Page 64 of Winter Wishlist
“You asshole.” I lurch forward, about to shove a finger into his chest, or better yet, claw his face, but Reid catches me. He holds me firm by my waist, but that doesn’t stop me from verbally getting right in Dale’s grill. “That was all your doing. You lied to me about being married. You were the one who pursuedme.”
Heat stings the backs of my eyes. I hate that no matter how crude, what he said is the truth, and that’s a fact I have to live with. He did get me to meet him in a parking lot for our first time doing anything physical together… ugly as the memory is for me. He told me it was a fantasy of his. He wore me down until the point I agreed.
I sucked his cock. He didn’t even touch me, didn’t even kiss me—no guy wantsthatafter a blow job, apparently—all he did was drop me two blocks from my house, and said he’d text in the morning.
Afterward, I felt nothing but ashamed in the shower, trying to scrub away the skin-crawling feeling I’d been left with.
He love-bombed me non-stop for a week following that day.
Any hesitation I felt, or whispers in the back of my mind that I should block him and move on, were overrun. Sending me flowers, texting all the time, he was persistent to the point I believed it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I gaslit myself into thinking that was acceptable behavior. Just a few quirks in his way of showing affection.
So I put up with the rendezvous at strange hours of the night. The random disappearances. The hot and cold attitude.
Guys don’t commit easily, do they?
Now, here I stand, knowing the opposite is true. These two men have shown me more affection and respect in two days than this man could ever.
“You always were such a miserable waste of space… now you’ve had to stoop to this level? Following me around? Making up a whole ass boyfriend just so you could ruin my engagement? God. How pathetic. Did they pay you to be their cheap little whore for the holidays?”
Reid steps forward, shoving me behind him and into Henri’s arms. This man doesn’t just ripple with protective energy; he quite possibly might tear Dale limb from limb.
Dale blanches ever so slightly, but tries to cover it up with more hot air and bluster. Compared to Reid, the pathetic little piece of shit he is becomes starkly apparent.
“I knew I smelled something rotten. Firstly, you turn up with a country hillbilly as aboyfriend? Then you’re getting all cozy withhim?” He sneers at Henri. “Man to man? Cut your losses while you can; that’s my advice. This little bitch already broke up one marriage. She’s nothing but a pathetic, sad leech. She’ll try to bleed you dry. Now she’s trying to do the same thing all over again, following me here? Hooking her claws into the first opportunity she saw with the two of you?”
My stomach sours. He’s a foul person, but he’s right. That’s my secret shame to carry around. I knew the guy was a cheater, and yet I allowed him into my life. All that guilt closes tight barbs around my throat. I was theother woman, and it stings like a bitch that I didn’t stand up for myself or walk away at the first hint of a red flag.
But knowing what I know now? Knowing how he’s already engaged to someone new, who he must have already been with at the same time as he was manipulating me? It’s plain as day to me now. I wasn’t the one who broke up his first marriage. That’s nothing to do with me, and everything to do withhim.
Reid tucks his hands into his pockets, but fills the space and seems to grow by at least three extra feet as he does so. His massive frame is imposing as hell, without needing to throw around threats or descend into violence.
“Might I suggest, if you know what’s good for you, that you get the fuck out of Mistwood Falls. You’re not welcome here, your money is no good in this town, and you certainly have outstayed your welcome at the ranch.”
Dale scoffs. “Doesn’t matter what you threaten me with. None of you will be working there much longer. Think I came here only because this is a place for a vacation? I’m about to seal a proposal to purchase the ranch property. I’ve got a meeting scheduled to sign the contract tomorrow. The lot of you are just goddamn backwater inbreds who don’t know how to make money with all that land going to waste. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find a job at a dollar store and a trailer park to live in somewhere the next town over.”
My heart lurches. Oh my god. He can’t do this to them; he surely can’t take away Reid’s job and evict them from their home, just like that?
I start wriggling against Henri’s arm, banding me to his front, but instead of the reaction I might have expected—insteadof the anger this asshole deserves to be flayed with—the man at my back starts laughing.
Reid begins to chuckle also, much more darkly, but it’s a raspy laugh coming from him all the same.
My panic churns with confusion.
“I think you’ll find your deal was never going to beon,” Reid says with ice in his tone.
“What the hell would you even know? You’re just some ranch hand who’s lost without the stench of horse shit sticking to you.”
Henri tuts. “Now, you’re really just trying to piss me off. First, you think you can get away with insulting Mia? Then you think you can talk to my guy like that?” His hold is firm, banded around my front as he keeps his voice even. “There was never any offer, never a deal. But it was fun to watch you piss all over yourself thinking you had a chance.”
Dale splutters, his face going redder by the second.
“I’ve got a meeting with Mr. Marcotte, the landowner, tomorrow?—”
“Well, consider this our informal meeting, where I tell you to fuck right off.”
Steam begins pouring out of his ears. “You’re the person I’ve been pitching?” He sounds ready to pop a blood vessel. “Like I would ever believe that. Look at you.” He scoffs.
Reid takes a step forward. “Wanna carefully reconsider your next words?”
