I need Hunter to trust me. I need him to see that I'll play by his rules, even the ridiculous ones. Even the ones that involve rope and barns.
"Fine," I huff.
He grins. "Cool. Follow me to your stay on Lawson Ranch," he says, tipping his hat with a flourish.
"You do realize this is kidnapping, Jett," I say as I follow him toward the barn doors.
"Yeah. I realized that." He pulls the doors open. Inside, there is a single chair in the middle of the floor with a coil of rope on the seat. He's prepared for this. Kind of. "It's my first real go at it. I'll get better."
"I really think this should be your last."
He laughs, pointing to the chair. I sit. Because what else am I going to do? Run? I'm in the middle of Arizona, thirty minutes from town, on a ranch owned by a man who could bench-press my car. And the information I need is on the other side of this rope.
He ties my wrists behind the chair. Not tight though. For all his chaos, there's something almost gentle about it.
"Too tight?" he asks.
"No. It's fine. This is insane, but it's fine."
I used to love it when Ace tied me up.
"You want a water? I've got Gatorade too. Blue one."
I stare at him. "You're offering me a Gatorade. While I'm tied to a chair. In your barn."
"Hydration is important."
He grabs a blue Gatorade from a cooler. He has a cooler in his kidnapping barn. He cracks the cap and holds it to my lips.I take a sip because I'm thirsty and because this entire situation has crossed so far beyond absurd that refusing a drink feels like the weird part.
"Alright." He steps back and surveys his work. "Sit tight. Shouldn't be long."
"Where are you going?"
"Nowhere. I'll be right outside." He pauses at the door and turns back. "For what it's worth? You're taking this really well. Most people would be screaming."
"Most people haven't dealt with what I've dealt with."
He tilts his head and studies me for a second with those dark Sterling eyes. Then nods, once, and walks out into the sunlight.
The barn door stays open. I can see the sky without a single cloud. The birds are chirping away.
I close my eyes and just breathe.
It could be worse, I suppose.
I don't know who Jett is bringing here in thirty minutes.
But the knots in my stomach tell me my body already knows. I was dealing pretty well under the circumstances of being kidnapped. But the thought of Ace walking in here, seeing me like this for the first time, I’m suddenly really not okay. At all.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ace
Song- Freakin’ Out, Dexter and The Moonrocks
I pull up to Jett's ranch and park beside his truck, and my cousin waltzes out of his mansion with a coffee in his hand.
With a straw in it.
