by Piper Frost
“I see.” Kinlee laughs. “How long we thinking?”
“A week!” Kaydence blurts and they look at her like she's crazy. “Donna's not the only one with baby fever.” She sighs. “Chase has been go, go, go any second alone we get and I don't have the heart to tell him I'm still on birth control.” After wincing, she starts to laugh and I can't help but snort out my own laugh. These girls may not be as much of a mess as I am, but they've each got their issues. Kinlee's probably got the biggest issue. My brother.
“I hear that.” Kinlee shakes her head. “I'll work on him. Go ahead and plan it, schedule what you will. We'll help pay whatever it ends up costing. It's the least I can do for my husband kidnapping you.” She rests her hand on my arm and her eyebrows push together. “You're alright with this, right?”
No. Hell no. They don't like me because they want to. They're pretending to like me because they have to. I just don't see us all becoming the best of friends.
I shrug. “I'm kind of at...someone else's mercy anymore. I'm going with the flow.” I catch Jo staring at Kinlee, giving her a look like she agrees with my internal thoughts, but when she looks at me, she stands up.
“Great. You go tell the brute,” she tells Kinlee. “You go tell the bad boy.” She winks at Kaydence. “And I'll tell my step brother.” When she grins at me, I start to laugh again and shake my head.
It might not kill me.
We head toward the barn and I hang back a step because this is their idea, they can deal with the repercussions.
“Bo!” Kinlee yells, barging into the barn and I swear she just grew a foot. Everyone else is scared to death of the man. “Hey, I'm taking the girls to the spa,” she says, grinning and walking over to him, wrapping an arm around his side.
“Sure, darlin'.” He kisses the top of her head before putting his attention back on the saddle he's fiddling with.
“For a week.” She says it like he's not about to flip his top.
“Affton's here. She won't mind helpin' me with Bobby.” He smiles at her then me, but his attention's back on the saddle.
Kinlee lets out a laugh and lets go of his side. “Did you not hear me? I said I'm taking the girls. She's a girl, isn't she, Bo Hart?”
Catching on to what she means, he stands up taller, now towering over her. “Uh, no.” His eyes go from her to me. “She's my sister, not a girl. And she's not leaving more than a fifteen mile radius from me. You, Jo, and Kay can go have a nice time. Affton's fine 'round here.”
“She's my sister-in-law,” Kinlee snaps. “And you kidnapped her. I'm taking her to the spa, and I'm using your money to treat her to whatever she wants.” She crosses her arms. “We're leaving tonight.”
He pushes a fake smile on his face and takes her hand, gently walking her out of the barn. They quietly bicker and I look at Jo who's glaring at Brandt like she dares him to tell her no.
“You got something to say?” She tests him.
“Uh...” He rubs the back of his neck. “Have fun?”
“I always knew you were the smart one.” Walking up to him, she pops to her toes and kisses him. “Kay, call Chase! Girls’ trip!”
“I texted him.” Kaydence giggles and I study the cheerful girl. “He replied with six wide eye emojis and a gif of an angry bull. I think that's supposed to be Bo,” she whispers.
“What's supposed to be Bo?” Tommy walks in, setting his bag down and wiping his hands. “Hey, the goats are all tagged and ready to go.”
“Great,” Brandt says, still smiling as wide as he can but his eyes say he's terrified of the bull-headed man he's going to be left with when us girls leave. “So the girls are taking a trip, Tommy.”
“A trip?” Tommy's eyes flash to mine. “Where?”
“A spa.” I stare at him, wondering if he'll pull a Bo.
“Oh.”
Kinlee's voice yells from outside the barn. “I'll blue-ball your ass all month if you keep this up!”
Brandt snorts and Tommy can't hold back his chuckle. “Great. So...a spa? Like, for the day?” He walks over to me, glancing back at everyone else standing around. “You alright with that?”
My eyes are screaming no, but my brain's telling me to get the hell out of here while I can.
“I figured I'd have to check with the warden first.” I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. “Warden?”
