Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Do not fucking say a word to Lily about what we did.
About our texts, or—
“It was nothing,” I blurted out.
“He was curious,” Draven said, “about how I’ve been fixing up the place.”
A blush landed on my cheeks, burning hot. “He’s making it his own, for sure.”
“I think you’re going to transform old Marsden’s place,” Lily said. “It used to be such a cute house, with the little ranchland around it. Nothing compared to your Big Sky estate, obviously, but you can make it shine.”
“Nothing compares to Big Sky,” Draven agreed.
“You guys talk about it like it’s a castle or something,” I said.
Draven nodded. “No moat. No stone. But it’s almost like a modern, beautiful castle. I worked with the architect to make it exactly what I wanted, when I was only 21 years old. Even then, I knew I wanted enough stables to eventually take on rescue horses.”
For fuck’s sake.
When Draven was a year younger than me, he’d had enough millions to throw around that he designed his own home on a ranch.
I pictured Draven on top of a black mare, riding around his giant property like some sort of surveyor.
“He rode horses more than anyone else in the Lyons family, that’s for sure,” Lily said.
Draven pulled in a long breath. “Riding was the best way to get away from them, when I was growing up. Out on the land, just me and the horses, instead of…”
“Being around your father,” Lily said.
“Or my mother. Siblings. Cousins. Any of it.”
Lily reached out a hand and briefly squeezed Draven’s arm. It was clear she still cared about him, even if their relationship was very much over.
“Holy shit, Lil! Did you see the oil paintings they’re selling over here?” her friend Ranna said, waving from one of the nearby tents.
“Got to go,” Lily said. “Be nice to him, Max!”
She was gone in a moment.
I expected Draven to hang around my tent, hovering over me like he had been since the moment he got to town. But I was surprised as he nodded, taking a few steps away.
“You have a good night, Baby Blue.”
He was gone a moment later, disappearing into the crowd. But I kept seeing his black hat around the beer fest.
He stopped on a bench for a while, still in sight of me.
Then he moved under a tree across the way—still able to keep watch on my tent.
Was he really that fucking worried about whatever dumbass online stalkers I had?
A group of guys came over soon after, sampling all of the different beers, but my mind still circled around Draven. I didn’t want him here, but his absence stoked a craving in me, like an addiction I didn’t ask for.
The feeling of his hand on my back. That look in his eyes.
What the fuck was I going to do about him?
My mom had told me since I was a kid that it’s always better to “kill ‘em with kindness” rather than fight. I’d never really had to do it, because most people in Bestens actually were nice, and I’d never been much of a fighter.
But I couldn’t keep trying to meet Draven anywhere near his level.
But kindness? I was good at that.
The only thing that seemed to shock him was when I called him a good person.
Chapter 10
Draven
When I heard a knock at my front door I was at least 50% certain it was going to be Mr. Marsden coming over to tell me he wanted his house back.
Because nothing was going right tonight.
I never should have told Max I’d tell him my secrets, firstly. But I was a sucker for a sweet face, apparently, and now I’d promised too much, even though I hadn’t told him anything yet.
And the moment I’d started to feel true affection for him, something flickered inside me like a faulty light.
Because affection was off limits.
I wanted to fuck him. Wanted to be inside him.
But I wasn’t going to get attached.
It had been an hour since I left the beer fest, and I’d opened another, stronger beer after I got home. Dominic had texted me twenty minutes ago, and I didn’t like what I saw.
Dominic
Your dad’s still pissed. Tried to put in a good word for you at our meeting tonight, but he told me, in exact terms: ‘He’s not strong-arming me out of this one.’
Draven
Fuck him.
You’re not going to like this, either.
Goddamnit. What else?
He has a meeting with Bill Franklin tomorrow, with Franklin’s financial advisor.
Fuck.
They might be going through with it.
I didn’t think he still would. Not with what I know. God fucking damn it.
I’m working on a plan, D.
Anything about Brody?
Brody is radio silent. He sure as fuck hasn’t spoken to me.
It’s weird, going from the 3 of us to the 2 of us.
You ever miss having a third friend? Our little trio?
I don’t miss a goddamned thing about Brody McGowan.