After dropping off the girls, we hop into my truck and head back to the ranch. The truck is silent, the sound of my tires crunching on the gravel drowning out my thoughts. That is, until the buzzing begins.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
I ignore the first round, except it continues like an endless loop, lighting up the seat between us.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
I can’t help but look down to see what it is. Maisie’s phone is ringing out of control. She’s back to gripping the door handle like it’s her lifeline, so she hasn’t even realized it yet.
“What’s that?” I ask, tipping my chin towards her phone.
Her eyes blow wide, and she snatches her phone. “It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” I mumble under my breath, craning my neck to see what’s on her screen.
I’m a nosy bitch, sue me.
“It’s none of your concern.” She’s all confidence now, quickly swiping away the notifications. Lucky me, I see one before she can make it disappear.
It’s a dating app notification. They all are. Messages from men…dozens of them.
“What the fuck is that? Why are you on a dating app, Maisie? Those men are only interested in one thing on there.”
Her eyebrows pinch, the door handle long forgotten, replaced with rage. “Maybe that’s exactly what I’m looking for,” she grinds out, rolling her eyes at me.
My hands tighten on the wheel, and the leather groans. “You can’t be serious.”
“You’re not my dad, Grayson. You have no say in this. You’re not even mydaddy,” she tacks on for good measure.
If I wasn’t so goddamn mad at her right now, I would laugh at that and then spank her ass until it turned red.
“I thought you swore off all men?”
She shrugs, leaning back in her seat. “People can change their mind.Wait…how do you know that?”
Shit.
Well, there’s no lying my way out of this one, so I lay it on her straight. “You told me when you were drunk that night after the bar. You didn’t explain, just said youweren’t in the market. But now, I find out you’re messaging guys online? Doesn’t add up.”
It really is none of my business. I can’t have her, I know that. But that doesn’t mean I want someone else to fill that role. I don’t want another man's eyes gracing her skin. Another man's hands roaming her body. I want to be that man.
Maisie looks mortified by my words, probably wondering what else she said that she doesn’t remember. Not much, honestly, but she doesn’t know that, and I can tell it's eating her alive. To my surprise, she doesn’t reply, just sighs under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Her phone goes off in her hand, and she entertains it,swiping into the message and giggling. “Are you going on a date?” I press, my jealousy getting the best of me. Her phone dings with another message, and my teeth grind. “How many men are you talking to?”
She doesn’t even lift her eyes from her screen to look at me. “They are messaging me, not the other way around,” she clarifies. I don’t know if that makes it worse or better.
Buzz. Buzz.Buzz.
My words come out clipped. “How many?”
“Thirty four—”Buzz. “Five,” she giggles, swiping open another message.
Is she doing this to get back at me? Make me jealous? If she wants me to lose my goddamn mind, she’s about to learn just how territorial I can be. Only when it comes to her, though. Maisie brings out my dark side I usually reserve for the ring.
“This is a bad idea,” I groan under my breath. I know there’s no man on that app worthy of her. I don’t want to see her get hurt, or so I tell myself to help numb the sting.
“Why?”
