Page 75 of Where She Belongs

Alexander sneered with triumph. “Finally, you’re going to get what’s coming to you.” He turned to face Rylee. “Have you asked him yet? Shown him the picture?”

Her mouth fell open. Tate’s attention flickered to her then to the house. It was entirely possible that they had an audience at this point. The girls inside weren’t exactly known for minding their business when it came to matters of the heart. Rylee had heard more than enough about each of their love stories to last a lifetime.

She swallowed hard and dug her fingernails into her arms. “Alex, enough.”

He ignored her and trailed down the steps to get closer to Tate. “You think you’re untouchable, don’t you? That you can float through life dating one woman after another without suffering the consequences. But you can’t.”

Tate’s eyes narrowed into a scowl as they landed on Alexander. He wasn’t rising to the bait, however, and Rylee didn’t know what to think about that. The control he was showing did something to her insides, especially with Alexander losing his cool a little more with every step. He looked absolutely feral.

“A gentleman doesn’t move on from something when they know they have it good.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Tate gritted out, no longer looking in her direction. “But a gentleman also doesn’t chase after a girl when she’s made it clear she’s not interested.”

Alexander scoffed. “You think she’s not interested? Then why has she let me pay her a visit multiple times?”

Tate’s eyes cut over to where she stood. There was a flicker of uncertainty, but it was doused as fast as it arrived. “I’m not her keeper.”

Conflicting emotions hit her with that one statement. He trusted her, right? But then that photograph came to the forefront of her mind and she couldn’t help the turn her thoughts made. Didn’t he care? Didn’t he want to make sure she was being true to him? Like he was supposed to be true to her?

Then again, they hadn’t had that talk yet. She didn’t know if they were supposed to be official or if this thing between them was just fun.

Her hands curled into fists as she observed Alex get right in Tate’s face. He lowered his voice to say something that she couldn’t hear and that was when she’d had enough. She charged down the steps just as Alexander pulled out another one of those pictures. She was vaguely aware of the door opening and footsteps sounding on the porch before she shoved herself between Tate and Alexander.

But it was too late. Tate was holding the picture. And the look that crossed his face wasn’t confusion, and it wasn’t outrage—the two things an innocent man had any right to feel. It was recognition. He knew exactly what he was looking at, and something behind his eyes shuttered.

She blinked back tears as she continued to stare at him.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Alexander snapped from over Rylee’s shoulder.

She spun and gave him a push. “Give us a minute,” she snapped.

Alexander’s eyes dipped to her and if she’d expected him to show remorse or worry for her, she would have been disappointed. Triumph. The man thought he’d won. But she wasn’t going to walk away without asking.

When Alexander had moved to the front porch, she turned back to Tate. He wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were still pinned to the photograph.

“I’ve had one of those since the night my aunt arrived,” Rylee said.

That brought his head up.

“It’s in my father’s desk. Alexander carried it into my house and I took it off him and I put it in a drawer, and I haven’t asked you about it once.” It came out shaky. She let it come out shaky. “Do you want to know why? Because as long as I didn’t ask, nobody had left yet. That’s a thing I learned when I was four years old and I am not proud of it.”

Tate’s mouth opened.

“So I’m asking. Out loud, because apparently that’s where we’ve ended up.” She swallowed. “Tell me what it is.”

He looked at her the entire time she said it. Then he looked away. When he didn’t utter a word, she felt her heart breaking. It was him. He didn’t even bother denying it. But why couldn’t he explain himself? She knew about his concerns regarding the town and that developer. She would have even believed him if he said he’d met with the woman to discuss her boss’s plans.

But there was… nothing.

Absolutely no explanations or even a request for her to trust him.

And perhaps that was what hurt the most. She’d felt so close to Tate. But it turned out that the boy she knew fifteen years ago wasn’t the same man standing in front of her now.

“I see,” she muttered brokenly.

He cut her a glance and she almost thought he might say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he folded the picture and tucked it in his pocket. He shifted his attention to the girls on the porch with her aunt and Alexander. Faith had come partway down the steps. Her arms were folded, and she was studying her brother like she wasn’t buying a word of it. Whatever she saw in Tate’s face made her frown. Not at him, exactly. Around him.

Alex had probably told them all what he’d figured out. Soon the whole town would know that Tate had been seen with another woman.