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“Are those for sharing?” she asked, her eyes meeting mine. “Or is that the last one? I always seem to ask when there’s none left to give.”
Already taking things from me.
“Uh, there’s like half a pack left,” I grunted, pulling it out of my pocket and handing it over to her. “They’re not mine, by the way.”
“Whose are they then?” Her brows furrowed. “I don’t want to take someone’s cigarettes. Those things are like gold to some people.”
“I don’t think Jimmy will mind. There’s a whole carton of them in there.”
She took the pack from my hand and fished one out, sighing as she rolled it in her fingers—much like I had. “I don’t really smoke.”
“Me, either.”
She looked up at me, putting the Marlboro to her lips, and making my mind swirl with what she might taste like with smoke on her tongue. “Can I have the lighter?”
I blinked a couple of times before pulling it out and flicking it, holding it up to the end of her cigarette for her. She inhaled, her nose crinkling a little.
But she didn’t cough the way I had.
“So have you lived here your whole life?” she asked, blowing out a cloud of smoke. “We talked about me, but not you. It’d be interesting to know a little history about the strange cowboy that saved my life. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
I hesitated at her curiosity, all of my red flags going up. “Uh, I don’t think it really matters. We should be able to make it back tomorrow, I think. I don’t know what the state of anything is, but once the rain stops, we’ll go.”
“So I guess you just don’t want to talk about what or who you are then?” Her tone grew defensive, and it startled me.
“I wouldn’t say it like that. I just don’t see the point of you knowing who I am. A one-time fling doesn’t entitle you to that information. In fact, it’s probably best that you didn’t. I was always told to keep my information private and safe from strangers. I think you qualify as such.” I don’t know what caused me to be so snide, but there was just something about Cheyenne that wassofrustrating...
And I wasn’t going to worry about figuring out what it was.
“Are you serious?” she snapped, her dark eyes lighting up with anger. “I can’t believe that you would actually say something so fucking rude. I get the asshole façade you put on—maybe that makes you feel better about yourself, but geez. You’re a dick.” With that, she spun on her heel, heading right back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
I stood there, staring at the door in shock. I’d said much worse in the past, but I’d never been called a dick—not to my face anyway.
She’s got balls.
And she had taken the cigarette box inside with her, which was irritating, but I didn’t intend to follow the bear inside and poke it any further. Instead, I turned my eyes back to the rain-filled night. There was a lot of debris, and there’d be a lot of clean up, but I couldn’t see much further than just about ten feet off the deck without the light. Candles flickering from inside added some light, but not enough for it to really make a difference.
I heard banging around inside the cabin, and I stilled, wondering if she was trashing the entire place. Now Ihadbeen with a woman that had done that. My ex, Lindsey, had trashed my entire apartment back when I had been at college, and while she had some good reason—me breaking up with her on her birthday—it had been forever burned into my brain.
Mostly because she had stolen my credit card to buy expensive makeup.
Women just couldn’t be trusted, and Lindsey was the first of many who made me feel like they were just out for one thing. The banging continued inside, and I finally let out a sigh before putting out the cigarette on the post of the back porch. I flicked it into the trash can, and headed in.
However, as I opened the door, Cheyenne came storming out. “What the hell?” I snapped as she nearly ran into me, her dog in her arms.
“I’m leaving.”
“What was all that banging about then?” I demanded, gently grabbing her arm to stop her. “If you tore up my parents’ hunting cabin, I’ll make you pay for the damages.”
“What?” Her face contorted. “Why the fuck would I tear up anyone’s stuff? The only banging I was doing was searching for something to eat before I left—and putting the cigarette out in the sink, I guess.”
“Did you ruin the sink?”
“Uh,no. I don’t even know why you’d ask me that, either. Like do you just assume all human beings are pieces of trash?” She shook her head, ripping her arm from my grip and heading out into the rain. She set her dog on the ground, calling for him as she headed out into the darkness.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” I called after her, somewhat amused by the bold move of leaving not only in the middle of the night, but also in the middle of a rainstorm. “You don’t want to get lost on a night like this. The wind and rain will have you down and out pretty quick.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, Wade. I’ll figure it out and be out of your hair in no time,” she shouted back over her shoulder, heading around to the front of the house.
