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No, no. She shook her head. “We’re not. You’re broken and I never could…” She choked on a sob. “I wanted to help you.”
He smirked. “Really?” he asked. She didn’t like that dark amusement on his face. “This is how you do it?”
Cole’s arms went around her. “C’mon.”
West’s stormy blue eyes shot over Eva’s shoulder to his brother’s. “You’re making a big mistake.”
She was positive that his warning was meant for his brother, not for her. She trembled in astonishment. Cole was the best man that she knew, and it killed her that West might possibly be right—Eva wasn’t good enough for him, but now she craved Cole’s comfort and protection after what had happened.
Did that make her just as much of a user as West?
Maybe if West had talked to her, she’d know exactly why he hated her so much!
“Let’s go,” Cole said.
She felt like crying, and not sure if she was doing the right thing, she nodded and went with Cole, feeling West’s glare on them as they retreated up the rickety steps out the trapdoor.
West followed them out. “We are flying out tonight,” he shouted at her back. “Your daddy’s been asking after you.”
She turned slightly. Had her daddy heard about that stalker? Or was this something else altogether? “I told him that I’d be here for Thanksgiving,” she said.
“Turns out he’s too worried for that,” West said. “He wants to see his little baby.”
“I’m watching out for her,” Cole said. “We’ll let him know she’s staying here.” His grim face dared his older brother to object. None of them were playing anymore.
West snickered. “Yeah, that’ll go over well.”
Eva’s shoulders ached from all this fighting. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away from West as she could—a strange development from the beginning of this holiday when she would’ve doneanythingto get his attention.
Outside of the barn, Cole handed her wordlessly into his pickup.
The morning was beautiful, even if it was awful. She couldn’t tell if the cold front had finally hit them or not because she was so angry, but it definitely felt warmer than the goat stalls.
The door slammed shut behind her as Cole made his way around the front. It was sweltering in here! She fanned her face then pulled at the front of her dress, trying to breathe. That fight was starting to get to her. She avoided looking at West at all costs, who advanced on them like a threatening shadow.
Cole dragged himself onto the bench seat. He dug his keys from the glove compartment. Eva spied her phone in there. The screen flashed with about a million notifications on it. She groaned. Were her daddy’s orders to get home one of them?
Cole stuck the keys in the ignition. “Where to?”
She shivered, even though she was burning up. “Not to the house.” West would just follow them there. At this point, she almost wondered if he’d try to drag her home to her daddy, kicking and screaming.
Resentment filled her at his ill treatment. How did he live with himself making her into the villain? After everything that he’d done to her?
The wheels of the pickup squealed as Cole took them the opposite direction of the house. Eva ran her fingers along Cole’s rough cheek—possibly rougher after their long night together. He was scraped up, and she saw some bruises appearing. Her heart hurt seeing it. “Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “Are you?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Come here.” He held out an arm, and she slid over the bench seat to get under the warmth of his protection. Despite everything that had happened, she felt herself relax, feeling absolutely safe with him. Her eyes drew to her phone with all those messages. Earlier, she hadn’t wanted anything to do with more complications, but now that she was with Cole, she could face it.
She scraped her phone out of the glove compartment. Ever since she’d gained so many followers on TalkieTalk, she’d had more notifications than she could handle. Her throat tightened when she saw that TalkieTalk was still the culprit. She’d been tagged in a video. Scrolling through the once beloved app, she saw that someone had livestreamed that cute little chick race.
KyleeSmiley was the handle on the user.
Oh Kylee! That girl had it out for Eva, though Kylee couldn’t possibly have known that this wasn’t what Eva wanted, only that Eva Trout was a sure way to get a viral video. And that’s exactly what had happened.
Uh oh.