“I'm not the fuckin' warden, Affton.” He sighs. “Can I talk to you for a second? Privately?” He glances back at Brandt, Jo, and Kaydence who are all standing around trying to act like they're ignoring us.
“Is it about Grant's babysitting wages?”
He takes me by the elbow and pulls me outside, yanking off his hat to run his hand over his hair stressfully. “That wasn't my idea, just so you know. Your brother's a hard man to deal with.”
I snort and roll my eyes. “Kinlee does just fine,” I point out.
“The man's pussy whipped.” He chuckles then shrugs. “I'm not fucking him. I don't get that pull. Look, I'm sorry about Grant. I wish I could have taken the day off, but with all the time off lately my dad was starting to get bogged down. I had to help out.”
“Stop.” I raise my hand and drop my head with a sigh. “You're trying to justify why I need a babysitter. Just stop.”
“Affton. I don't know what you want me to say. I don’t like it either, but you already ran back to the guy once. We're pretty terrified you're going to do it again.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and gives a slight shrug. “Maybe just... I don't know, show us that you know you going back there is a bad idea? Maybe show you're not mad that we took you away from him?”
I step closer and poke him in the chest, lowering my voice. “I didn't go back to him. I went back to my life. I went back because I had to.” I poke him again and move even closer, expecting him to step back, but he doesn't. “I didn't go brain dead by being in an abusive relationship, Tommy. I know what's right and wrong.” I poke him again, needing to take a few steps back because being this close to him feels right, and that's wrong.
“Good,” he murmurs, closing the distance between us. “So go on this little trip. Enjoy yourself. You deserve it.” He brings his fingers to my jaw, his eyes searching mine. “I'll be here waiting when you get back,” he whispers and I wait for him to lean down and kiss me. The scary part is I don't pull away, but the sad part is he doesn't do it.
Tommy's not my boyfriend or trying to fill a roll my worthless husband couldn't. He's my oldest friend and used to know me better than anyone.
“What if I don't come back?” I threaten, but I'm teasing. I have a feeling those girls are stricter than the cowboys they ride.
“You will.” He smirks, his lips finally press to mine and I grab his arms to keep myself steady. When he pulls back I want to ask what's going through his head, but we get interrupted.
“Hey, you... Shit!” Kinlee squeaks. “God, I'm so sorry. I uh... Forget I saw that.” She waves her arms in front of her. “Again. Worst timing, I swear.” Shaking her head she turns to walk back into the barn but stops herself. “Oh! We're leaving in thirty minutes. I gotta get Bobby to Wendy's on the way out of town. Then a full week at the spa!” she sings on her way into the barn.
“It'll turn into moms gone wild.” Tommy laughs. “You may end up being their DD if you're not careful.”
“God,” I groan.
“I'm kidding. Jo doesn't drink.”
I drop my forehead to his chest until he wraps his arms around me. I hug him back, not sure what we're doing, but I'd be lying if I said his affection didn't make me forget the abuse I've been through.
These girls can talk! They haven't stopped since we've gotten in the car. Luckily I’m used to bullshitting my way through mostly everything. When we finally arrive and get right into relaxing, I'm hesitant to expose too much skin because I'm not sure what bruises have yet to fade.
By day two, I unwind more, and conversation with the girls feels less forced. They're surprisingly more into my career
than I thought a bunch of country girls would be. I suppose I used to be a country girl, so why wouldn't they be capable of liking something other than...cowboys?
I'd be lying if I said I haven't worried about what's going on back in California. But each time we hit the spa, it's only minutes before my worry is melted away with skilled hands and soothing scents and music.
Day three, these women want to party. Jo doesn’t drink but she claims this is the longest since she's been pregnant so she wants to dance. Kinlee wants to unwind with drinks and not feel like Bo's up her ass. My words, not hers. And Kaydence...sweet Kaydence just wants to do whatever we want to do. I wouldn't mind drinks and dancing so after we play dress-up and the girls have me do their makeup, we hit the club.
