Page 22 (1/2)

Her whiskey-tinted eyes narrowed just a fraction "Sounds like you’re right in the middle of messy and complicated to me"

"Yeah, and for once ht Rowdy always mattered a lot to me Now it’s in a different way, but I’ood reason"

Royal suddenly jumped in the conversation in her typically brash way

"Okay, I’ to ask what I knoe all have to be thinking" Her eyes were al with mischief "Did he sleep with her--your sister, I mean? Because if he did that’s kind of weird and I think that along with the proposalto rethink the whole situation"

I recoiled and made a face There was no way I would’ve ever let hi in my sister’s sexual footprints "No I asked her about it all the tie She never even let him steal a kiss"

Royal threw her fall of auburn hair over her shoulder and leaned forward intently "So whatever reason he had for popping the question had to have been pretty major and wasn’t driven out of true love I’ve uy that is going to tie hione to bed with No way in hell"

"He says he loved her and she broke him" I hated the pain I heard in my own voice when I forced the words out

"Maybe he did but there are different kinds of love Maybe he loved her like a sister or a best friend and he just didn’t know the difference Maybe he was just trying to protect her I’s don’t add up Especially not with the way he hustled you into bed the second you gave hiht If your sister was the one, he never really would’ve been able to get past the guilt taking you to bed would have caused Rowdy’s a goodyou that your sister was one thing doesn’t mean she really was Look at his actions not his words"

Her words stung and not just because they were no-nonsense and matter-of-fact but because I knew that if I did what she said I would be the one that ended up crippled by guilt His actions back then had been clear He neededthat, I still had left My oants and needs had outweighed everything else at the ti back on it, I realized that while I’d had to leave, there was one about it I let iven in to the pressure to run away fro on ood that were buried deep in the Texas soil Rowdy and I had shared everything--given each other the support we needed to make it in a place neither one of us wanted to be I should have talked to him, included him in my choice to leave It still would have sucked, still would’ve stunned him, but he wouldn’t have felt like I just abandoned him My actions were the ones that spoke volumes and in retrospect I hated it

However, Royal was also right about the love he had forother than true love He had never treated Poppy the same way he treated me With her he had always been reserved and quiet--with me there were no boundaries and no sha him for so much more than his friendship

Luckily I didn’t have to dwell on it for too long because Royal was on a roll and her attention switched to Ayden

"What is your brother’s story?" Her interest seemed far more than casual or professional curiosity

Ayden snorted

"Asa’s story is one that takes place deep in a seneral criulped and her hands curled into tight fists on the tabletop "It alo because he decided to rip off a motorcycle club and they retaliated with baseball bats He was in a coma and almost died He’s never met a rule that applied to hiht up with him"

Shaw reached out and squeezed Ayden’s shoulder When it was apparent the brunette was too full of eo on, Cora picked up the rest of the tale

"Ayden and Jet brought Asa back to Denver so that he could heal and get back on his feet Much to everyone’s surprise Ro to hi Guy is keeping an eye on him because he’s worried Asa will fall back into his old ways but they have a really solid working relationship and Roround up"

It was clear she was proud of her gruff ex-solider for reaching out to Ayden’s troubled sibling

Royal let out a drearee The Cross siblings were unbelievable to look at I lifted an eyebrow at her and picked up my drink "The cop and the criminal?"