Page 42 of August’s Cowboy Braxton

Torin looked toward the cruiser. “People can believe a lot of things while they’re hurting somebody.”

Addison went quiet.

“The notebook and album come with me,” he said. “I’ll get copies to Morgan.” Then he pointed toward my truck. “Go home.”

Addison opened her mouth.

“No.”

She frowned.

“You can argue with me tomorrow.”

She muttered something under her breath. I caught bossy. Apparently, Torin did too.

“Runs in the family,” he said.

That almost made her smile.

We walked toward the truck together. Ash smudged Addison’s cheek. Her hair smelled like smoke. She didn’t have a crown or a sash. Still, she’d never looked more beautiful or brave than she did at that moment.

When I opened the passenger door, she didn’t get in. She looked back at Evie. “She was there for everything.”

I waited.

“My first title. My first interview. The first time a sponsor made me cry because I didn’t know how to tell him to stop touching me without making somebody angry.”

My jaw tightened.

“She told me I’d learn.” Addison gave a small, humorless laugh. “I thought she meant I’d learn how to stand up for myself.”

“Maybe she taught you what she knew.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No.”

She looked at me. “I keep wanting there to be a version where she thought she was protecting me.”

“There probably is.”

“That might be worse.”

I couldn’t argue. She climbed into the truck.

We were halfway to the ranch before she spoke again. “You waited.”

I glanced at her.

“Outside the trailer. I know how much you hated it.”

Every second. “I trusted you.”

Her head turned toward me. “And when you froze, you listened.”

I reached across the console. She slipped her hand into mine. “You saw something I didn’t,” I said.

“I was trapped in a burning trailer. I was highly motivated.”