Page 141 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

I helped Max get to bed, more sleep deprived than he’d probably ever been in his life.

He nodded off to sleep in under a minute. I sat at the edge of the bed, angled to one side in the only position my wound didn’t hurt like a fucking bitch, stroking his hair until he was breathing evenly and peacefully.

After I pressed a few slow kisses to the top of his head, I stood up, suppressing a groan.

I turned toward the front of the house and saw Lily, waving and smiling sheepishly from outside one of the windows.

I quietly made my way to the front door, stepped outside, and met her on the porch.

“Max texted me telling me you were hurt,” Lily said, glancing down at the wrapped area on my torso. “Are you okay?”

We went around to the front edge of the barn and sat on the two outdoor chairs there.

I told her the whole story. She covered her mouth in shock when I told her about being stabbed, and she shook her head.

“I knew Max had creepers on his page, but I didn’t know a couple of them were dangerous.”

“The prettiest people online sometimes get the worst types of attention,” I said. “Combine that with Max’s…generousattitude and him not knowing just how exact the location tags were? It was a breeding ground for bad actors.”

Lily frowned, her eyes searching my face. “I’ve been trying to… keep my distance. From whatever was going on with you and Max. Now I’m deeply regretting that.”

“It’s okay, Lily,” I said. “I wouldn’t have let you get involved, even if you tried.”

She swallowed. “I saw. Through the window. You kissing him.”

I pulled in a slow breath. “Yes.”

“I don’t like it,” she said. “Max hasn’t had a lot of relationships. He’s had short-lived things with girls, and he’s always been sweet to them. But Max deserves somethingreal, Draven. He doesn’t do casual. And until me, you were the king of casual.”

“I understand,” I said. “But I can assure you, there is nothing casual about my feelings for Max.”

She nodded, looking down at the ground for a moment. “That’s what I was going to say next. I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way I just glimpsed you looking at him. Max has never had anything like that. All I’m saying isdon’t hurt him.”

“I never, ever could.”

Guilt pooled in her eyes. “I know I hurt you, Draven,” she whispered.

She was referring to when I found out about her and Dominic.

She still didn’t know that I knew about my father’s payments.

“And I don’t blame you for a single thing you’ve done, Lily,” I told her. “I’ll never do that, either.”

“It’s over, by the way,” she said. “What me and Dominic had. I still care for him, like I’ll always care for you, but… it wasn’t right. Not after everything that happened.”

Now it made more sense why Dom had kept asking me over the phone how Lily was doing. Also made sense why he had even more incentive to visit Bestens, too. It meant that they weren’t talking one-on-one as much, anymore.

I groaned as I shifted on the narrow outdoor seat, the wound hurting in a fresh, new way all over again.

“This thing is abitch,” I said, standing up to try to find a better angle.

“I’ll let you go. Like I said, Draven, just treat Max right, and we’ll be okay?—”

“I know about my father paying you,” I blurted out.

Shit.

Hadn’t been planning on saying that.

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