Page 53 of Unraveled

“Drive,” Annie directed, her fingertips digging into her legs. “I’m not doing this here where she can see.”

I turned the keys, having to do it twice before the ancient ignition in her truck caught. “Where do you wanna go?”

We pulled up at the batting cages in Summer Ridge a half hour later, and I was standing behind the cage, watching in both awe and terror as Annie let her fury fly. Ball after ball cracked against her bat, soaring off into the distance.

This was my fault. All of her anger, hurt, and mistrust were on me right now. Not only had I refused to talk to her this morning when I’d been upset, I’d discounted every warning she’d given me against Ruby.Maybethat’swhy she didn’t feel like she could come to me about her nightmares.

It was eating at me to know she’d hidden how severe they’d gotten from me, but the more I watched her. The more I thought about it. It was on me. I wasn’t the safe space she could turn to about it this time.

And that killed me.

I waited until she’d smacked the last ball that came flying out of that machine, and when her shoulders dropped and the bat hit the ground, I opened the gate and pulled her into my arms. Her head tucked into my shoulder, and relief flooded through me. She wasn’t pushing me away.

“You ready to talk?” I ran my hand down her ponytail and rested it at her lower back.

Annie nodded and pushed off of me to go take a seat on the metal benches nearby. I sat beside her.

She scoffed, the sound sardonic. “I was just here with Tucker doing this.”

“Making up?”

“Beating out my frustration.”

I nodded, staring at her while she stared at the ground.

“We need to talk, Annie.”

Her head whipped to look at me, fear flashing in her eyes.

“Shit. No. Not like that.” Why in the hell did I say it like that?

The fear slowly retreated from her eyes, but there was a graveness to her expression that I knew I had to fix. Somehow, I had to make things right.

“You were right about Ruby.”

She scoffed again.

“I know,” I continued. “I was an idiot. I just couldn’t see it. And I’d just kind of figured that even if youwereright, she knew I was with you, so it didn’tmatter.”

“Newsflash, babe. She doesn’tcarethat you’re with me. She’s had her eyes on you since the first day she started at the shop. Do you realize that today makestwo timesthat she’s made an outright move on you, and you didn’t push her away?”

I frowned, thinking about that, realizing how last night came across so differently now when I looked back. “You’re right, but what you walked in on today… It wasn’t what it looked like. She scooted close when I wasn’t looking, and I was literally about to pull my arm away when you came in.”

Annie rolled her eyes, the look so intensely annoyed that my brow rose slightly at her reaction. “I mean it.Bothtimes, if you’d given me just a couple more seconds, I would have gotten her off of me. The second she got that close to me it felt wrong. Onlyyoubelong by my side,” I said when she looked away, hating the tension I’d caused between us.

“Sweetheart, I’m telling you I know I messed up. I should have listened to you, especially after last night. I was a complete dumbass. I let her become more of a friend than I should have with how much she bothered you, and I didn’t put you first. Please, forgive me.” All I wanted was to reach out and touch her. To know that we were okay.

Annie just stared ahead for several long, tense seconds before she sighed. “Thank you. I needed to hear a lot of that. I just wish you would have put her in her place when I first brought it up.”

“Yeah. In hindsight, me too. I just didn’t want to make things awkward if y’all were wrong and she didn’t really feel that way.”

Annie grunted through a sigh. “I get that, babe. On some level, I do. Iknowyou have to work with her and that you want to see the good in people, but you should have just trusted me. Ifyoucouldn’t see it,Icould.Tuckercould. Others could. You brushing it off every time just made me feel like shit. It made me doubtmyself.Because it wasn’t just with Ruby, it wasagainthat you weren’t putting me first.”

“Again? When else haven’t I put you first?”

She looked away. “Just forget it.”

“No. Don’t ask me to do that.” I took her hand, pulling it over my leg and lacing my fingers through hers.

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