herself.
“What?” I lift my ball cap and rub over the spot she smacked. “Why’d you hit me?”
“You’re an idiot, Diesel,” she says between gritted teeth.
“What else is new?” I ask with a shrug, but I have no idea what she’s referring to this time. Then again, it’s not uncommon for her to call me names.
“Rowan told me everything. Everything. And then you went and messed things up. She told me what she saw this morning.” She cocks her hip, placing her hands on them.
I search her face, confused. Rowan told her about us? “What are you talkin’ about? Saw what?”
“Rowan went to your house this morning to talk to you. You didn’t answer the door so she looked through the window and saw Chelsea wrapped up in your arms.” Maize shakes her head, grimacing. “I was rooting for you, too.” She sarcastically laughs. “Riley’s gonna lose his shit. I ought to kick your ass myself for leading her on.”
My eyes go wide, and I start to panic at what Rowan must’ve seen before I pushed Chelsea away. “It wasn’t like that. I swear.”
“And to think Rowan wanted to come clean to everyone about your relationship, too. But you fucked it up,” Maize grits. “You ruined everything.”
“Come clean about what relationship?” Riley asks from behind, and I close my eyes, wishing this wasn’t happening right now. I turn around and see him and John staring like they’re ready to murder me.
“Please let me explain…” I hold up my hands, hoping he’ll take mercy on me since I’m here with my son and there are guests around.
Riley’s tight jaw and daggers tell me he doesn’t give any fucks about that. “I warned you, Diesel.” He fists his hands in my shirt and pushes me against the wall. Maize squeals, telling Riley to take it outside, but he’s too pissed to listen. “I warned you to stay the fuck away from my sister. And now I’m gonna punch your pretty face in for hurting her. I knew you’d do this. You just couldn’t stay away, could you? Just wouldn’t feel content until you hurt my sister, the way I always knew you would.” Before I can get a word in, Riley rears back and punches me in the face. I try to block it, but he’s too fast. If it were any other person in the world, I would’ve laid them out flat, but I don’t fight him back. I can’t.
“Hey!” I hear a woman’s voice shout.
“Mama,” Dawson says, holding his arms out. She takes him from the high chair and kisses his cheek.
“What’s going on here?” Chelsea asks, walking toward the group of us, and Riley retreats, putting space between us.
“What are you doin’ here?” I ask, holding a hand to my face. I’m gonna have a black eye now. “And how did you get here?” I’m actually shocked to see her. I hope she didn’t walk because that’s miles down a dirt road, and it’s hot outside.
“I might be from the city, but I know how to drive a four-wheeler, Diesel.” She laughs. “Truthfully, I got nervous. This is new territory for me, and I just wanted to check on Dawson for my own sanity.”
She notices my face fall, but I don’t blame her. This is new territory for us all.
“It’s nothing against you. He’s around strangers and an unknown environment, and I started to worry. I just needed to see him and make sure he was safe.”
I nod. “I understand, it’s okay. He was having a good time. He saw the horses, and then we stopped in here for a snack and water.”
Dawson begins to tell her about the pony. “Hold on, baby, one second.”
Chelsea looks at all of us.
Maize is annoyed and crosses her arms over her chest. “Glad your girlfriend could show up and save your ass.”
Riley is ready to beat me to a pulp, and John is overly annoyed because we caused a scene…again.
I look at Chelsea. “Rowan saw us together this morning.”
Her face drops. “Oh no. I’m so sorry,” she says to me, then looks at everyone. “Whatever you think happened between Diesel and me this morning didn’t and was one hundred percent my fault,” she explains. “I made a move, but he stopped me, then admitted he was dating someone. It’s all a really big misunderstanding, honestly. There’s nothing between us,” she says, and I’m so damn thankful she’s here because they wouldn’t have believed me, thanks to my past. Riley’s still tense and so