Page 69 of Untamed

“I think it means she was afraid of how much she loved you,” Rhett tells me, his voice a bit softer than normal. It’s lacking its normal grumpy, asshole vibe. “We could all see it. You were the idiot that couldn’t. And when she showed up and went to fetch you from that bar… Shit, Hayes. She came back with you lookin’ like she was going to keel over with how much worry she was carryin’.”

“She loved you then, and she loves you now. Take it from an old fart like me.” Pops grins at me. “She loves you, son. That girl has a heart ten times the size of Montana in her chest, and I think she may have been afraid you’d break it all over again had she stayed.”

“And the reason she kept it from me?” I ask them. “The reason all y’all kept it from me?”

“Stubborn ass,” Pops says, laughing. “As far as the family goes, I can’t speak for everyone. But it seems like we all had the same idea…save you the heartache that would come from knowing she was here and left you. At first, I didn’t think you’d be able to handle that kind of heartache. You were already so far gone because of Addie.”

“You were worse off than I was there for a while.” Rhett gives me a sad smile. “We were all worried about you.”

“And then time went on, life moved on. You moved, dated, and lived your life. At some point, we just all kind of assumed it didn’t matter at that point.” Pops gives my hand another squeeze. “We didn’t know you were carryin’ a torch for her all those years.”

He winks at me, and I can’t help but laugh.

“I was always carryin’ her with me,” I tell them both. “Just took me a while to admit it, I guess.”

“Or realize she felt the same.” Rhett rolls his eyes. “She was so head over heels for you in high school I thought she would trip every time she took a step. Followed you around like a goddamn puppy.”

“So,” Pops says, steering the conversation back on track. “What are you going to do?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“That’s not the answer I want to hear,” he says, giving me another are you kidding me look. “Time to man up, son. You built that big-ass house, kept her in your heart the entire time. You grew up, got your shit together. Now it’s time to show the hell up for her.”

“You saw her.” I nod to Rhett. “How do I come back from that?”

“I’m not touchin’ that with a ten-foot pole,” he says, holding his hands up. “You gotta figure that shit out on your own. Your woman, your circus.”

“I think you both have a lot of talkin’ to do,” Pops says. “Relationships can’t survive if you don’t communicate. You think your momma and I survived this long just because the sex is good?”

“Oh, come on!” I groan as Rhett grimaces.

“No, thank you,” Rhett says. “Do not need to hear. Did not want to hear.”

“Oh, grow up.” Pops laughs. “How do you think all five of you came about, huh?”

“Jesus Christ.” Rhett and I are both unwell in this moment.

“Had to keep tryin’ for a girl.” Pops smirks at both of us. “Your momma wouldn’t let us quit.”

“Okay, thank you. Thank you for that,” I tell him, hoping he’ll shut up now. “I’ll figure it out, okay? I’ll fix it.”

“Hell, is that all I had to do? Gross you out?” Pops laughs again. “Should’ve tried that sooner.” His eyes slide to Rhett. “Should’ve tried it with you.”

“And I’m out.” Rhett throws his hand up in a wave and starts backing away.

“Fix it, son,” Pops says, pointing at me as he starts to follow Rhett. “And give that horse a break. You have no fuckin’ clue what you’re doin’ when it comes to breaking horses.”

“Or when it comes to women,” I hear Rhett mumble.

“Hah! Good one.” Pops slaps him on the back.

“Glad I could entertain y’all for a bit!” I call out to them.

Pops just waves.

Now to figure out how in the hell to fix this shit.

I slept in my Jeep, and let me tell you, it was not comfortable. There wasn’t enough room to lay down the back seats and make a type of bed, so I just had to recline the seat and hope for the best. I didn’t know where to park it so I wouldn’t be disturbed, so I just drove out to the nearest campsite and hoped I’d be left alone.

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