Page 61 of Love, Hate, Love

“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll never make that mistake again,” I said, but the heat was sucked out of my voice, and it wasn’t just from the cold.

“Should’ve known better. Now you’re stuck with me,” he said. “You know, you used to like talking to me when you were upset.”

“I can’t imagine what changed that.”

He didn’t reply, and we fell into silence for a few minutes.

I tried to ignore his presence but couldn’t stop my gaze from darting to him. I’d force it away, only to have the same battle a few seconds later.

I saw his head dip for a second before he looked back toward the ranch, as if he were battling whether he should give me space.

“Whatever you might think of me, I really didn’t do this in an effort to embarrass you,” he said. His tone was gruffer than normal, like it hurt to get the words out. As if vomiting razors would’ve been less painful.

I might’ve thought it was his intention to torture me when he first said it, but no one could fake this level of unease, which probably meant he was being sincere. That made it so much worse, since now the only person I could rage at was innocent of the crime. If we hadn’t had such a rocky second start, if it had beenanyoneelse offering to host the wedding, I’d have assumed it was with the best intentions from the get-go. But nothing between us was simple.

“Why do you still look pissed? Do you not believe me?” he asked.

I let out a long, pitiful sigh that would’ve made Eeyore jealous. “I do believe you. That’s the problem. I’d been daydreaming how I’d go all scorched earth on you, how I’d ruin your life, and now I can’t. It’s hard when your dreams die.” I laughed softly at the ridiculousness of what I’d said.

“Don’t get too sad about it. I’m sure I’ll do something horrific tomorrow. You can hate me for that instead and renew your plotting.” He laughed.

“That is true. You are pretty good at being an asshole, so I really shouldn’t give upallhope.”

We were both laughing now.

“I mean, hell, you’ll probably sleep with my best friend the night before her wedding and split the couple up.” I found myself forcing the laughter to my own joke, as that one tasted a little too bitter. The easier he laughed, the worse it tasted.

“Actually, I could be a real asshole and rescind the invitation,” he said, this time not laughing at all. “I’ll tell Cassie that I forgot for a minute that I was an utter dick and I don’t make those kinds of offers.”

I turned to stare at him, gauging how serious he was. It might not seem like that big of an offer, but I knew Kade, or at least some version of him. He didn’t like to take back his word once it was given.

“Really,” he said. “I’ll say I messed up and she can’t do it here. I’ll figure out some excuse.”

“Thank you, but no. She’s too happy. I can’t take that from her.” Even if I wanted to for my sake, as I thought of all the people who would show up here just to see my fall from grace.

The silence stretched out again, and this time instead of animosity, we were in this weird place, like we’d taken another step onto that well-worn path but were watching for signs of monsters about to jump out of the trees.

“If you want to do one thing for me, all I want is to have a truce of a sort, at least for the wedding. I can’t handle…” The mass humiliation? The spectacle of it all? “It’s just a lot to do and also be fighting with you.”

“I thought you enjoyed fighting with me?” he teased.

He leaned back on his elbows, not an inch of fat to be found on his stomach. Why did he have to be so damned attractive?

“Only on my off hours. So truce until after the wedding?”

“Deal.” He smiled at me in a way that created something warm in my stomach.

“You sure you can manage that? I don’t want to stretch your goodwill out so far that you sprain something.”

“O ye of little faith. I’m a fast healer. I’ll bounce back to my asshole ways fast enough.”

He was still watching me, smiling, as if I’d agreed to something beyond a truce, and it was scaring the hell out of me.

Chapter28

Leah

Kade wasn’t awake yet,but then again, I’d even beaten the roosters up this morning. I walked into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. I might not have wanted to be at the main ranch, but there was no getting past the joy of having plumbing without putting on my boots.

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