harassin’ her.”

“Shut up,” I hiss at him under my breath. The more he talks, the more Wesley looks annoyed.

“And what about you, Mr. Hollis?” Wesley shines his flashlight directly into Wilder’s eyes.

“What’s it to ya? I’m not drivin’.”

I blow out a frustrated breath.

“I’m gonna need you to step out of the vehicle,” Wesley orders.

“Is that really necessary?” I panic at the thought of him arresting me.