Page 45 of Seeking Her Studs

When we finally quiet down, another realization hits me.

“On a not so funny note,” I say. “She’s been talking to Patricia, so it’s only a matter of time until this place is swarming.”

“Well, good thing none of us will be here.” Colt grabs my shoulders and turns me in the direction of my room. “Pack your bags, Hollywood. We’re going to the mountains.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Colt

“Thanks again, guys,” Blaire says from the front seat, scanning the three of us from where I’m driving in the front to Briggs and Reese in the back.

“Blaire, if I hear you thank us one more time, I’m going to start blasting ‘On the Road Again’ on repeat for the rest of the drive.” Reese says as he grips the back of her seat and brings himself closer to her.

She leans back, getting closer to him, and shuts her eyes.

“I know. But you stood up to my mom and now you’re leaving the ranch just to get out of town. You probably have things to do.” She blurts everything out in one long, frenetic sentence.

Our little confident and stubborn Hollywood is going through something right now. She’s been like this ever since we left. Thanking us for every little thing and apologizing for things she shouldn’t apologize for.

I don’t know what’s shaken her, but the list of possibilities seems pretty long right about now.

“Has your mom always been like that?” I say, looking to the road instead of at her.

She takes a long sigh. “How much did you hear?”

“All of it,” I answer honestly. I was already heading to the door to see who had just pulled up when Blaire opened the door before me.

She takes another sigh. I glance over and watch her stroking Sunny’s back, who chose Blaire’s lap for the car ride, as they both look out the window at the grassy plains. I understand her hesitance to answer my question. We don’t talk about these things. At least, Blaire and us Rile brothers don’t. But if our suspicions are right, then Blaire does talk about these things. Just with the protection of a keyboard and a screen.

Another beat of silence passes and I think about changing the subject and pretending I never asked anything.

Just when I’m about to give in, she opens her mouth and I’ve never shut my own damn mouth more quickly.

“That summer,” she starts. “The worst summer.” She says and, of course, I know what summer she’s referring to.

“Yeah.” I nod, not needing her to explain any further. The summer our parents died. The summer her Gram died. The summer everything between us died.

“My mom and I had been disagreeing about everything for a while before that summer. She wanted my career to go a certain way, franchises and brand deals and just everything that would make a ton of money. I didn’t want any of that. So we fought, and we fought.” She picks at a sticker on the window nervously. “Until we didn’t. She just disappeared. When she didn’t even show up for her own mother’s death, I had my lawyer try to figure out what the hell was going on. It wasn’t too long before we figured out she had withdrawn everything from my largest savings account and left the country. She still had access to it, as she had been involved in my finances since I was a kid. I never pressed charges because, well, she’s my mom. I think I was hoping it would just all end up being some big misunderstanding.”

“And that’s the first time you’ve seen her since?” Briggs asks from the back seat. He’s a calm man, but I can hear the anger in his voice and I don’t blame him.

She nods and we sit in silence for a beat, the sound of the truck humming all around us.

“I think all my apologizing might not just have to do with today,” she finally says with a deep breath.

I grin to myself. Oh, you think, Hollywood? I certainly could never have guessed.

“I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you guys.” I hear a sniffle in her voice, which I was not expecting. It breaks something open in me, hearing her get emotional. I swallow hard and reach out to take her hand in mine while my eyes stayed glued to the road. I know I can’t look at her right now or I might break down, too. But I squeeze her soft palm against mine and she grips me tightly.

“I was just so angry at the world. And somehow each of you let me forget that in your own different way.”

“Is that all we do for you? Let you forget?” I ask as I tap my left thumb on the steering wheel. Yeah, I’m an asshole for pushing her when she’s this vulnerable. But I’m not going to let her off too easily on this one. I need her to give me more than that.

“I wish that’s all you do for me,” she mutters, pulling Sunny in close to her body for comfort.

This conversation is getting intense and quickly. And hell, I’d say it’s long overdue.

“You never responded to me,” she finally says quietly. “After the accident, I wanted to be there for you. I knew I was probably the last person you wanted to hear from, but I couldn’t not reach out. And I understood, of course, when none of you responded. I thought maybe in a few months, I’d hear from you. But then I never did.”

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