Caiden steps into her room slowly, and it dawns on me that I don’t even know why he wants to take her back to the mountain with him. I guess it doesn’t matter. He’s going to win one way or another. "Chapel, I’m not here to negotiate. You’re coming with me, end of story."
She lets out a sharp laugh. "I’m sure as shit not."
"Yes, you are. You’re gonna put on some boots and walk out to my truck like a fucking lady. No screaming. No fighting."
Chapel folds her arms and plants herself back on the mattress like a queen settling into her throne. Her chin tips up, defiance in every inch of her.
"You’re going to have to make me."
I exchange a glance with Hayden, and he’s still got that stupid helmet on. "Next time your cousin needs a favor, it’s Tristan’s turn."
Chapel sneers at Hayden and me, crossing her arms like she’s already bored with this whole thing. It’s an act, I’m sure she’s panicking inside trying to figure out how she’s going to get Caiden to leave. He’s not going to. He’s locked in on her, which is weird, because her older brother is Caiden’s biggest fucking rival. They butt heads and have never liked each other. “You look dopey in that helmet,” she says, scrunching her nose up. She really does not like Hayden and it’s the funniest fucking thing to me because clearly she’s still friends with Madi.
I huff a laugh, but Hayden snaps, “I could be home with my WIFE, but instead I’m here, but you don’t know how to follow directions.”
That makes me chuckle. Not because it’s funny, but because Hayden says it like it’s legally binding. Madi’s just his fiancée, but he doesn’t even blink calling her his wife like it’s already done. I approve of that kind of energy.
“She’s your fiancée, and she still has time to correct her lapse in judgment,” Chapel says, and I move to keep Hayden from reacting because the two of them could verbally spar the entire night, and I really just wanna get back to my girl.
Caiden steps forward and I think for a moment that he’s just going to grab Chapel and we’re going to have to make a run for the truck while she screams bloody murder. Instead, he pullsoff his cowboy hat with a rare flash of softness and stoops in front of Chapel like he’s offering her a prayer. “You’re coming to Castlebrook Falls with me,” he says, voice even. “If I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you the entire way, I will.”
He rests a hand gently on her shin, but she recoils like he scorched her, yanking her legs up and tucking them beneath her.
“Why would I do that, Caiden?” Her tone is sharp, unforgiving. “I haven’t heard a peep from you since you decided to embarrass me in front of the whole town.”
I…don’t know what she’s talking about, but the way his jaw sets, I know he does.
Caiden flinches. Actually flinches. My cousin doesn’t flinch at anything. He’s been stepped on by bulls and kept a blank expression. If you ask me Chapel’s words gut him.
“Because you need protection,” he says, standing now, “and I need a wife. Your brother is missing, and I think you could be in danger.” He threw that little tidbit about needing a wife like it’s nothing.
“What the fuck is happening?” Hayden blurts out and I level him with a look. This is just getting good. I wanna see it through.
Chapel’s face goes pale, but no one is saying anything. That fight she had in her eyes dims for half a second before I blurt, “You need a wife? For what? You’rethebachelor of Castlebrook Falls.”
Caiden glares at me like I just spit in his whiskey and Hayden is looking triumphant that I’m the one who pissed Caiden off.
Chapel’s voice is small, unlike I’ve ever heard her before. “My brother is missing?”
Caiden nods. “Suspected dead, from what I hear. But your family doesn’t know that yet. You know I have my fingers on the pulse of The Falls, Chapel. You might hate me, but you need to give me the benefit of the doubt. Come with me.”
She stares at him, eyes searching for any sign that he’s lying. After a tense beat, she pushes herself up from the bed and grabs the bottom hem of her t-shirt like she’s going to whip it up over her head. “Fine,” she says. “But you and your little tagalongs wait in the hall, unless you want them to see what only you have seen before.”
Caiden’s jaw ticks. Hayden rips the visor of the helmet down over his eyes. “I don’t wanna see!” he shouts, backing up and slamming into her dresser with a loud thud.
I laugh and glance at Chapel. “If you’re going with him, we’ll head out. Honestly, we thought you’d be screaming and throwing shit.”
Without missing a beat, she grabs a pink cowboy boot from the floor and hurls it straight at my head. I duck, laughing as it bounces off of Hayden’s helmet.
“Message received,” I say, flicking my hand at Caiden in a goodbye before stepping into the hall with Hayden who I’m sure is going to lecture me the whole way home about how the helmet was necessary.
LILAC
Callum pulls up to the curb outside my lecture hall, engine idling low, the rumble vibrating as I approach his truck. I can tell something's off the second I see him. His jaw is tight. Hands clenched around the steering wheel. Eyes locked forward like he’s forcing himself not to explode.
I climb into the passenger seat and close the door. The tall guy with dark hair who was guarding me today in class because Callum couldn’t gives a wave to Callum and then walks off. "What happened?"
"Winter found a note at the ballet studio," he says, voice clipped as he reaches over to help me with my seatbelt. He’s decided it’s his job, so I let him buckle it for me because I think it’s really sweet.
