My arm wraps around Mesa, and I lean down to whisper in her ear. “Is this bad?”
She leans into me, still looking at Heston, and nods.
“Maybe you should call the girls and let them know,” Gage says quietly.
I let her go when she spins out of my hold, pulls out her phone, and runs toward my room. Gage and I make quick eye contact.
Heston hasn’t said anything yet, but shredded pieces of paper begin floating to the ground. A card and what’s left of the envelope land at his feet a moment later, and he stalks toward the front door.
“Have you guys seen Savvy? I’ve been looking everywhere. She was just?—”
As Warren walks in from the hallway, his question gets cut off by the door’s deafening slam. He flinches back when the hanging coat rack slides down the wall and crashes to the ground.
“Jesus,” Warren scoffs. “What the hell is his problem?”
I move to pick up the torn envelope and card, realizing quickly that it’s a wedding invitation. After spotting Hattie Jo’s name near the top, I don’t bother reading the rest.
Warren’s face turns white when I hand it over so that he can read it for himself. The wrinkle in Gage’s forehead is as stressed as ever, and I inhale deeply through my nose.
“I should go after him,” I say, running a hand through my hair. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
He’s off to get some smokes and a thirty pack, I’m sure.
I hope.
There’s plenty of time to catch him on his way out of the convenience store at the edge of town. We can figure out how to handle a mental breakdown as long as he isn’t on his way to Hattie’s family ranch right now instead.
Mesa returns and slips under my arm. My hand slides around her waist as I think through a plan in my head.
“This is such bad timing,” she says. “But I really need to go home and get ready for my flight in the morning.”
Heston is my best friend, and the only woman he’s ever loved just sent him a personalized invitation to her goddamn wedding. But he’s also a grown man, and my number one priority is currently in my arms with her cheek pressed against my chest.
“I’ll drive you home,” I say with a kiss on the top of her head, then turn to the guys. “You’re going to have to keep him from smashing something and hit me up if shit goes south.”
“We’ll find him,” Gage says, pulling his keys from the bowl on the kitchen island.
Two hours later, I have exactly zero notifications on my phone. If something bad happened, one of them would have called me by now. I shrug and place my phone face down on the nightstand by Mesa’s bed.
She giggles when I roll on top of her and whip the covers over our heads. I scowl through the darkness at the T-shirt she’swearing, then lift the hem and dip my head underneath it before kissing a trail up her bare stomach.
“Get your head out of my shirt,” she squeals with laughter.
“Mind you, this ismyshirt. Little thief,” I mutter against her skin.
Lack of oxygen is the only thing that makes me resurface. Mesa shimmies the front of her shirt down and pushes the covers over my head.
My chin rests on the middle of her chest. Based on the way she was just laughing, I expect to find her smiling down at me. Instead, her eyes are shining with unshed tears. She looks down and lightly runs her fingertips over the chain around my neck.
I prop myself up on my elbows. “What’s wrong, Mace?”
“Nothing. Just having a moment.”
The tiny curve of her closed lips puts me at ease enough to shift my body until I’m lying next to her. I turn her on her side to face me. She tucks a pillow under her cheek while I smooth a hand over her hip beneath the covers.
“What kind of moment?”
She smiles fully now. “An appreciative one.”
