Page 76 of Desert Heat

“Play one for me? Luke Combs… Going, Going, Gone…. It’s Savvy to a T. “Good things come and they go….. that girl is going ,going gone!’ I sang, my words full of fucking pain.

We sang that one two until our throats hurt. W switched dit off, just driving straight into the silence of the dark, cold, New England night.

PART ONE

PART II

Almost one year later….

CHAPTER 1

I can’t believeI’m still here. Stuck in winter. Wearing newer versions of the designer clothes my father had bought me last year. I’m hardly a material girl but I enjoy nice things and it’s fucking cold here.

My heart is still frozen. Suspended in time. At least it’s not thawed. Because anything that’s not ice; hurts.

Spring came after he left. Birds sang, buds bloomed. Life didn’t end just because we did. I stayed here during summer, took classes, maybe I’ll graduate early. Brandi moved out like she said she would. Girl is making bank between the bar and her socials. And here I am in late fall again which in Bradbury means full on winter. So much has changed and yet so much hasn’t.

Who knew Tank would become Brandi’s number one paid subscriber on OnlyFans? The man still haunts her.

I thought time would make me lovehimless. Maybe I do. But I still want him.

No other man has managed that so far.

I snuck home several times, never flying direct always landing at weird times. It was tempting to text him. Just to let him know I was within arm’s reach.

But it was too risky.

My love life wasn’t worth the bullets that surely The Club would let fly if I ever got caught.

Maybe it was an omen.

His name.

River Cruz.

Like a river he winded his way into my heart.

Turn by turn.

Slowly at first until the love hate game between us overflowed. My heart is torn. An ugly tear with jagged, bloody edges.

Love and hate.

Flipsides of a coin.

Love, I can handle.

But the way that fucker made his way into my soul is the part I can’t.

My hand gripped the sides of my phone so hard; I thought the pressure alone would make it crack. My mole sent me a pic of River with some black-haired bimbo on his lap. Her blood-red nails rested on his pecs right above his heart.

The same pecs my lips knew are soft steel to kiss. The same heart that I used to lay my head against, listening to the steady rhythm until I fell asleep. His dark hair was a bit long in the front with the wavy locks falling just above his brow.

My eyes narrowed.

This really is war.

And not just between our MC’s.

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