Page 43 of Between the Stars

Slouching next to me, she moves her leg and hits her knee to mine. “You know what I mean.”

“Not really.” I take a drink of my beer and realize it’s empty.

Josie hands me hers and retrieves another from her coat pocket. “Okay, well, if you want to be a dick about it, I’m thinking you kidnapped Abbi in attempt to get her to change her mind. And then left her at a gas station.”

“Congratulations. You figured it all out.”

“Why’d you leave her?”

I make a face, one that’s kind of disgusted and kind of annoyed. It’s actually equal parts of both. “She made her choice.”

“And you never thought maybe it’s more complicated than her calling off a wedding?” I stare straight ahead, refusing to look at her. “She has a job lined up, Jace. A good one. You can’t expect her to drop everything for a guy who wouldn’t give her what she wanted the first time she asked.”

“She’s the one who came back here looking for trouble. I didn’t force myself on her. She spread her fuckin’ legs just as easily as she went back to him.”

Josie’s lips press into a flat line, disappointed. Probably in me. “So you think she came back here to fuck you one last time?”

My heart beats faster. “Looks that way to me.”

“You’re a dick. She’s confused.”

“The fucks that I have to give over your opinion of me is zero,” I groan, not wanting to continue this conversation with her any longer. I know one thing I want. To not trust women ever again. Don’t ever believe anything they tell you. That’s my general assessment of women. But did she tell me anything? No. She remained silent. She didn’t tell me what Iwantedto hear, but still, my theory remains.

“Whatever, butthole,” she grumbles, rolling her eyes and pushing my shoulder.

My phone dings with a message and my heart beats faster thinking it might be Abbi, but it’s Morgan. Thank fuck. I don’t want to give up so easily, and I know if it’d been her, I would have answered, even when I said I wouldn’t.

Morgan:Can you check the back fence for me? I’m on the north side. Preston said a steergot out.

Me:Sure. The one between the creek and the bull pens?

Morgan: Yeah. I think Fender got out again.

He’s probably right. That fucking steer hates to be contained. You no sooner fix a fence and he’s plowin’ his way through it like boundaries don’t exist for him. I hate to inform him he’s about to be supper soon and his plowin’ through fences days are coming to an end. Me and Fender have some shit in common, don’t we?

Standing, I shove my phone into my back pocket and reach for my keys on the coffee table in front of me.

Josie stares, watching me move through the living room to the kitchen. “Where are you going?”

I reach for my hat and gloves. “Work.” Setting my gloves down, I finish the rest of the beer she gave me and leave the bottle on the counter next to the sink. “Something you should think about obtaining if you’re livin’ here.”

She makes a clicking sound. “Nah.”

Josie went to college and majored in business. I have no idea what she’s going to do with her life, but I’d rather she did it elsewhere. And not inserting herself into my life.

Inside my Jeep, hot air blasts against my face and I adjust the vents away from me. I think of her. I don’t want to, but I can still smell her in the Jeep, and like it or not, my mind goes back to the excitement on her face the night we left Tilly’s. Had she known she was going to cheat on him? Had it even mattered what I said, or did?

I think—no, Iknowshe never intended on leaving him.

CHAPTER15

Suspicion

ABBI

Don’t be suspicious. Don’t be suspicious.

You’re mad at me,aren’t you? Girl, I’m pissed off at myself for leaving Amarillo. But what was I going to do? Not go home? I can’t do that. Maybe when I was eighteen, sure, but I’m twenty-four and walking away from my life and responsibilities isn’t an option at the moment. I have to sort out what the hell I’m going to do.

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