“So is there anyone you are dating?” Amanda asked, and I noticed even Tessa had stopped what she was doing and looked up at me.
“No.” I drew out the word, uncertain as to why they were all looking at me like that.
“Interested in?” Tessa asked, seeming a little too concerned in what my answer was going to be.
“Um, well . . .” My cheeks flared and I had to bite down on my lips to stop my ridiculous smile. “I—”
Just then the front door opened and shut, and Gage’s and Tyler’s voices drifted in toward us. My eyes went wide and I swear I somehow blushed harder. Tessa took one look at me and smiled to herself before turning back around to the food she was preparing. When I looked over at Amanda, she was studying me intently. She shot a quick look at her brother and cousin when they came in and the same smile I’d just seen on her mom spread across her cheeks.
“You girls wanna go to a bonfire?” Gage drawled, and winked at me; I swear I somehow blushed harder.
“I do!” Nikki yelled, and ran up to the guys. Gage and Tessa started disagreeing immediately.
“Absolutely not!”
“No way, Nik.”
“You said girls, Gage! I am a girl, you know!”
He kissed the top of her head and ruffled her hair. “When you’re older, kid. Amanda and Cassidy,” he clarified, and smirked when Nikki huffed, “do y’all wanna go?”
I stole a quick glance at Tyler and gave him a smile when I saw he was staring at me intently. “Sounds . . . fun?” When he nodded I looked back to Gage and nodded once. “Yeah, sure.”
Amanda agreed and Gage grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge, tossing one at Tyler. “All right, we’ll leave after dinner.”
“Gage!” Amanda looked quickly at the clock, then back to him. “Dinner’s in like—three and a half hours!”
“And?”
“That gives us no time! We need to go into town!”
“Why?”
She just shook her head and grabbed my hand before towing me toward the front door. “We’ll be back before dinner!” she called as we went out the door. “Do you have boots?”
“Uh, what?”
“Boots, do you have any?”
“No . . .”
She hopped into her car and I followed. “Figured as much. You can’t go to a bonfire out in the country without ’em.”
“Oh, if that’s why we’re going into town, we don’t need to. I can just go in my flip-flops or Converse.”
“Yankee,” she mumbled, and I snorted.
“I FEEL LIKE I look like a cliché.”
Amanda laughed and checked herself out in the mirror. “And why is that?”
“You put me in a plaid button-up and cowboy boots.”
“Yeah? And you look hot! At least I didn’t give you a torn denim miniskirt to match it with, because I have one. I can even get you a cowboy hat!” I looked at her, mortified, and she laughed. “Exactly. Now, that would be cliché; what you are wearing is perfect.”
I fluffed my hair, which Amanda had curled before dinner; checked my makeup one last time; and stepped back to take in the entire thing. I did like my boots and shirt, which was an electric-blue, black, and gray combination and worked well with the dark skinny jeans I had on, but seriously. Walking cliché.
“All the guys there will love it, trust me.”
“I don’t exactly care about the guys we’ll meet there,” I mumbled, and followed her out of the room toward the stairs.
“Gage will love it.” She shrugged and feigned indifference before turning to wink at me.
“He doesn’t, I mean, I haven’t—”
“You haven’t told him? Yeah, I figured. You should change that.”
“Change what?” Tyler asked, and I jumped, causing me to miss the next step and start sliding down. Ty caught me around my waist and smirked. “Always wanted to sweep you off your feet.”
I laughed and pushed on his shoulder until he let go. “You’re so dumb, Ty.”
“You girls rea—” Gage cut himself off quickly; his green eyes widened and he just stared at me until Tyler cleared his throat. “Uh, y’all ready?”
We followed when Tyler started pushing him toward the door, and Amanda leaned in close. “Told ya, time to change that.”
If only she knew just how bad I wished I could.
“WE’RE GONNA GO get more beers, y’all want some?” Gage asked. Amanda and I both shook our heads and went back to talking about this guy she was seeing off and on at A & M.
Other than the fact that we were out in the country instead of on the beach, and all the girls were dressed scarily similar to me and Amanda, this felt like one of the many bonfires I’d gone to with Ty whenever he’d tried to get me more socialized during high school. And like then, this really wasn’t my scene. Even with moving to Austin, I still wasn’t a huge fan of new people. I couldn’t stand the looks some of the girls were giving Gage, and already we’d had an issue with one of the guys, Max.
We’d all been standing near the fire, and I must’ve gotten so caught up in thoughts of my dad and the phoenix while looking at it that I hadn’t noticed Max watching me, or when he came up to my side to push me toward the fire, only to quickly wrap his arms around me and slam my body back to his chest. He’d thought it was hilarious until Gage pulled me away from him and proceeded to give him a verbal ass-kicking with Ty.
He’d avoided me the rest of the night, as had the rest of the guys there since Gage and Tyler had already made it known that they shouldn’t mess with or come near me. But now that they had gone to get more drinks, Max was stumbling over toward me and Amanda, causing me to groan and Amanda to stop talking about her pseudo-boyfriend to glare at him.
