Page 51 of Between the Stars

I run my hand over my hair, laughing. “Oh, me too.”

“Stop yous complain’,” Sev says, handing me her toothbrush.

I look at the toothbrush and then back to her. “What am I supposed to do with this? You’re supposed to be brushing your teeth after you got us in trouble.”

She scowls at me, her hands on her hips. “I not wanna.” And then she takes off down the hall to her room, leaving me with her toothbrush and a “what the fuck” look.

Barron frowns at the space his daughter had been occupying and I realize he’s staring at the floor. “Is she covered in lotion?”

I shrug and reach for my jacket. “I nots know.” After kissing Camdyn’s forehead, I force a smile at Barron. “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

And then I leave. I’m in my Jeep warming it up, the frigid nearly negative-degree weather raking through me. This is the time of the year I begin to wish for our summers and heat, but I also think of Abbi and the way she looked in my Jeep the night when we went up to the canyon. I can picture it as clear as day, as if she’s right beside me again, on the verge of what we didn’t understand, and I wish I made a different decision. I don’t know what it is about us and cars, but every ending has happened in a car, and I can’t help regret the things I said to her.

Was it harsh to say don’t come back? I’m the one who pushed her away and just because I got an invitation in the mail didn’t mean she should drop everything and be with me.

She doesn’t love him, not the way she thinks she does.

CHAPTER18

Pull the breaks

JACE

If you don’t like blood, look away.

As my alarmblares in the background, I open my eyes and stare at my ceiling. I think of Abbi again and I hate that I do. Why is she controlling me so much? Right. Because she’sthefucking one. That’s why. Unfortunately for me, I want to forget she even exists, but I can’t. A lump of emotion lodges in my throat. I swallow it down, pushing the thoughts of her away.

I try not to think about her, at all, but the thoughts still come.

Every night, every day, they’re present, controlling, conflicting, and I can’t ignore them, no matter how hard I try. I haven’t heard from her since she left Amarillo that day, and every day it gets a little harder to not call. So I force myself to work and forget.

Do you think it’s working?

It might be, but sadly, not enough.

On the weekends, I work the ranch with Morgan, and sometimes Barron, but he’s been bitching out lately now that Kacy’s in the picture. Which is why the girls will be with me today. On the ranch. They’re a handful in general, but you add two kids under six on a ranch, it’s always something.

It’s before the sun rises when I make my way out of my room to find Josie in the living room with a light set up on her feet and taking pictures.

I reach for the coffee pot and my thermos. I glance at her and away again. Fucking weirdo. “What in the fuck are you doing?”

“Tryin’ to make a livin’ bro.” She holds the camera near her toes and clicks the button on her phone as if she’s getting live action shots of her toes moving. “Tryin’ to make a livin’.”

“By taking pictures of your fucking feet?”

“Yep. Only fans.”

Shaking my head, I reach for my keys. Remember when I told Barron, not my monkeys, not my circus? It applies to Josie too. The less I know, the better. Notice I’ve never asked her about Rhett? The last thing I want to know is any detail about her fucking my best friend. I’d rather forget I saw them fucking outside on New Year’s up against his truck. Stuffing a granola bar in my pocket, I pocket my cell phone, wallet, and keys. “I have to work.”

Josie continues taking pictures in the dark. “Don’t we all.”

Outside, there’s a faint change in the color of the sky. Chalky blues have turned gray and suddenly my thoughts are back to Abbi. I wonder what she’s doing and if she’s thinking of me.

Would it be so bad to unblock her number and call her?

Yes. Yes, it would. Stand your ground, ya pussy. Don’t bitch out so easily.

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