Lawson dug his heels into the floor, blinking at us with wide eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair, forcing it to stand on end. “I just—” he began before promptly closing his mouth.
“Wise choice,” I said, just as a group of fans yelled out his name. They swarmed him, swallowing him in the crowd as I helped Cleo out the front door.
She clutched her chest, sucking in deep breaths that nearly broke my heart. And then the first tears fell, taking her mascara with them. “What do you need, babe?” I asked, forcing myself to stand still. I wanted to draw her close, to comfort her in the way our mom always did—with big, warm hugs and open ears, but stayed where I was.
Cleo wasn’t a fan of being touched unless she initiated it. She tolerated a lot of it at the best of times because our family was an overly affectionate bunch, but she was different. And in times like these, when her anxiety was spiraling out of control, I knew going near her would only make things worse.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Bishop asked, storming out of the bar with our ride on his heels.
I stepped in front of him, stopping him before he could make a scene. “I don’t know, but drawing attention to her like the big, dumb, angry brute you are won’t do anything to fix it,” I hissed. “Just leave her alone for a minute. Let her catch her fucking breath.”
Bishop looked like he was ready to argue, but thought better of it. Cleo leaned forward, resting her hands on the railing around the outside patio. She dropped her head and closed her eyes. I could see her lips moving, counting down from ten and then back up to get her breathing under control.
I walked over to Cleo, resting my ass against the post. Westood in silence as I kept watch over her. She was always the strongest of the three of us, putting us before herself in every situation. The only time she did anything for herself was when she moved out of town, but I wondered if that hadn’t backfired in some spectacular way.
It wasn’t like she talked to me about anything, and I knew she barely said anything to Josie. Cleo was a vault—locked up tight and refusing to budge.
“Well, note to self… Never suggest going to see a band without learning everyone’s full background information, particularly in relation to my sisters,” I said.
Cleo huffed. “That might be a good idea.”
I kicked a rock beneath my boot, watching it roll across the uneven boards. “Do you wanna talk about it?” She turned, giving me a look that said, “What do you think?” But I just held up my hands. “Hey, I had to ask. I didn’t know if this was the moment your wall broke and you were ready to let someone in.”
“I’m not that bad,” she mumbled. “I just don’t have anything worth saying. Our story… I don’t know, Len, it’s complicated.”
“Will you tell me one thing?”
“Maybe.” She cracked a smile. “We’ll see.”
I nodded, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Did he… Did he hurt you? Because I swear to God…”
“Not in the way you’re thinking,” she said. Her gaze flitted to the spot where her ring once sat. “He would never.”
“But he did hurt you?”
Cleo was silent for a second. “In a way, yes,” she said with a sigh. “Can we go home? I’m already regretting all the tequila.”
I laughed. “Whatever you want, sis.”
bishop
. . .
The night had taken a turn,sobering considerably since the stage lights went dark at the bar. I rode up in the passenger seat of Keith’s truck while the girls sat in the back eating soft tacos they insisted we pick up.
A small-town Taco Bell drive-thru on a Saturday night was my own personal kind of hell. It’d taken us over thirty minutes to even grab our food, all while Lennox and Cleo complained about being hungry.
I was too, just not for food.
As the girls kept to themselves, I shot the shit with Keith, talking about all the work we had to do to prepare for baling hay in the upcoming weeks. We were already behind, but given the wet spring we’d had, we still needed to hold off.
Keith pulled through the massive black gate that marked the beginning of the ranch, driving up the winding road until he reached the main house. “Want me to drive you down to your cabin, man?” he asked, resting his hand on the steering wheel.
“Naw, it’s a pretty night. I’ll walk,” I said, hopping out. I hurried to the back, opened the door, and lent a hand to help the girls down. Cleo took it with a smile, said goodnight, thankedKeith for driving us, and then she walked into the house without looking back.
Meanwhile, Lennox had taken one look, eyeing me like I was covered in cow shit and hopped out on the other side. I half expected her to have disappeared by the time Keith drove off, but there she was, standing beneath the full moon in all her glory.
Goddammit, she was beautiful.