“What do you say we head back to my truck? Have us a little alone time.” His breath reeked of beer and his eyes were completely glazed over.
“Um, no thank you. And you should really consider giving someone your keys.” I turned to look at Amanda when she snorted and I shook my head. Seriously? Who did this guy think he was? After the stunt he’d pulled earlier he really thought I’d go anywhere or do anything with him?
“I didn’t say we’d be driving.”
“Like I said, no—”
He grabbed my h*ps and turned me so I was facing him and pressed my body close to his. “I bet I have you screaming my name in no time.”
“Ew. Max, leave her alone!” Amanda hissed, and I pulled away from him.
“I said no, you need to back off.” I turned back to Amanda and grabbed for her hand, fully intending to go find Tyler and Gage, but Max gripped the top of my arm and roughly brought me back to him.
“And I said we’re going to my truck.” His hold on my left arm tightened and was past the point of being painful; that mixed with the alcohol on his breath had my body going rigid seconds before I started shaking uncontrollably.
“Max!” Amanda sounded appalled and began pulling me toward her. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Go sober up in your truck, alone!”
His hand had loosened slightly and I let Amanda pull me away; just before I slipped out of his grasp, it tightened as much as my arm would allow and he yanked me toward him again. Only this time Amanda had a hold on me as well and that split second I was being pulled by both sent a sharp pain through my left shoulder. Amanda let go and I stumbled over myself, landing hard on my butt, causing the pain in my shoulder to intensify as Max yanked on the arm he still kept hold of.
Amanda gasped loudly, and though I tried to keep it in, a short cry of pain escaped my lips. I couldn’t even try to get myself standing; my entire body was trembling too hard as I subconsciously waited for the blows to start. All I could seem to do was stare at my lap as flashes of different beatings quickly flipped through my mind. Suddenly, Max’s hand was gone and Tyler was directly in front of me, pushing my chin up so I would look at him. His eyes were wide and he was speaking, but I couldn’t hear him over the sounds of flesh hitting flesh, glass breaking, my screams, Jeff’s grunts, and my mom’s moans.
Tyler pulled me up and half carried, half walked me back to his Jeep. Sitting me on the passenger seat, he stood just inside the open door and between my legs, gently rubbing the throbbing ache on my arm, his other hand cupping the back of my neck and holding my forehead to his. Slowly, the nightmarish flashes disappeared and I could hear Tyler whispering softly.
“ . . . okay, I’ve got you. Never again, Cassi, they’re gone, they can’t touch you here. You’re okay, I’ve got you. I’ll always have you, Cass. They’re gone—”
“Is she okay?!” Gage’s voice broke through my immediate world of my rock, my Tyler, holding me.
“She’ll be fine,” Ty responded, and went back to whispering, “I’ve got you, you’re going to be okay, sweetheart.”
Next thing I knew, Gage was in the driver’s seat of the Jeep and talking directly behind me. “Darlin’, are you all right? Tell me what happened.”
I couldn’t bring myself to respond to him; I didn’t want him seeing this. Didn’t want him to know I was so messed up that from Max grabbing my arm, I’d begun having a full-on meltdown in front of everyone. Tyler gently squeezed the back of my neck as his whispering continued, over and over. I wrapped my arms around his waist and moved my head so it was resting against his chest. His lips pressed down on my head and his whispers slowed, changing slightly.
“That’s it, sweetheart, you’re okay. I’m here, I’m always here for you. I love you, Cass, you’re all right, I got you.”
“Ty—man, what happened?”
I felt Tyler’s head shake as he continued whispering.
“Holy crap, Gage!” Amanda said loudly. “You knocked Max out cold. I think you busted his nose . . . again.”
“Amanda,” Tyler growled at the same time Gage hissed, “Shut up, Manda!”
My body started shaking harder, and I pulled myself closer to Tyler and farther from Gage. I didn’t want to hear that, I didn’t want to think about what had happened between him and Max. I focused on nothing but Tyler so those images wouldn’t put themselves in my mind.
“I need to get her back to the house,” Tyler said, still speaking softly. “Are we good to go?”
When the others agreed, he moved me so he could get onto the passenger seat as well and pulled me onto his lap. My head instantly dropped to the crook of his neck and I let his large arms, warm scent, and soft words continue to soothe me all the way back to the ranch.
Once we were back, Tyler gave me one of his shirts and gently pushed me into the bathroom. I took a quick shower; dressed in his shirt, which came down to my thighs; and made my way back to Amanda’s room. Gage had been standing there with Tyler, but after one look at me, his expression turned worried and he didn’t say a word as I walked past him and went to the sofa bed in the far corner of the bedroom. The guys left when Amanda came to get in her own bed, and once she was asleep Tyler was slipping under the comforter with me. My rock . . . my best friend. I didn’t know what I would ever do without him. His arms went around me and I curled myself tighter into him, taking a deep breath in. Finally feeling safe in his arms, I closed my eyes as my shaking slowed to a stop and I drifted off to sleep.