He shakes his head, releasing the smoke. “No.”
I sit up, pulling the sheet over my chest. He watches me, lids low and one arm hanging out the window.
“If Clockface Jesus don’t factor into this, then who does?” I ask.
His brows rise a minute amount.
“Let’s start with Brothers Boyd,” he says. “How did he factor into you, huh?”
“He didn’t,” I say.
He snorts, smoking rising from his lips. “I have been here and done this before, baby. And I did not, in fact, just fall off a motherfucking turnip truck. Brothers Boyd doesn’t work for nothing.”
I bite the corner of my mouth. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“My lips are sealed.”
“You can’t tell nobody. It’s not safe.”
“I swear.” He lifts his palm.
“Kayleigh was sleeping with him. That’s how we met,” I whisper. “But you can’t tell anybody, or she’d be in so much trouble. Leland might kill her.”
His brows knot. “Who the fuck is Kayleigh?”
“Kayleigh Caudill, Leland’s cousin.”
There’s a second when I know I’ve shocked him. His eyes widen as he takes a drag and sits on this information. Then, he shakes his head.
“Goddamn,” he says.
“They met at his pub,” I say. “Kayleigh’s good people. She’s the one keeping an eye on Landis for me. I need her on Leland’s good side, or I have nobody in my corner.”
“That’s an explanation for how you met him, not why he chose to help you.”
I lift my palms. “I don’t know. But please, promise not to tell anyone about Kayleigh.”
His lids flicker. “I won’t let your kid get hurt.”
His words are casual, but they hit me right in the heart. My throat has a lump. I clear it back. “Thank you.”
We’re both silent. He finishes his cigarette and latches the window. I slide onto my side, stacking my arms and resting my cheek on them. He’s sideways across my vision, fastening his belt.
Memory hazy, I recall how I saw him in Montana. The tattoos, the V of his lower stomach, the calluses on his palms. His big dick attitude about everything that doesn’t feel like ego because he’s so eager to please between the sheets.
“Where are you going?” I whisper.
“To walk,” he says. “See the stars.”
It’s been so long for him, I realize, since he’s been back home. His heart must ache for the hills and fields the way mine did all through my marriage. I pinch my eyes shut, listening as he goes downstairs. The door locks. His footsteps crunch on gravel.
Then, he’s gone.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JENSEN
Two things wake me up around three in the morning. The first is my phone lighting up, a text from Brothers appearing on the screen. Right on cue, he’s back, trying to pull me under again. Groaning internally, I roll over and lift it.