I look at Kaydence who's got another glowing pink drink and the girl can't stop giggling to save her soul. I never pictured Chase Haring ending up with a girl so...sweet. Smart man.
“Affton.” Jo sets my fifth glass of wine in front of me, then hands Kinlee a margarita.
“Thanks.” I smile at them. “I'm glad we did this.”
“Hey, so...not to put a cloud over our party, but, won't he know where you are by your bank statement?” Jo asks and winces.
It takes a minute for my drunk mind to process what she means.
“Oh!” I start to laugh, feeling pretty good right now. I haven't been drunk in a long time. “No. We have separate bank accounts. We never did merge them. Thank god,” I mumble, realizing that was the only gracious thing he ever did for me.
“Good for you,” Kinlee blurts. “Men suck.”
I cock my eyebrow before taking a sip of my wine. “You've texted my brother sixteen times since your last margarita,” I tease her.
“I have.” She giggles. “Wonder if he'd end up here if I stopped responding?”
“God, please don't,” I grumble. “If I had a fucking phone, I'd text him and tell him to fuck off.” I take a gulp of wine before grinning at her.
“They still haven't given you back your phone?” She gasps. “I told Bo to give it back to you two days ago!”
“Can't give mental patients sharp objects.” I smirk before taking another gulp.
“Screw him.” She pulls her phone out of her purse and shoves it at me. “Have at it, sister.” She smirks. “I'm sure there's someone you feel like talking to. You know, that's not sitting at this table right now.”
I furrow my brows and stare at the phone she keeps sliding closer and closer to me. “Um.” I laugh when she almost pushes it into my lap. “You really want me to text my brother and tell him to leave you the fuck alone? 'Cause he'll probably cry to you all night.”
“Or...” Jo says and I look over at her. She looks from Kinlee to Kaydence, then to me and all three are giggling.
“You could text Tommy,” Kaydence says and the second she says his name, my stomach flutters.
“What's his number? I'll tell him off. I don't care. Tommy's just my friend.” I put on a show, but that's not what I want to text him right about now, five glasses of wine in.
“Just friends.” Jo winks exaggeratedly.
“No telling anyone off tonight.” Kinlee slaps her hand over the phone.
“I'm not going to text him.” When Kinlee gets up to go to the bathroom, Kaydence goes with her. Jo stares at me until I laugh. “What?”
She pushes the phone toward me again. “I'm going to walk across this club and find the DJ and request some music I know. If you need me...or anyone else, just text.” Another exaggerated wink makes me snort out a laugh and I throw my head back.
I'm happy we took this trip, but as I pick up Kinlee's unlocked phone, nerves make me start to clam up.
Kinlee Hart: If I had my phone, I could be texting you from it. Maybe more private matters.
I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but I'm drunk. This is a hall pass.
My phone dings and I pull it out of my back pocket immediately. These past few days have been worse than I ever imagined. For starters, the whole 'save Affton' mission backfired on me harder than I ever thought it would. Days in that house with her and she wouldn't even look at me! Now she's gone, and I know the girls are a tough crowd, but I've been worried sick this whole time that she's going to figure out how to get away from them and end up back in California. I felt like I may have been getting somewhere with her when she crawled in my bed last night, then she up and left with them! I glance at my screen and my eyebrows push together at the sender.
Kinlee Hart: If I had my phone, I could be texting you from it. Maybe more private matters.
It takes a second for me to realize this isn't Kinlee and I smirk, gripping my phone in both hands, and wonder how drunk Affton's got to be to be texting me from Kinlee's phone.
“What's with that look on your face?” Chase asks, walking over to my station. I slide my phone back in my pocket and pretend to clean shit up before my next client comes in.
“What look?” I ask, ignoring his quirked eyebrow.
“The one that says whoever was on that phone screen ain't your mom.” He laughs. “You gave her the phone back for the trip, didn't you?”
“No.” I wipe the chair clean for the third time since my last client left. It doesn't need it but it's a nervous habit. “She's textin' from Kinlee's.”
