Travis shrugs, slowing his steps like he’s never noticed it before. “No clue. Wanna hop over?”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Absolutely not. Besides, I think I’m ready for that drink now, or at least somewhere to sit down.” He holds his arm out, and I link mine through his, letting him guide me back toward the open fields.
It's absolutely gorgeous out here, the kind of breathtaking beauty that makes you understand why people fall in love with this life.
“So, will this all be yours one day?” I ask, glancing around at the land sprawling out in every direction.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you’re a firstborn in this family.”
“Wow, so it’s a generational thing. Like, passed down?”
“Goes back to my great-grandpa. Maybe further. I don’t really know. It’s just always been here.”
“That’s kind of amazing. You’re lucky to be a part of something like that.”
“You can look at it like that, or you can see a life you’re locked into because of duty.”
“I guess I can understand that… You can respect something and still not want it.”
He glances down at me, and his whole face softens. “See? You get it.”
There’s a spark in my chest, followed by a little jolt low in my belly. The first real one of the night.
“Thank you for bringing me here and showing me all this. It really is beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he replies, stopping in front of me and brushingthe back of his knuckles across my cheek. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since you walked out your front door.”
“That right?” I tease, breath catching as he nods, leaning in.
“Is this okay?” he murmurs, and before I can even answer, his lips find mine in a soft, sweet brush. He pulls back just long enough to wrap his arms around me, then presses in again, this time deeper. I’m not one of those girls with first-date rules. I don’t have a checklist or a timeline. If it feels right, I let it happen. If it doesn’t, I walk away. But when a handsome guy wants to kiss you under a sunset-lit sky, saying no just isn’t an option.
Chapter 3
Piper
It’s beensix months since Travis sauntered into my life with that cocky smile, and I’ve spent about four of them trying to figure out if I blacked out or just mistook red flags for sparks.
You know that feeling when you buy something expensive, and the second you get it home, you realize it was a mistake, but you’re too stubborn to return it? Yeah, that’s been my entire relationship with Travis.
Six months with Baby Crawford has felt like six years of watching paint dry in hell and not even the fun kind of hell with fire, demons, and drama. It’s the boring, soul-crushing kind where nothing ever happens except mild gaslighting, lukewarm sex, and being talked over every time I open my mouth.
At the start, I was trying to distract myself from someone I had no business wanting as much as I did. That, and I wanted to shove it in his mother’s over-contoured face that I wasn’t some charity case dating her golden boy. She hated me on sight, which only made me double down, and it became a pride thing after that. All I’ve been doing since is faking orgasms and ignoring every red flag waving right in my face.
I’m so over it, I couldscream.
That said, I’m about to spend the next couple of weeks at his daddy’s farm, and there was no way in hell I was missing that. A quiet stretch of land in the middle of nowhere, snow blanketing the ground, horses wandering lazily through the fields, and wide-open skies stretching out above. I can fake a few more smiles and play the part of a semi-happy girlfriend if it means swapping my sister's place for barn air and starry nights.
“You ready for this shit show tomorrow?” Violet asks from her spot on the couch.
“I committed to going up and helping, and I’m not about to break that.”
“Yeah, because you’re going for Travis,” she snorts, and I flip her my favorite finger in response. “Lie to yourself all you want, but we both know the real reason you’re going is to spend two weeks watching Daddy Crawford work that farm.” She hits me with a look so smug I want to throw something heavy at her face.
“Okay, fine. Maybe I’ve been looking forward to staying up there, but after this, I’m done.”
Yeah, I get it—I’m the asshole for stringing him along.
“Great, then you can finally bang his dad, and I can stop watching you eye-fuck him across the bar when you think no one’s looking.”
