Southern Sinner (North Carolina Highlands 3)

The tightness in my throat becomes painful. I look away, blinking hard, and wonder at the whiplash of the last ten minutes.

The last ten days, really.

Milly isn’t my favorite person at the moment. But overall, the Beauregards have proven to be excellent human beings. I get why Hank loves them the way he does. I get why he wants to stay close by, despite what happened with Samuel and Emma.

I hope he’ll feel the same after what happens tonight. I won’t be the reason he abandons the people he loves again.

I won’t be the reason they abandon him.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Hank

“You’ve gotta be shitting me. She actually said that?”

Rhett purses his lips and pulls them to the side, face screwed up like he smells something bad. “You know how Milly is.”

Balling my hands into fists, I plant them on top of my desk. It takes every ounce of self-control not to pick up my laptop and chuck it against the wall.

“That’s crossing the line, even for her.” I shake my head, clenching my jaw. “How dare she confront Stevie like that? I’mma have words with her tonight, man.”

“What she did wasn’t right, definitely. I defended Stevie as best as I could, but . . .”

“But what?”

“You’re gonna make me say it?”

“Quit being a coward and spit it out.”

“Hey. I’m not the one who faked a relationship because he was too chickenshit to have a real one.”

The arrow lands right where it hurts.

Right where Rhett intended.

Brushing aside the unpleasant sensation in the center of my chest, I say, “I’m in a real one now.”

“If you say so.”

“What does that mean?”

Agitated, Rhett sits upright in his chair. “Dude, c’mon. I wanna believe you, but you’ve lied about this shit before. I’m not sure what’s true and what isn’t.”

That’s exactly what I’m afraid the rest of my family is going to say.

“Why would I keep faking a relationship with Stevie at this point? Samuel set a date. He’s gonna get married.”

“But who knows what he’ll do once he finds out you weren’t dating Stevie, which means maybe you aren’t over Emma, which means . . . I don’t know what, but it ain’t good.”

“I am over Emma,” I say forcefully. Angrily. “You know I am.”

“That, I actually do believe. A bullshit artist like Samuel, though? I dunno. I bet he sniffs around y’all, you and Stevie I mean, looking for cracks in your story.”

“I’m going to tell him the story. The whole thing.” I glance over my shoulder out the windows. Sun is setting. I wanna get to Stevie ASAP, but I gotta figure this out first.

Goddamn it, I could wring Rhett’s neck for letting my secret slip. I could also wring Milly’s for, well, being Milly.

“And what if Samuel doesn’t buy it?” Rhett asks.

“I’ll figure it out.”

Rhett makes this face. It’s a wince, a grimace, maybe both.

“What?” I growl.

A muscle in his cheek tweaks. “You sure you wanna do this?”

My fingernails dig into the heels of my palms. I wait for him to explain himself.

“I like Stevie. A lot. We all do. She’s down to earth, and she’s kind, and she seems to make you happy. But could this be another case of you falling really fast for a girl who’s not available? Only this time, you’re willing to burn down everything you’ve built back up over the past year to make something work that, uh, isn’t supposed to because you’ve fucked up once, and you’ll be damned if you fuck up again? You forcing it, Hank?”

I see red. He’s saying I’m desperate. Desperate enough to make stupid decisions, the way I did a year ago.

I say through gritted teeth, “Stop.”

“I’m just saying my piece. I owe it to you as your favorite brother to be honest.”

Another arrow. Followed by a tiny pulse of something I do not like at all.

Doubt.

This thing is turning into a fucking nightmare.

I am not the reckless idiot I was back then. I’m certain of that.

Rhett isn’t wrong, though. Stevie and I pretty much fell in love over the course of one fucking weekend. Well, two. But that’s, what, a hundred hours total together?

I fell for Emma just as quickly. That was different, though. It wasn’t lust, exactly. More like I was lonely and burned out and hungry for something I thought I found in her.

I found it in Stevie.

Mama’s said shit about love like, “when you know, you know.” I buy that. But I also buy Rhett’s hesitation.

“You are far from my favorite right now,” I say, closing my eyes.

“Wait until Samuel and Beau hear what you’ve got to say. I’ll definitely be your favorite after that.”

“I’m not forcing anything with Stevie. What we have is a two-way street. My feelings for Emma only went one way.”

“You’re an adult. You call the shots. I’m just looking out for you. I’d hate to see you get hurt again.”