Page 111 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

Draven truly was royalty.

He took my hand again as we walked from the vehicle toward the front. I didn’t say a word as our shoes moved over gravel and stone, like I’d suddenly entered into a spell that I desperately didn’t want to break.

He didn’t say anything, either.

The floral smell became stronger as we approached the front entry, and I saw it, now: wild rows of rose bushes, lining the outer edge near the grand, wooden double front doors.

Hundreds of red blooms, gently lit from the ground, surrounding the entryway. A few petals had fallen along the edges of the stone pathway, dotting the way.

“It’s beautiful,” I told Draven, my own voice sounding far away, like I was in some surreal dream.

“I know,” he told me.

There was a hard edge to his voice, though.

Like he knew it was beautiful, but that there was a world of pain below that beauty. A dozen thorns to every rose.

And I knew that was true for him.

He led me through the inside and I felt like I was only seeing one narrow path in a home that wasendless. Draven knew I was beat tired. He took me up a set of curving stairs toward a second floor on one edge of the home, and when he pushed open another set of carved double doors, I thought we were entering his bedroom.

It was another hall.

One thatledto his bedroom. Which was a whole new wing of the home, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows that lookedout on the mountains. I could see the horse stables across the land, from up here. Just the area for the horses was bigger than most homes I’d ever seen.

“Beautiful,” I repeated again.

Too beautiful.

It was somuch.

With every new corner, every opulent piece of stone or marble or lacquered wood, I felt something building in my chest. Something pressing down like it was crowding out my soul, or something.

Like I was becoming insignificant.

My throat tightened and I sat down in one of the tall bay windows, facing inside.

“Let me guess,” Draven said, stepping over. “You’re thinking it’s beautiful?”

“Yes, it’s beautiful,” I said. “And I’ve never felt so far away from home.”

I was surprised to see a look of pure sympathy in his eyes. Or maybe, it was true empathy. This was Draven’s home, but had he ever been able to truly settle, here? Even if he loved his land, his house, his horses, this place was tinged with pain.

He took off his cowboy hat, resting it on a bench in front of his bed.

“You’ve neverbeenso far away from home,” he said, coming to sit next to me. He exhaled, letting out a long breath.

The weight of it was on him, too.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” I told him.

Everything in my chest felt tight. All night, I’d been pulled in so many different directions, and now suddenly, I washere, like an alien in a beautiful world.

“Travel isn’t easy on anyone, babe. I recommend ten minutes in my sauna, and then quickly crashing to sleep in my bed.”

“No,” I said, more forcefully than I’d expected. I sat forward, putting my elbows on my knees and leaning over. “I don’t think I can doanyof it. I… I think the whole fuckingCocktail Bropage was a mistake.”

“Max.”

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