Page 133 of Riding the Sugar High

She cups her face, shoulders shaking lightly.

“There’s no choice, because there isn’t a single doubt in my mind Primrose is the person I want to be with. But this has nothing to do with her. We were done the moment you chose my brother over me.”

“I made a mistake, Logan, I?—”

“I’m not punishing you or...” I wave dismissively. “Whether he loves you or not—even if he’s given us his blessing—it’d hurt him. I don’t care if he’s done it to me, Josie. I’m not Aaron, and I would never, under any circumstance, date my brother’s ex.”

Tears create small dark patches on her jeans. “Yeah. And that’s why I’m in love with you.”

A bitter smile bends my lips as I turn to her. I think I spent the last five years missing her memory, before it was tainted by what she did. But seeing her for what she is is a sobering realization.

She’s selfish. Shecheatedon me. And the fact that she’d decide to tell me all of this once I’m finally happy, careless of my feelings, of Primrose’s, of Aaron’s...“I think you should go.”

Her face crumples at my words, tears flowing freely as she nods. “Okay. Yes.” She sniffles, then stands and looks around. “I...uh, I’ll?—”

“Aaron is waiting for you outside. I’ll make sure you get your clothes tomorrow.”

She doesn’t look at me this time and quickly walks to the door as if she can’t escape fast enough. It reminds me of old times, when she ran away from fights. When she avoided confrontation until it exploded and tore us apart.

Not Primrose, though. She’s not afraid of a fight.

As she darts out, Aaron’s questioning gaze meets mine, then he nods with a half-smile. He points at the driveway and, with a wave, walks away.

Go after Primrose, he said. And I will. There’s only one hotel in Pinevale, so it’ll be easy to check if she’s there. If not, I’ll go through every single hotel in Roseberg. Her stuff is still here, so she can’t be far, and fuck me, I’m going to find her and talk to her.

If I can punch Aaron in his face and reject Josie, I can talk to Primrose too.

I walk to the door, but just as I head out, the sound of a car engine comes from the driveway. My heart thumps as I wait for an Uber to show up and drop my Barbie at my door, but I’m hardly that lucky. Instead, the car parking in front of my house is a police cruiser with Connor at the wheel.

What the hell is he doing here?

“How’s it going, Coleman?” he asks as he opens the car door and comes out. His cold and calculating eyes twinkle with joy as he pulls his pants up.

“What do you want, Harper?”

“I’m looking for your girlfriend, actually.”

The blood freezes in my veins. “Primrose?” I scowl. “Why? What do you want with her?”

With a shrug, he thumbs his ear. “That’s none of your business.”

“She’s not here,” I mutter. I’ll need to call the lawyers again, won’t I? If only this asshole would let this go.

“Well, where is she? I need to see her right now.”

My heartbeat quickens. I’m sweating, but I’m afraid the sun shining in the sky has little to do with it. I think I’m panicking again.

Why is he looking for her? They have nothing on us. They have nothing onher, and if someone should go down for this, it’s me.

I will die before I let anything happen to my Barbie.

“Why are you looking for her, Connor?”

After a moment of hesitation, he picks his teeth with his nail. “Fine. I’ll tell you, but only because, though I think you’re a bumpkin, I’d want to know if it was my woman.” As if his sudden display of humanity wasn’t surprising enough, he takes on a severe expression. “We have a witness placing her on Derek’s farm.”

They...what? That’s impossible.

There’s nobody out here—who could have seen her besides goats and sheep?

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