CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Travis
“You haven’t told her?” Matthew asked, dribbling the basketball like the professional he used to be, deciding when to make his move to get around me.
“No.” I lunged, but he dodged left and easily made the lay-up.
Damn. I should’ve seen that one. Rhylan whooped like an idiot and Matthew flicked the ball to me. I stepped out of bounds and passed it across the court to Reece.
“Why not?” he asked as we watched the twins battle it out. It was an innocent enough question but without an easy answer. “She deserves to know what may be behind that break-in. I mean, it’s her personal space and her things that were violated.”
“I don’t know.” I ran a hand through my sweaty hair. “Maybe I’m just an asshole.”
“Well, you’re certainly acting like one.”
When I’d followed Daphne to Wickedville, I was sure she was the mole. And when I found out she wasn’t, I didn’t have the balls to admit I hadn’t trusted her.
Trust, or rather, the lack of it, had been an issue in my last relationship, if you could call it that. Since the network fabricated the one I was having with my co-star Pamela, I couldn’t exactly date other women out in the open. To call Meredith my girlfriend was being generous, though we hooked up fairly regularly when I was down in LA and I needed a decent lay. I hadn’t thought she considered it more than that, but then she started accusing me of shit—blowing up my phone, believing everything the supernatural tabloids wrote about me—I eventually tired of it and stopped the booty calls.
Distracted now, I missed a pass from Reece, the ball bouncing off the tip of my fingers. Rhylan quickly snatched it up and passed to Matthew, who easily dunked it again.
I held up a hand. “That’s game for me, guys. My knee’s still bothering me.”Liar.“Sorry, dude,” I told Reece.
“That’s okay, old man.”
I gave him the finger, grabbed my water bottle and took a long swig.
Matthew was right. Daphne did deserve better.
I found them in the girls’ room, Daphne and Ruby on the floor with Ginnea, and George stretched out on the bed like he owned the place.
At the sound of my voice, George lifted his head and hissed at me.Cute little motherfucker.But at least he didn’t run and hide. Yay, progress.
Daphne was biting the tip of her tongue, trying to get doll clothes on a doll, while Ginnea was giving her orders.
She glanced over at me and did a double-take, her eyes instantly darkening. I realized I was still shirtless and sweaty from the game. And I probably smelled. She handed the doll to Ruby and came over.
“What’s up?” She ran the back of her fingers over one of my biceps, and I could feel myself getting hard.
“We need to talk.”
I grabbed her hand and we high-tailed it out of there. My little sister and niece didn’t need to see what was happening to the front of my sweatpants right now.
I led her outside to the covered wrap-around porch. From here, we could see the outdoor riding area where some of the dude ranch guests were learning how to rope.
“Listen, Daphne, I... There’s something I need to tell you.”
She sat next to me on the porch swing, smelling like maple syrup, with a purple pen mark on her cheek and a piece of glittery confetti stuck in her loose ponytail. The woman was such a hot mess and so fucking gorgeous that I had a hard time collecting my thoughts.
She took my hand and stroked the back of it with cool fingers.
I cleared my throat and started over. “I should have told you last night. No—I should have told you this a whileago. But the fact that I’m a complete asshole and said nothing shouldn’t really surprise you.”
She frowned, looking confused. “What do you mean? I take it this is going to piss me off.”
“Probably.” I recounted to her what my attorney, a psychic, had said about a mole thwarting the contest. “And when you seemed so secretive after our hospital visit?—”
“You assumed it was me and then followed me later in Wickedville to catch me doing mole-things,” she finished.
