Robocop lurches forward, and I meet his onrush with a step of my own. His heels dig into the mud as he stops himself from doing something really stupid.
“Maybe if you calm down, that’ll change,” I say to him. “But until you do, you may as well take your own advice and fuck off.” I don’t know how forgiving Jade is. If it were me, I’d never speak to the guy again, but I don’t have to live in this town.
Deputy Dickwad angles his gaze past me to stare at Jade. “I just want to make things right between us. I know I screwed up yesterday, but you don’t have to throw yourself at the first piece of trash that comes along just to make me jealous.”
My jaw grinds at “piece of trash,” but for Jade’s sake, I put my response to that on ice.
Jade huffs a sigh. “I’m not trying to make you jealous, Nate.”
“You expect me to believe you actually like the narcissistic asshole who murdered my cousin?”
A sharpness invades my chest. I may be a lot of things, and I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes and bad decisions, but I didnotfucking murder anyone. “You know, it’s kinda scary that someone meant to serve and protect this town is so fucking stupid,” I say.
The little guy steps up, his chest all puffed and heaving. Too bad I’m down in the muck and still taller than him. “What’d you say, King?”
I hate that my voice doesn’t come out as strong as it should. “Maybe you should read the fucking police reports before spreading shit that isn’t true.” There are plenty of them where Miranda Williams and her family are concerned.
“Maybe you should—”
“Nate!” Jade interjects. “You need to go.Now.”
My throat and chest are so tight that it’s almost impossible to drag in my next breath.
Nate mutters a few more “fucks” before stomping away.
The dry muck running up Jade’s forearm cracks when she reaches for my arm. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to drag you into my drama.”
Her warmth finds its way into my bones, easing some of the tension in my chest. The longer I stare at her, the easier it is to breathe. I slip free of her hold, taking her hand instead. A blush finds her cheeks, and her fingers curl around mine as we both climb out of the pit. I try not to think about how good her hand feels or the way my stomach nosedives when she licks her lips.
I hate that she’s apologizing right now for something that isn’t her fault. “The only thing you dragged me into was that mud pit,” I say. “And if I’m being honest, I kinda wish you’d do it again so we could pick up where we left off.”
The spark returns to her eyes as she peers up at me through thick lashes. “Oh yeah?”
My free hand falls to her slippery hip. “Yeah.”
“Hey, Jade!” a woman shouts. “Everything okay?”
Jade drops my hand like it’s on fire as her sister jogs toward us.
“I sent Nate to go find you, but now he’s disappeared too.” Ruby’s eyes flit between us while Jade puts a little more distance between our muddy bodies.
“Hey. Yeah, sorry,” Jade says. “I got stuck in the mud, and Dylan helped me out.”
It shouldn’t bother me that Jade’s treating me like I’m some dirty little secret. But the subtle rejection stings. Heaven forbid she admit to having anything to do with theinfamousDylan King.
Ruby eyes me with what I’m pretty sure is suspicion. “That was nice of him.”
I shrug and smile. “What can I say? Every once in a while, I’m nice. See you around, Jade.”
Jade doesn’t spare me so much as a glance. “Yeah. See you around.”
With a weird hollowness in my chest, I cut through the colorful forest to where the teams that finished the race are celebrating in the parking lot with beers and cheers. Everyone is thrilled, it seems, but my sisters. Iris and Alex look like they’ve been run over by a bus. Not one smile in the bunch.
“Geez, ladies. Who died?”
Tears spring to Iris’s eyes and she rubs her nose with a dirty hand, leaving a muddy mustache on her upper lip that I hope no one tells her about before I can take a picture for blackmail purposes. “Not funny, Pickle.”
I sink next to where she’s sitting on the tailgate of her husband’s pickup truck and give her shoulder a nudge. “Come on. Lighten up. We’ll get our names on the plaque next year.”
