Page 123 of Ridin’ Dirty

He waited for a lull in the conversation, then leaned forward, his slight movement causing the gravel to crunch beneath his boots, earning him my attention—exactly what he was after. He dipped his chin, subtly nodding toward me before he drawled, “See you found your way.” He paused, raised his beer, and added, “Good for you,” then drank.

A toast.

For me.

I didn’t know what to say.

To my surprise, Twister spoke up next, saving me from having to think of something.

“Last time I saw you, you were in cuffs. Surprised the hell out of me to find you here, sportin’ that ring.”

My body betrayed me, my spine stiffening at his first word aimed in our direction, but Riley didn’t miss a beat. He tightened his hold around me and shot back, “Yeah, well, last I heard you’re a dad. Never saw that comin’.”

I watched, completely and utterly fascinated, as Twister’s expression softened in a way I’d never seen before.

He breathed a quiet laugh then announced, “Got another on the way.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Phoenix was pregnant again,” chimed in Viv. “Congratulations.”

The conversation shifted from there, but I didn’t follow it, stuck in the previous one.

It wasn’t so long ago that I forgot what it felt like to hear her name. I resented her as much as I envied her. Back then, I was convinced she stole him from me and he let her. But there was something about the look on his face—the contentment Twister found in the family he was making with Phoenix—I didn’t even feel the residue of resentment. For the first time, I understood she was meant for him, and I would likely never have found the man meant for me had the two of them not sent me running.

As the night wore on, the party inside grew rowdier, like they always did. Rather than feed the fire, we let it die, giving us the excuse to join the others. But as we got up, Riley circled his arm around my waist, pulling me close, my back pressed against his chest. He lowered his face until his lips grazed my ear.

“Had enough company for one night. Give me a few minutes with my girl, then I’m takin’ you to bed.”

More than happy to oblige, I agreed, took his empty beer bottle, and followed the others inside. I went straight for the bar, intent on tossing our bottles in the bin. No sooner were my hands empty than Twister appeared, propped up against the corner of the bar.

“Hey,” he said, only loud enough for me to hear him over the music.

It was the first time he spoke directly to me all night—but no one was paying attention to us, so I didn’t think he intended to cause a scene, exposing me as he once warned he could.

“Hey,” I called back tentatively.

He leaned against the elbow closest to me, shortening the distance between us. I could smell him—the cedar and amber filling my nose like a flashback to another time in another place.

“You seem happy.”

I flinched away from him in surprise, wishing to see his face. Like he had been all night, it read nothing short of cordial, so I offered him my honesty in return.

“I am.”

“I’m glad. I mean that.”

He rapped his knuckles against the bar top twice before he walked away. My eyes followed him on his journey to the game of pool on the far side of the room.

While I was taken aback by his comment, it wasn’t as simple as surprise. In a way I didn’t know I needed, it felt as though he’d released me—freed me from the shame and guilt I carried. He knew, better than most, the lengths I went to earn his attention. And in the end, it disgusted him.

But his acceptance of me now left me unburdened.

Fact of the matter was, he didn’t know me. Not really. Not now and not then. What we had, what we shared, it was shallow. I somehow built so much of who I was around a situationship—something that was never going to be as real as I wanted it to be. Understanding that, I could leave the past where it belonged.

What Viv told me was right. What mattered more than who I once was, was who I wanted to be—the woman I intended to be.

I was choosing this path. I was choosing to be Mrs. Wells, and there was no power left in my history to haunt me anymore.

He was behind the bar at the clubhouse, cleaning up after the previous night. He didn’t exactly consider himself the tidying kind, but it was what he did when he wanted to be left alone to think. Recent events had given him his fair share of reasons to ponder his life choices.