Page 20 of Wild & Worthy

That’s the decision that landed me here: Following his taillights down a Montana highway while he conducts whatever twisted social experiment this is, while my fingers drum against the steering wheel every time his brake lights flare for absolutely no reason.

My phone buzzes on the passenger seat. I reach over and snatch it up, expecting Hazel or Shae. Instead, the screen lights up with Cowboy Casanova.

I frown. "...What the hell?"

My eyes flick between the road and my phone. For one baffling second, I wonder if I've somehow put this contact in myself. Then it clicks.

That son of a bitch!

I stab the answer button. "Chace, did you change your fucking contact name in my phone?"

His laugh bursts through the phone speaker before I even finish the sentence. "Hello to you too, Sunshine."

"How did you even get into my phone?"

"You left it unlocked on the camp table while you were brushing Dusty. Amateur move."

I grip the steering wheel tighter. Lord help me. I won’t make it the next eight weeks without hurting this man. "You went through my phone?"

"Relax." He's still laughing. "I changed one contact. I wasn't reading your diary. Besides, there’s nothing but horse pictures in there. Not a nude in sight. Such a shame."

"You're unbelievable."

"And yet, here you are answering my call. How did you even know it was me, Addie?" I can see his stupid grin in my head as he continues to speak. “Obviously, you know the name suits me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have known it was me.”

I roll my eyes so hard it actually hurts. "I'm changing it back."

"You wound me. I think you can do better than Cocky Asshole. I mean, how about just Big Cock? That sounds much more realistic."

His brake lights flash again, and my jaw clenches. "Oh my fuck, Chace! If you slow down one more time for no reason, I swear to God I'll cut your balls off while you sleep."

"Wow," he pauses. "I can't imagine why you're single, Sunshine. Talkin' dirty like that really gets me excited."

AHHHG! Fuck him. I hang up without another word.

Two seconds later, his brake lights tap twice.

On instinct, I flip off my windshield, knowing full well he can’t see it. It still makes me feel better. You'd think after all these years I'd have figured out how to not let him get to me.

There's just something about Chace that gets under my skin and stays there, and the worst part is he knows it. Has always known it. Takes full and deliberate advantage of it every single chance he gets.

Hard to believe younger me had a thing for him. If she could only see me now. Even the thought of it brings heat to my cheeks, but thankfully, there's no one around to notice.

A dumb, twelve-year-old-who-doesn't-know-any-better kind of crush. The kind you get when you're too young to understand that a good-looking boy with an easy grin is not the kind of man you want. I got completely sucked in like every other girl in the county, which is embarrassing to even admit to myself. I'm fairly certain I have at least five old journals with his name written in the margins with hearts around it.

God, I was an idiot.

As the years went by, I watched him with a new girl every weekend. I started to realize what kind of guy Chace actually is—a man who takes nothing seriously, commits to nothing, and moves through life like consequences are something that happen to other people.

The crush dissolved sometime around fourteen, leaving behind something more like mild irritation.

Mostly.

If I'm being honest, I sometimes find him genuinely funny. The way he operates. The sheer commitment to it.

I huff out loud, laughing at my own admission. Enough. I'm done thinking about Chace for the next twenty minutes, at minimum. I crank the radio up until it's too loud to think, staring at the road, letting my mind go where it actually needs to go.

Sheridan, Wyoming. The next stop on the circuit.