AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Small town, Dakota.” Ella rolls her eyes as she sits down in the chair across from me.
“Whiskey Falls isn’t that small.”
“Well, no. Not compared to other places around here, but still—people talk. Women talk. Plus, my brother’s is in the rodeo, and he knows about the girls Chance is usually seen with. They all talk when they get their hearts broken.”
“What do you mean?” I sit up straighter, taking an interest in what she might know about Chance that I don’t.
“Well, Kody is the typical man, so he doesn’t listen to their talk too much, but he gathered that Chance would have his fun and leave them. Never stayed much longer than what he wanted.”
“I see.” I look down at the card in my hands. I figured it was a big deal for Chance to ask me to stay. He’d held me tight to him, except to wake me in the middle of the night for round two. And then again, first thing Sunday morning for round three. I’ve never felt so exhausted and elated at the same time as when Chance finally drove me home late Sunday afternoon.
I knew it had been a big step for him to spend so much time with me. I just hadn’t realized how big.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be bringing up his exes with you.” Ella places her hand on top of mine. “It was thoughtless of me. I know I would hate it if someone kept bringing up Greyson’s ex to me, even though I know all about it and we’ve dealt with it.”
And did she ever. I remember her talking last year about how Greyson’s ex-fiancée had come and stirred up trouble for them when they were first getting serious. Thank God that worked out.
“No, it’s okay.” I give her a weak smile. “It’s not like I didn’t know he had a past.”
“Still.” She stands, giving me a sad look. “He seems different with you.”
“Do you know him?” I’m genuinely curious. Ella has never mentioned his name before now, and I highly doubt she’s ever been swept up in the likes of Chance Declan. She seems too sweet—and too smart—to even try.
Plus, now that she’s head-over-heels married to Greyson, I know her interest in Chance is nothing more than small town gossip.
“No, just from town and rodeo events. You don’t grow up in Whiskey Falls and not at least know of everyone, even if you don’t know them personally. And the Declan family is pretty well known around here. I just mean, from what I see, you’re not like his usual buckle bunny hanging off his arm.”
“I’m not a buckle bunny,” I say sternly, while recalling Chance calling me the ‘anti-buckle bunny.’ I try to hide my wince as the all-too-familiar stab in my heart reminds me that I’m not good enough to be one of his ‘usuals.’
“I know that.” She hides a smile by biting her lip. “You seem different, too, you know? Since you stepped out with him publicly, you look—happier.”
“Thank you.” I don’t know how to take that.
On one hand, it means that what we’re doing is working. People in town believe that we are a real happy couple and not just faking it with an expiration date.
On the other hand, am I also deceiving myself? Am I letting my own guard down too much in the name of our agreement?
“I’ll let you get back to work,” she says, standing up from her chair. “I’m really happy for you, Dakota. I’m not just saying that because I’m a newlywed and want everyone to be as happy as Greyson and I are. You truly deserve it, especially after everything that happened.”
With a smile, she turns and leaves me alone, closing the door behind her.
I run my finger along the petal of a rose, thinking about her words.
I don’t know if what I feel is happy, but I feel a shift in me I’ve never felt before. Maybe I don’t know what true happiness feels like. I thought I had it with Laughlin and look where that landed me.
There’s no way I could possibly be happy with Chance, is there? He’s the complete opposite of everything I thought I wanted in life. High-strung. Self-centred.
But then here was another side to him I saw on the weekend. A side that he maybe doesn’t show very many people, if anyone. A side that I could get used to.
Feeling the soft petals along my skin reminds me of his hands on me. While his hands weren’t anything like a flower, he treated me just as gently as I’m doing with the rose.
Well, until he wasn’t. The thought of those times made my cheeks heat and my core tighten.
I give my head a shake and drop my hand to my lap, recoiling as if I were burned. I have no right thinking of Chance like that, of us like that. We have an end date, and there will be no Chance or us after the rodeo. I need to smarten up and remind myself of that instead of getting caught up in fantasies. Reality is where my head needs to be. The reality that I’m nothing to Chance but a way to save his place within the rodeo and a way to let off steam.
Sitting up straighter, I vow that I’m going to remember that going forward, or I may not make it out of this agreement unscathed.
Chapter Fifteen
