56. Skyler

These little touches are completely innocent.

That kiss wasn’t, but the brush of my arm along hers is.

And if I put my hand on the small of her back, it’s purely to make sure we aren’t separated in the thick crowd.

The relationship between us is confusing at best. We never put a full stop on our little experiment or the agreement to stay exclusive to each other. I’m assuming that blind date of hers was a signal that it’s time to move on. But since we haven’t officially parted ways, I’m working on a pitch to abandon Harvest Fest in favor of my bedroom. She’s looking cute and cuddly in a flannel shirt and tight jeans that hug her ass. My fingers itch to touch her body, but we know damn near everyone in this crowd, and that would certainly get tongues wagging.

And if word gets around, Josh will hear about it. He’ll want answers, and I’ve never been good at lying to him.

So instead of sticking my hand in her back pocket like I want to, I settle for innocently guiding her through the thickest parts of the crowd.

Sure, we could have skirted around. Taken a less busy route. But going through the heart of the thoroughfare means I have no choice but to hold on to her.

Nobody could blame me for that.

Still, if I wasn’t doing anything wrong, then I wouldn’t feel that pang of guilt when Reese’s mom, Lisa, finds us in the crowd.

Her gaze drops to my hand, which is planted on Reese’s back. I immediately let it drop and Lisa turns to Reese, too excited to focus on what my hand was doing on her daughter’s back. “Reese. I have been looking everywhere for you.”

Reese looks distracted. “We haven’t made it ten feet. These crowds are ridiculous. I don’t remember Harvest Fest being this busy.”

I bite back a smile.

Lisa is looking back over her shoulder. “Why don’t you come over to the stage, honey? The worship band is about to get started.”

“Oh.”

Reese’s enthusiasm is thin. “Sure. We’ll be over in a few minutes. I wanted to find a funnel cake first.”

Lisa wraps her fingers around Reese’s arm, hauling her behind her. “You can get something to eat after the set.”

Set? Who calls worship music a set? It’s not exactly rock-n-roll.

Except, as we near the stage, I realize this isn’t going to be a normal worship band session with a tambourine and an acoustic guitar. There are tall amps and a drum kit that looks like it went through a hail storm it’s got so many dings on it.

Lisa is practically bouncing on her toes. “The Harvest Festival got a special musical guest this year.”

“Oh, fuck me.”

Reese mutters, just loud enough for me to hear. I slide a hand behind her back, feeling how tense she is. The crowd starts to grow around us, but despite Lisa’s urging to move closer, Reese stays rooted to the spot.

The band files out, the crowd starts cheering, and then I understand.

I never bothered looking her ex up. If I had, I might have known ahead of time that this dude is no wimpy guy in corduroys and a sweater vest. He’s tall, lanky, and fit. This is something I know because the asshole is shirtless.

In November.

What kind of guy leads worship music in ripped up jeans and motorcycle boots? Shirtless. His entire left side is covered in ink and my mind is just blown.

I’m having to rearrange everything I assumed about Reese and Jonah, and it’s like starting over at square one.

I hate how bad ass this douchebag is. I’ve never really given a shit what people think of me. My family’s opinion is important, yes, but I’ve never been hung up on coming across as cool. But standing here in work boots and a plain Henley, I’m suddenly feeling very vanilla.

No wonder she got bored of me.

As he picks up his guitar, my last, lingering hope is that he sucks. That he’s all appearance and no substance. Sound reverberates through the speakers, and he opens his mouth.

The song starts slowly, stripped down to his voice and a haunting electric guitar.

His voice is deep and expressive, but the motherfucker has range, hitting falsetto notes with grace and ease. His drummer starts lightly tapping out a rhythm and then we’re hit with a wall of sound. You can’t help but be moved by it and it’s a song called Choke Me.

How can he move a crowd of hicks with a worship song called Choke Me?

What the actual fuck?

But also, how did a guy who’s singing about being choked by a lover miss out on a beautiful woman like Reese?

That was a mistake, plain and simple.

One Jonah seems to have recognized.

Otherwise, what is a guy like that doing in Silver Bend?

He’s here to get his girl back.

And to ruin my fucking life.