Page 69 of Smokin' Situation

“And where do you think you’re going without giving me a hug, Tristan?” my mom, Clara, teased, holding her arms open.

When I looked toward my brother on the front porch and back to her waiting, she lifted an eyebrow, and I knew I wasn’t getting out of this house without a distraction.

Shaking my head, I resisted the urge to punch my smirking cousin in the arm on the way past and wrapped my arms around the woman who’d raised me. She laid her head on my chest, squeezing tight, but keeping her arms around my waist and away from my scars.

“Someone told me you brought a date,” she said once she released me.

“About that…” I trailed off, but she crossed her arms, giving me a look I was very familiar with.

“Well, where is she?”

Glancing over my shoulder, I could barely see my brother ducked down near the rear passenger side of my truck, clearly trying to avoid being seen by our mother. Chicken shit.

“Is she out front? We’re really not that scary, Tris,” she laughed, moving to skirt around me on a mission to ambush my supposed date. “Why is your brother trying to hide behind your truck?”

“I’m staying out of this,” Reid laughed, hooking his arm with his mom’s and leading her out the back door. “Let’s go find you a fresh drink, mama.”

When I returned my gaze to the front door, my mom was marching across the front yard, my brother trying to escape behind another car.

“Jayden Lucas, what did you do now?” she yelled, hands braced on her waist as she paused a short distance away from him. Jay was notorious for trying to hide from people when he’d done something, so she knew the signs when he was up to no good, even as a grown adult.

“Why do you people always assume I did something?” he hollered back, and I laughed loudly, heading for the driver’s side of the truck. While I would love to watch her give him shit, I had a woman to convince that my feelings for her hadn’t changed.

“Because you’re an idiot,” our mom yelled back, her gaze focused on him.

Letting him provide a diversion, I pulled open the driver’s side door and started the truck, keeping my gaze focused on my mirrors while I turned around. My mom had stepped off the front porch, eyes lasered in on my ridiculous brother, and I considered his distraction a small token toward repairing the damage his behavior had done earlier.

Now, I had a girl to get.

OnlyafterIpulledthe truck up to the cabin did I realize a significant flaw in the plan to find Rhey. I didn’t know where the fuck she was—and she still didn’t have a cell phone.

I already knew she wasn’t inside before opening the door, but her presence lingered in the air. My eyes found her ruined dress hung over the lip of the kitchen trash can, the hairbrush she’d used this morning still lying on my nightstand, and her dirty work boots sitting on the tray by the front door which meant she hadn’t stopped here first to claim her things. But I couldn’t just sit here and wait for her to return.

Sitting down on my bed, I pulled up a text message with Reid, hoping he’d tell me where Hazel took her.

Tristan: She’s not at the ranch.

Reid: I know.

Tristan: Can you ask Hazel where she took her?

Reid: You gonna use the information wisely?

Tristan: Jay is a dick and you’re holding it againstme?

Reid: You were about to get in that truck and leave her there.

Tristan: I didn’t want to take my anger at my brother out on her.

Reid: You don’t run away when you love someone.

Tristan: Since when are you a love guru?

Reid: Since a woman chased me down for leaving before we had the hard conversations.

Tristan: I know I helped screw this up, but I’ve never felt this way about a woman before. Please tell me where to find her.

Reid: Answer the door, the cavalry is on the way.

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