Page 59 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

Fuck.

They might be going through with it.

I didn’t think he still would. Not with what I know. God fucking damn it.

I’m working on a plan, D.

Anything about Brody?

Brody is radio silent. He sure as fuck hasn’t spoken to me.

It’s weird, going from the 3 of us to the 2 of us.

You ever miss having a third friend? Our little trio?

I don’t miss a goddamned thing about Brody McGowan.

I almost put a gun to his head. Can’t say I miss him, either.

He can rot in hell. Talk to you later, Dom.

I set my jaw, tossing away my phone and grabbing a crowbar. I’d immediately started tearing down the drywall at the edge of the dining room, prying pieces off. The wall needed to come down, and now I needed an outlet that didn’t involve violence or very rough sex in this town. I ripped pieces of the wall away in large chunks, thinking of everything I’d left behind in Montana.

I’d shoved almost every thought of Brody out of my mind. I hated him so much now that ‘hate’ wasn’t even enough of a word to describe it.

Brody had betrayed my friendship, and betrayed Dom’s, in a way we would never forgive.

But even if I pushed away every moment of thought about Brody…

It wasn’t really about the house, or the wealth, or even the parties.

My father would have to take my life before he’d ever take my pride.

A lifetime of him treating me like I was the “mistake” of the family. Conversations I’d overheard where Dad sat in smoke-filled rooms and literally told colleagues that hehadn’t wanted me. That Xander had always been his moreseriousson. He’d always showered me with money, mostly to keep me placated and occupied, like a nuisance he paid to keep quiet.

He always gave me more money after leaving me with a particularly dark bruise.

I had no hopes for the situation in Montana to improve.

And now, the alcohol was working its way into my veins, tormenting me with every reason I shouldn’t have been getting close to Max Burnett, either.

You’ll hurt him, too.

No one can avoid it, from you.

Even the people you cherish always get hurt.

I ripped at the drywall too hard, a stray edge hitting my arm wrong and giving me a thin streak of blood.

The knock at the door had shaken me from the endless dark tunnel of thoughts I always ended up in when it came to my family.

I tossed away a piece of the drywall and made my way toward the front.

I swung the front door open and got an eyeful of Max.

My heart swelled a little too big for my chest. He looked so pure. Gorgeous.Lickable and delicious and—he fucking needs to get away from my goddamn mess.

I looked him up and down, glaring at him.

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