Page 28 of Untamed
“She’s a slut.”
Or whatever else boys say to one another. Grayer discards whatever it is and turns away, giving me a view of his back. The fact that he turned his back on me upsets me a little more than it should.
Twenty minutes later and another few beers, Dani’s back and hands Grayer his keys.
“Took you long enough,” he mumbles, ripping his keys from her hand.
She glares, flipping him off as she walks away.
In that twenty minutes Dani was gone, I’ve stayed exactly where I was. I might not move the rest of the night.
My eyes follow Dani as she approaches me, walking around the fire and to my left.
Shit. Fuck. She’s coming over here? What should I say?
Act cool.
Simple, yet probably incredibly impossible for me tonight. I have been gawking at her brother all night.
Dani Easton and I have had a couple classes together—she’s the only Easton kid left around these parts. She keeps to herself for the most part and I can’t say I’ve ever had any interactions with her. Until now. She hangs out with Kade’s younger sister, Kat, most of the time. I guess that makes sense. Them being family.
She saw me watching Grayer from across the fire, and I think I know what she’s going to ask me.
“Why are you staring at my brother?” She sits down in the empty chair next to me. She’s waiting for an answer.
“I’m transparent.” I cross my legs leaning away from her, but I give her my attention with a twist of my head in her direction. And the only reason I do is because she’s his sister and I kinda want to hear what she has to say.
Dani looks at me, her eyes assessing and already judging. “I’m only telling you this because it’s for your own good. Don’t waste your time.”
She’s probably right about it, but it’s not going to stop me, regardless of her warning.
I give her a nod, waiting for the catch as to why. I know it’s coming. “You remember Selena Thomas, right?”
I nod, again, remembering the shy girl from my freshman English class who left town abruptly right after the Easton brothers did.
Dani sighs, taking a drink from the red plastic cup in her hands. “Well, she was raped when she was sixteen. She blamed it on Reid and Grayer who were eighteen and twenty-one at the time. She said they both raped her one night at a party. Never mind neither were in town that night, but she had her friends lie that they saw them and they were charged with statutory rape. My brothers have always been trouble. Especially Grayer. But they’dneverdo something like that. Ever. That year was the first year Grayer was riding as a pro and Reid was riding for the championship. It was right before World Finals and Reid lost his championship and was suspended from competition for six months. Same with Grayer. Then the little hooker came out and said she lied, and then left town, but it was too late at that point. The damage was already done.”
It takes me a moment to process everything she’d told me in what appears to be a vomit of words. I can’t believe someone would blame a crime like rape on someone else just because they didn’t want to confess who did it.
My eyes drift to Grayer, his back still to me. No wonder my age is a problem for him.
“Wow, that sucks.” I know, not the best choice of words, but I wasn’t sure what else to say.
Dani gives me a look, one that has me regretting my words. My eyes flicker from her to the setting sun over her shoulder. The light reflects off her golden hair. She snorts. “That’s putting it lightly.”
“True.” When I take a drink of my beer, my hand trembles. “Why is he back now?”
“Our dad died last month. Grayer came back to take care of selling the ranch. Apparently, Stanton owed your dad, so Grayer’s working it off for him. He leaves Wednesday.” She gives me a warning glance, judging me. “I know the way you are.” Her eyes are unkind, her smile bitter, pained, and she blinks quick. “Hell, everyone knows the way you are. He doesn’t need that bullshit in his life.”
What a brat!
Look at her, thinking she knows anything about me. I want to be mad, but sadly, she is right on some level. “You don’t know anything about me,” I mumble, shaking my head.
What right does she have to talk about me like that?
“We’ll see about that.” And then Dani gets up and leaves, never looking back at me as she heads inside the house.
Five days. That’s all I have with him and I know this bull rider will be gone forever. I’m not even sure why I’m so captivated by him. Just that I am and it’s controlling me.
My eyes burn from the fire. Standing, I make my way to the edge of the river where the pebble rocks and gritty sand meet the shore. Over my shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Grayer refilling his beer at the keg. I’m drawn to him in ways I shouldn’t be. I wonder what his buddy said about me, or if Dani told him I’m a slut and sleep around. After last night, he probably thinks I am. I had no idea he’d been through something like that and I want to apologize for lying to him, but he doesn’t want anything to do with me, let alone an apology.
Tears surface, the burn of the smoke too much even by the river. I look over my shoulder at Grayer. He’s staring at me. His face tightens, his gaze not meeting mine again. He sits down in a chair beside the fire now, rubbing the scruff on his face. He’s perfection and I can’t get him out of my head.