“Oh damn!” He laughs, crossing his arms in front of him. “So I guess things are going okay now?”
I shrug. “I don't know, man. She didn't talk to me at all for the first few days she was here, and after she spat all that shit at me in the car, then what she said when we got back to my place? I figured she hated me. I had all these ideas of her getting back here and realizing she never should have left me in the first place and they were pretty much crushed on that drive home. I've never known her to hate me like that.”
“So why's she texting you now?”
I smirk, hoping I know the answer. Last night was the best night's sleep I've had since she left here over a month ago. And before that...well it goes back years. Having her in my bed felt way too good. Having my arms around her, knowing she's safe? That's the best feeling, and I know for a fact it's been hers too. All these years and I can still read her like she never left.
Well. Most of her. There are some things about her I'd like to re-learn...
“Last night she finally talked to me,” I say, pretending to inspect the leather of the chair so I don't have to meet his gaze. He knows everything.
“Yeah?” He pushes into the room and sits on the chair, stretching his legs out. “You gonna make me beg, Barns? I swear, gettin' any information out of you about that girl is like pullin' teeth.”
“No, fucker.” I laugh. “It was about midnight. I couldn't sleep like usual so I was outside with a drink. She stumbled out in her robe, didn't say much. And...” I think back to how she looked at me, like her world was crumbling and I was the only one that could save her. It made my chest ache. All I want is to be able to rewind the last fifteen years of hurt. “I don't know. Something changed. I’m not sure I trust her not to leave me again, but something's different between us. She slept in my bed, I kissed her goodbye when they left. I just want it to go back to feeling like no time has passed between us.”
“But a fuck ton of time has passed, Tommy. You can't just ignore her issues. I mean, what're you planning here? What's the end game? She can't be a hostage here forever.”
“I know that.” I smirk. “I have a plan. Don't worry.”
“Is it a plan that's gonna end with you in jail?” He quirks an eyebrow.
“No, asshole.” I laugh. “Unlike you, I've never been to prison.”
“Hey, I've never been to prison!” He stands and strolls toward the door. “I wish you luck, young Tommy. She'll be a hard one to crack, but if anyone can do it, it's you.”
“I'm older than you, fucker!” I yell after him. He cackles as he leaves the room but it stops short when the phone rings.
“Disposable Ink,” he clips. “Yeah. No, no that's
fine... Yep, next Thursday is great... Okay, great, I'll let him know.” He shows up in my doorway again and grins. “Client cancelled for tonight. Looks like you can reply to that message now.” He winks and walks away.
I shake my head. I was really looking forward to that client, but that was before Affton texted. I close up my station for the night and head to the front, relaxing on one of the couches until Chase finishes up. We're supposed to have a boys' night tonight with Bo, Grant, and Brandt, but now I just want to head home and text my girl all night.
Yep. My fucking girl. I was devastated when she told me to stop calling her Beany. It hurt like hell when she told me she's not my girl. It took days of moping around, feeling sorry for myself like a pussy to realize everything she said was out of anger. Rightfully so, I guess. We did rip her from her life, but we had the best intentions.
I realized something last night.
She didn't mean any of that. Because the way she reacts to me. To my touch. Just to being near me? That’s not how you react to someone you don't want in your life. That's how you react to a guy you're suppressing way too many fucking feelings for.
I get she's scared. I am too, because I know at any minute her fucking husband could rip everything away from me. But I plan on making sure that doesn't happen. I'll show her what it means to really be in love with someone. I'll remind her how much she needs me.
And this magic dick.
Tommy: Private matters, huh? What would be so private we'd need your phone for it?
I smirk and groan, running my hands through my hair. Kinlee's going to read this. Hell, the way those girls are I'm sure they're feeding her lines right now and reading every response.
Kinlee Hart: We'll never know will we? Because I'm on my sister in law's phone. And her husband, my brother, probably reads her texts. The world may never know Thomas!
I laugh. It's like she can read my damn mind. It shouldn't surprise me, it's always been that way.