“You don’t tell me what to do, and she doesn’t owe you anything.” Phoebe spits out. “You fucked up Jamie… Like royally fucked up. And after?—”
She stops mid-sentence, but the way her eyes widen into a glare as her nostrils flare and her lip curls back into a sneer, I realize what she’s referring to.
Without a word, Oakley turns and goes around the corner of the barn, away from the bonfire area. The shadows are deeper here. The sounds of the party are quieter. I can still hear laughter and music, but at least here we’ll have some privacy.
Or, at least we would if the guard dog, Phoebe, left us alone. Muttering, she keeps herself between us. It’s clear she has no intentions of abandoning her friend. A stab of anger sinks into my heart. I’ve never given Phoebe any reason to think I’d betray Oakley, but obviously, she’s more than ready to believe I would.
Oakley stays behind her. Still not looking at me. Ducking her head, her shoulders heave with the sobs that slice me over and over again.
“Baby.” I sound like an idiot, and that’s how I feel. Like the biggest asshole to ever live.
How did I end up in this situation? Minding my own business, going over in my head how I was going to convince Oakley that she had to leave Skyview Falls and go to New York City, even if she didn’t want to. I was planning out the words that would let her know I’d love her no matter what, but I couldn’t let her give up the chance to make something of herself. I would have told her that my way out was to travel the circuit, but that it didn’t have to mean we’d be apart. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice Savannah sidling up to me, not until she practically had her tongue shoved down my throat.
“I’m sorry, Oakley. You have to believe me,” I say, my voice helpless and broken.
The moment I say the words aloud, I realize that I’ve fucked up again. Big time. Oakley hears that apology and thinks it’s an admission of guilt when all I was trying to do was tell her how much it hurt me to see that I caused her any harm.
“You should be,” Phoebe grits out while Oakley remains deadly silent. “Everyone knows Savannah Ward’s been doing her best to become a buckle bunny forever!”
Wincing at the unflattering slang term, Oakley finally says something. “Pheebs. Stop.”
“Not until you get him to admit it,” Phoebe snarls. “Chet just told me all about Jamie joining the circuit. You deserve to hear the truth right out of his ugly mouth!”
Frowning, I face her. “Admit what? I already said I wasn’t?—”
“Savannah’s been hanging around the rodeo circuit long enough. There’s no way you didn’t know she’d be ready to step up the second you left. Did you think you’d just be able to trade Oakley in for someone new while you’re off traveling all over the place? Was she just supposed to sit at home and wait for you?”
Oakley’s eyes finally meet mine and my heart sinks. This isn’t how I wanted her to find out. That’s why I was so distracted that I’d let Savannah even get that close to me.
It’s clear by the sadness in Oakley’s gaze that she already knew.
I broke her heart more than once tonight. I knew it was going to be hard to make her see how important her future is, and how going on the circuit would be best for us in the long run. I never pictured this look on her face, how she thinks I’ve betrayed her.
“Pheebs, I need to talk to Jamie alone,” Oakley says finally.
There’s no relief for me in those words, though. Her voice is distant, not a hint of warmth or love the way she usually sounds when she says my name. Speaking like a robot, emotionless and dead inside… Because of me.
“I’m not leaving you alone with this asshole.”
“Please.” Oakley’s brows knit, twisting her expression just enough that Phoebe lets out a heavy sigh of reluctance
“Fine, but I’m waiting for you right inside those doors.” She points, giving me a long, hard look that promises me a world of hurt if I so much as breathe the wrong way.
Glancing backward over her shoulder, Phoebe makes her way toward the barn doors and disappears inside. And as much as I’m glad she’s gone… It doesn't settle the uneasiness inside me. My eyes shift back to Oakley as I wait for her to speak first. Though I’m not sure I have the words I need to reply to her.
“I thought you said you weren’t going,” she finally says. Her voice surprises me with an edge of calmness that I wasn’t expecting.
“I never said,” I tell her, admitting at least one level of dishonesty. “I just let you think it.”
Her shoulders go up. Her jaw sets. This is the Oakley I’ve only seen a few times, determined and angry and ready to kick up a fuss. I’ve seen her brother Bo get her that riled up, and a few times her little sister Maggie, too. I’ve even known Oakley to vent a little bit in private to me when her dad was particularly stubborn about something… But she’s never turned that furious expression on me.
I’d admire it if it didn’t scare the shit out of me.
Watching her mouth work as she starts to find her voice, I brace myself for what’s coming. Because it’s going to be bad. Really bad.
“You should wipe off your mouth,” she says with a sneer. Her eyes skating over my face like she’s looking at a pile of cow shit. “I’d never wear that ugly shade of lipstick.”
Heat floods me as I scrub at my mouth with the back of my palm. It comes away stained with red and churns my guts. I’d jerked my lips away from Savannah’s the moment I felt them touching me, but apparently, not fast enough.
