“If you are,” she said, sounding slightly dazed. He couldn’t really blame her.
“You’re just going to go?” Maddy asked.
“I saw the baby,” he said. “So, yeah.”
He didn’t know how to do this. He didn’t know how to stand around with his siblings and have a conversation that wasn’t loaded. He didn’t know what to do with the emotions in his chest. He didn’t know how to stand there and look at Madison and not pull her into a hug. Because she was a woman now, and not the girl he remembered. Because she had been hurt, and he hadn’t been here. Because it had just been so damn long. But you couldn’t hug a stranger, even if she was your sister.
And he never really hugged anyone, even if he knew them. Hell, he hadn’t even hugged Rebecca and he’d taken her virginity.
“I rode with Rebecca,” he said. “I don’t want to keep her too late.”
“I’m not in a hurry,” Rebecca said.
He moved nearer to her, and put his hand on her lower back. “Are you sure? I thought you had to be up tomorrow.”
“You know, I should get going.” Rebecca shot him a deadly glare. And he knew that it had everything to do with the fact that she was afraid of what he might do next in front of his family and Lydia.
He looked back at everyone and noticed the shock on their faces. Letting them all know he had seduced a nice girl like Rebecca would only confirm their suspicions that he was a prick. Probably ease their consciences when it came to hating him a little bit.
But that didn’t sit right for some reason. Not after Maddy. Not after seeing Sierra and the baby. Still, there was nothing else to say. Nothing else to do.
So, he grabbed Rebecca’s hand and led her out of the hospital.
* * *
REBECCA’S HEART WAS THUNDERING, and her head was starting to pound. She felt disoriented, confused and a little bit like she was living the world’s longest day. Today, she had kissed Gage for the first time. Tonight, she’d gone to a bar and danced with one of her best friend’s best friends, and come very close to propositioning him. Then, she had been hauled out of said bar by Gage, and she had lost her virginity.
Then they had talked. Really talked, with a whole lot more honesty than she liked to employ with people. Then they’d gone to the hospital, and somehow, she had thought it would be a good idea to drive him. Probably because she could sense that he needed her to, just as she could sense that he wanted to pretend he didn’t.
Which suited her just fine, because she would rather pretend that he didn’t need her to either.
Now, they were back in his truck, and this time he was driving.
“I’ll take you back to your car now,” he said, turning onto the road that would take them back to Ace’s bar.
“Thank you,” she said. She didn’t even know what time it was now. Edging on to last call, if it wasn’t closing time altogether.
She felt... Well, she didn’t know what she felt. She tried to shrink the evening in her mind, compartmentalize it. She went to the stretch of time she had just spent at the hospital. That walk down the hall with Lydia had been uncomfortable. Lydia clearly suspected that something was going on between Gage and herself, but she hadn’t outright asked.
She was familiar with Lydia, but they didn’t really know each other, and they had certainly never discussed their dating habits, or anything of a remotely personal nature.
Lydia was mayor of Copper Ridge. And while she was perfectly cordial to Rebecca, she just wasn’t the kind of person who would associate with Rebecca. Not beyond campaigning, anyway. Though, Rebecca supposed that as a small-business owner in the town, things were a little different now. But she could never quite shake off the feeling that she was nothing more than a poor, scarred girl from the wrong side of the tracks.
And then, Gage had done his level best to get her out of the hospital as quickly as possible by making physical contact with her. She hated that she had been so predictable. She knew he had only done it to get her moving. She supposed it served her right for meddling. She had no right to meddle in his family business. Moreover, she didn’t know why she cared.