I stared out the passenger window of Buck's ridiculously large truck, arms crossed so tight I was basically hugging myself, and I absolutely didnotcry.
Did my vision maybe get a little blurry?
No comment.
And even if it did, it was from the dust in Buck's truck. Had to be. Because (I repeat) Idid notcry.
"Kid."
I sniffed aggressively thanks to my allergies and turned my head a fraction so Buck couldn't see the tears that weren't there from the dust in his dirty truck. "If you call me 'kid' one more time, I will launch myself out of this moving vehicle."
Buck didn't even look at me. He just kept his eyes on the road, one hand loose on the wheel like he had all the time in the world. "Door's locked, bud."
Rude. I huffed and went back to glaring out the window hoping to get control of myself.
And you know what? Even if there were one or two lonesome tear drops, who could blame me? The universe wronged me! It sent me the most perfect Daddy in the whole wide world. Teased me with him. Let me have the barest of a taste and then ripped him from me. It was almost like… like… I had to watch my damned home planet get blown up!
I swallowed hard.
Nope. Not crying. Not at all.
"So," Buck tried again after a minute, his voice calm and annoying because I had a feeling whatever he was about to bring up something I didn't wanna talk about. "You wanna tell me what that was back there?"
I laughed. So what if it came out a little cracked?
"Wow," I said. "Where do I even begin? Do I start with the part where he absolutely ruined me for anyone else in a motel room while simultaneouslyruiningme, and then ghosting me without so much as a 'thanks for all the fish', or the part where he made it clear that getting shot at is just like... a normal Tuesday for him, and I should just go away?"
Buck's mouth twitched.
Did I mention… Rude!
"Man's got a point, though," he said.
I whipped around to stare at him. "Excuse me! Who's side are you on anyway?"
He shrugged at me. "Goldie's, and I'm pretty sure she'll be on the side of younotgetting shot at before breakfast."
"Low blow, Buck. Low blow." I huffed again, any thoughts of possible tears finally forgotten as I crossed my arms in front of my chest again. "I know he said it was for me," I muttered as I scrubbed my hand over my face, resting my head on therest behind me. "Like... I'm too... I don't know... stupid to know what's good for me or something."
Buck was quiet for a beat. "He's not wrong, kid."
I froze.
"I hate repeating myself, Buck... but excuse me?" I glared at him.
"You're bright," he said simply. "You're like sunshine, and he's a big ass thundercloud that's going to dim your brightness."
Aaaah. That was so sweet.
Andoh sowrong.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
He snorted. "You can think that, but it doesn't change that he sees it that way," Buck added.
I angled my head to the side so I could intensify my glare. "I'm sorry, did you just agree with the man who fucked me and then abandoned me in a motel room?"
"Didn't say I liked what he did," Buck said. "Just said I get why he did it."
