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Red dirt earth and headlights.
Slayton on his knees, hands raised in front of his face.
The gun in my hand.
Ruby stays silent, lying frozen and wide-eyed.
“So I hurt him.”
I scrub a hand down my beard, letting that same restless, raging feeling from last summer overtake me. “I didn’t know about it for a long damn time.”
Shame still eats me alive that my little sister and little brother were the ones dealing with it. I was the big brother. I was supposed to keep them safe. It’s a gutting feeling I know Ford and Davis share.
“It was midnight. I drove him out on this long dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I beat the shit out of him. I made him tell me what he did to my sister. I busted open my knuckles. I broke his ribs, his face. I did anything to make that piece of shit feel pain.”
I ball a fist, clearing the hoarseness from my throat. “And then I pulled out a gun.”
I dare a glance at Ruby. If I’m scaring her, I can’t tell. She sits still, her face pale, but placid.
“I had him there. In the dirt, the headlights, and he looked so fucking pathetic, crying his bullshit tears.” A muscle in my jaw jerks. “I felt nothing. I wanted to kill him so fucking bad. I put the muzzle against his forehead. Put my finger on the trigger.”
Lower lip trembling, she asks, “Did you kill him?”
“No. I thought of my brothers. My sister. If I killed him, no one would win.” I press Ruby’s hand to my heart. It’s pounding against my ribs. “I drove Slayton to his parents’ house and I made him tell them what he had done to my sister. And I promised that motherfucker, if he came back home again, he was a dead man.”
The longest silence falls.
And then Ruby tilts her head and asks, “Why are you telling me this, Charlie?”
I look her in the eyes. “I’m telling you this because I will always keep you safe. I will always protect you.”
She gives me a sad smile. “You can’t protect me from everything.”
“I can. And I will.”
If it’s a lie, I don’t believe it.
I believe in her, in myself.
I lean in, cupping a hand to her cheek. “No one puts their hands on you, Ruby. Do you understand me? No one touches my girl.”
A little smile curls her lips. “I’m your girl, Cowboy?” Her voice is dreamy, tired.
“You are.” The words wrench from my chest. “You’re my girl.” I sweep the hair from her eyes, urging her to sleep. “And I will never let anything happen to you.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
Ruby makes a sleepy hum of affirmation, long lashes fluttering closed. I keep her small hand in mine. Her pulse beats in my palm. I hold it against me, the very beat of it precious.
I can’t deny it anymore.
Brain, body, heart, soul—this woman’s got me roped.
You’re my girl.
Three days later, and Charlie’s words still spin in my head like a record on repeat.
