"Just don't play with him if you're doing it ‘cause you’re bored," she said, gentle but firm. "He's got a big heart. Bigger than he lets on. And he's already feelin' like shit."
That did it.
Not jealousy.
Not warning.
A quiet plea.
And for the first time since I'd rolled into this town, I didn't feel like I was stepping into someone else's mess.
I felt like the path might actually be clear.
Maybe friend-zoning him hadn't been necessary.
Maybe he wasn't hung up.
Maybe he'd just been… brave.
The screen door banged open hard enough to rattle the frame.
Rhett stepped out onto the porch like a storm cloud in boots, jaw tight, shoulders rigid. Whatever had gone down inside with Mr. Calloway had clearly left a mark.
He didn't say anything at first. Just scrubbed a hand down his face and exhaled through his nose.
Sassy's head tipped slightly at the sound, but she didn't rush to him. Didn't ask questions.
She just shifted over on the wicker sofa.
Rhett hesitated half a beat before crossing the porch and dropping down beside her. The tension in him didn't vanish, but it bent. Softened. His arm stretched across the back of the couch behind her like it had lived there for years.
She leaned into his side without looking at him.
Like he was her gravity.
Rhett grabbed a can from the case without saying a word, cracked it open, and chugged til it was empty. His face twisted into a grimace. "I ain't drinkin' this piss in a can all night," he said, tossing the empty can in the still-full box. "Let's go."
"Yes!" Sassy shrieked, clapped her hands, and sprang to her feet. "The BP!"
"That's the bar, right?"
Sassy cackled and looped her arm through mine. "Yep. I haven't been since I've been back, and this one"—she tossed a thumb over her shoulder at Rhett—"never wants to go out. Acts like he's ninety." She stage-whispered the last part.
"I heard that!" Rhett barked behind us.
We were halfway down the porch steps when he called out again.
"Sass."
She didn't stop walking.
"What?" she hollered back.
"You ain't wearin' shoes."
She looked down at her bare feet like this was brand new information. "Oh."
Rhett sighed the long-suffering sigh of a man who had clearly done this before. "Go grab some."
