Page 69 of Rough
Showing up at the crack of dawn seems to be the right choice, since Betsy always functions a bit slower until her coffee kicks in. When she steps out on her porch and sees the three of us leaning against my truck, she sighs in resignation. I turned the rental vehicle in yesterday, much to Trina’s bitching.
Which reminds me, I need to get her a plane ticket to head back home. Mom is about ready to hang her out to dry with the way she’s been lying around the house, whining at us and asking for things constantly.
I don’t remember her being this high maintenance, but we also never spent this much time with her. I’ve had to send her away from my room another three times since the first, and it’s getting on my nerves. Clearly, she thought something was going on between the two of us, much to my surprise.
The fact that we’ve refused to allow her to post any more videos is absolutely killing her. Two times she posted something, and immediately, Wilder logged into the account and deleted it. Finally, he did a video of him telling our followers that if they want to find us, they should head over to ‘Country Girl’s’ page.The screeching we heard was enough to convince mom to skip making dinner so we could take her out.
I finally didsomethingright.
“The hell are you all doin’ here so early?” Betsy’s voice is scratchy, like she hasn’t talked to anyone yet. It’s sultry and low, causing my skin to crawl with want.
Clyde pushes off the truck and walks toward her slowly. “We’re here to work. Just waitin’ for you to set us to task.”
“Good Lord,” she mumbles, then rubs a hand over her face. The door to her house opens and David, her PR guy, walks out behind her, stretching his arms over his head.
All three of us stand up straight, my arms falling to my side as I look between the two of them.What the fuck? He stayed the night at her house? I thought he was on our side!
“Mornin’, David.” The smile she gives him makes me sick, and I want to pummel him into the ground. Clyde looks like he’s been kicked in the nuts and Wilder is frowning so hard, I’m worried his face will become locked like that.
“Uhh… What’s goin’ on here?” I’m glad Wilder asked, because my throat is closed the fuck up right now, and I don’t know if I can handle knowin’ that Betsy has movedfullyon before I even had a chance to let her know how I feel.
David eyes us all curiously, then smirks. Stepping up next to her, he plants a kiss on her cheek. “Morning, Bets. Seems you’ve got some visitors bright and early.”
Clyde growls low, and I start moving forward. “Get your fuckin’ lips off her! What thefuckis goin’ on here?” I stare at Bets. “You two together?”
I hate the fact that her face flushes red. What I hate even more is that she looks athimfor an answer. David crosses his arms and stands at the top of the stairs. “I should say it’s none of your business, but no. She doesn’t have the right equipment. If Ididswing that way, though, I’d be whisking her off to the coast.”
“You’re gay.”
We all turn to stare at Wilder after his announcement, who looks shocked and relieved at the same time.
“Jesus, Wild,” Betsy mutters. I raise my brows at her calling him Wild instead of Wilder. Turning her back to us, I barely hear her whisper, “Sorry. They’re fuckin’ imbeciles.”
“Oh, thank God,” Wilder states to no one, bending forward and bracing his hands on his knees. “Jesus, I was about to have a fuckin’ heart attack.”
Betsy looks like a goddamn queen, her head twisted around to look down at us from her perch. Her peasants trying to make amends for the wrongs they’ve done. “Why the hell would you care? Stop bein’ melodramatic.”
David snickers, dropping an arm over her shoulder. Then, loud enough for us to hear, he happily says, “If you all are going to get to work, I’ll go grab my camera and join you. Thanks for letting me crash last night, Betsy. Glad we got everything sorted.”
I hate not knowing what’s going on. “What did ya’ll get sorted?”
They both ignore me. “It was no problem. Let me sortthemout and we can get started.” My eyes run down her body when she says that and I realize she’s all dressed up again, then snap up to her face and catch the hints of eyeliner and mascara, plus a bit of color on her lips.
“You’re wearin’ makeup.”
She raises a brow at me. “You’re wearin’ boots. What’s your point?”
My face scrunches up and I frown. “You never wear makeup.”
“Remy, is there something else you all need?” She sounds exhausted and fed up with me, so I bite my cheek to hold back my request for her to wash her face. It’s not that she’s not pretty done up like this, but I want to seeher.
“Just here to work.” Clyde and Wilder nod along with me, all of us waiting for our list of jobs. We know they’re going to be shit, but I couldn’t be happier than I am every time she adds one more thing, sending David along behind us to film.
There’s something stressing her out. I don’t know what it is, but when she rolls her shoulders and stretches her neck from side to side, I know we’re about to be dismissed. “Look, I appreciate ya’ll comin’ here every day. I see what you’re doin’, but I don’t have the patience for it. It’s not like you don’t know what needs fixin’ or done around here. Just… leave me be today.”
“What’s goin’ on, Country?” Clyde asks softly, but her quick look shuts him down.
“Nothin’.Lucy!” Her voice rings out loudly, and her dog comes trotting around the corner of the house, stopping by us for quick pats to the head before waiting on her. She walks to the door to hold it open. “Inside, baby.”
