“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Todd closed his hand around my biceps. “I’m talking about a certain someone’s wife leaving them today.”
I yanked my arm away, the skin across my face feeling like plastic. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I know, okay? More people in this town know about your affair than you think.”
“You’re asking around town about me?”
“You live in a small town, Matty. People are going to gossip.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” I shook my head in disbelief. “We agreed before this thing started that it was temporary.”
“But I wanted to see if it could become more.”
Without a word, I picked up my shoes, not evenbothering to put them on. He’d crossed the line. For someone as private as I was, the idea that he went behind my back, digging into my secrets—four-year-old secrets I fought every day to keep in the past—left my mouth filled with sourness.
“Your silence says everything, Matty. Do you think Hudson’s available now that his wife left him?”
The name cracked through me like a whip.
I pointed at him. “Don’t. You had no right to interfere with my past.”
“Except he’s not your past, is he? Look at the way the mention of him affects you.”
“Hudson means nothing to me!” I shouted, doubling my hands into fists. “Don’t say his name again to me.”
“He fucking works at your ranch.”
“As another ranch hand. Nothing more.” I shook my head. “Why the hell am I explaining myself to you? See you around, Todd.”
I grabbed my keys off the nightstand and stormed out of the house.
“Matty!” Todd ran after me. “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s my fault for having any hope you might be interested in me, and I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean to pry so far back into your past. Matty, please.”
At the front door, I paused and let out a deep breath. “Forget it.”
“I don’t want you to see me as the enemy. It’s a small town. We’re bound to run into each other. We can at least say hello across the food aisle, can’t we?”
I unhinged my jaw, unclenched my fists, and glanced over my shoulder. Hating one person was enough. I didn’t want another conflict with someone I slept with. There was already one man before Hudson I tried to avoid likethe plague, and that was hard to do in a small town like ours.
I gave him a nod. “I’ll say hello from across the aisle.”
Todd smiled, but his eyes looked glassy. “Good. I’ll see you around, then. Take care of yourself, Matty. I hope one day you’ll open yourself to being loved again.”
Christ.
I slammed the door shut behind me and walked right into the unexpected rain. Cold pinpricks bit into my skin as I shoved my feet into my sneakers without socks. I didn’t care. I needed to get the hell out of there.
I ran to my truck, water slicking my arms, shirt sticking to my back, gravel sharp beneath my soles. The cab door slammed loudly as I shut the rain out. I started the engine with a rough twist, tires spitting up muddy water as I peeled out of Todd’s driveway.
I didn’t have a destination. I just needed to get away from Todd’s question burning in my skull.
Do you think Hudson’s available now that his wife left him?
Wipers thumped. Headlights cut through sheets of rain. My jaw ached from clenching, and my fingers wouldn’t let go of the steering wheel. I took a left, then another, too focused on the road to think.
Todd’s question was asinine. I wanted nothing at all to do with Hudson Granger. He’d broken my heart in the worst way possible, and seeing him almost every day for the past year only made the feeling of hate in my gut grow.
