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Just because my body wants to fuck hers doesn’t mean I don’t hate her.
“You seem to think that just because the low-cut tops work on ninety percent of the male population, the sex-kitten act will have the same effect on me. This thing between us is about your last name and the fact that I don’t trust you—and I never will. I don’t trust you with my family, on my ranch. I don’t fucking want you here.” I lean forward, my body tense as I try to get it through her head exactly where I stand. “You can spread your legs for each and every one of my brothers if you want, but I’d rather rot in prison for another three and a half years than touch you. I’d stay celibate for life if you were the last woman on this fucking planet. So, keep prancing around my house like I’ll give in one day and take you to my bed, but you’re wasting time and embarrassing yourself.”
Her normally tough, impenetrable expression seems to have fallen. Her eyes are blinking rapidly, wild copper-red hair spilling around her shoulders. A fleeting sense of guilt shoots through me, but it vanishes as soon as it appears.
I need her to hate me too.
She slowly slides down from the countertop, walking toward me. I don’t risk moving because my erection hasn’t fully subsided yet. It’s currently hidden by the countertop. She ignores me, taking her bowl to rinse it out in the sink. She carefully loads it into the dishwasher before walking down the hallway toward the bedrooms without another word.
I wait about ten seconds, steadying my breath, but as soon as I turn around, I can’t see her anymore in the darkness. A door clicks shut, and I have no idea which sibling’s room she’s in now, which is somehow more tortuous than having a wet dream about her, alone in my bed.
THREE AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER
“Where have you looked for her? I’m assuming you called her phone?”
“Yes, we called her. We searched the house and the horse barn,” Cash says. He’s always the calm one, and now is no exception.
“Do we have her location? I thought she shared it on her phone?”
“Rosie probably has it on Snapchat. I’ll ask her.” Duke pulls out his phone, tapping the screen and putting it up to his ear.
His little girlfriend has been up to no good tonight. I’m hoping her best friend isn’t in the same camp out in the cold, dark night.
“Let’s go look at the cabin. She couldn’t be far. What about the hilltop? Are any of the mules or four-wheelers missing?”
The four-wheelers and mules are ATVs, used for work and recreational travel across the expansive ranch.
“I’ll go check,” Sterling says. His big frame stalks off toward the barn we keep them in.
“Hey, baby. We were just wondering if you were able to find Dolly on her Snap Map. Does she have that on?” Duke walks a few steps away as he cradles the phone against his ear.
My little brother’s infatuation with the mayor’s daughter has been a thorn in my side for a year now. He’s painfully obsessed with her. Cash and I have tried taking him to the Strip in Vegas, local bars, parties, anywhere we can think of to distract him from Rosie Lou Dixon, using our old IDs to get him in.
He’s consumed with her.
I can’t deny that she’s fucking hot, but her bloodline should be enough of a reason to turn the complete opposite direction without a second thought.
“Oh shit. Okay. I’ll tell them. Thanks, baby.”
I shift my stance, getting restless the longer he takes. “What did she say?”
He turns back to us as he ends the call. He exhales as his gaze shifts from mine to Cash’s. “She said her location is pinging somewhere around the creek, the low crossing.”
I cock my gun, the sound of the bullet sliding inside the chamber echoing through the hay barn. “Let’s go.”
If someone has to get hurt tonight, so be it. I’ll do anything it takes to protect my little sister.
13
ROSIE
PRESENT DAY
Another week passes without a call from my mom. I’m desperate to hear her voice. I miss her so much that my chest aches. She’s texted me back periodically, but nothing substantial enough to ease my anxiety. Her coping mechanisms have never been healthy, but as an adult, I’ve grown to realize just how toxic they truly are. Drinking heavily every day and taking off with no warning or communication isn’t the way most mothers act.
Ever since having lunch with my dad, followed by my confrontation with Holden, I’ve been more than a little on edge. I finally sat down with my dusty laptop and started looking into nursing school again. School has been on the back burner for a while now, but after coming dangerously close to losing my job and the inescapable tension that remains, I’ve realized that my days at Redford Ranch are clearly numbered. I sent out a request for my transcripts and a few emails to school financial aid offices, trying to get it sorted out and begin the process.
“What’s on your mind? You’ve been acting weird for days.” Dolly sets four plastic boxes of organic strawberries inside the grocery cart.
