slim brow lifts in my direction. “Are you doing this to appease my curiosity?”
“And to uphold my end of the bargain.”
She squints at me. “What do I give in return?”
“The same as me. I want all of the skeletons in your closet,” I murmur while diving in for a kiss.
Blakely slants her mouth over mine to accept my offer. Before I can execute a distraction tactic, she’s pulling back. “Unfortunately for you, there are none. I’m squeaky clean.”
“I love you, Lee. In my eyes, you can do no wrong. But trying to convince me that your childhood was perfect is a bunch of bullshit.”
She rolls her baby blues. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right. Huge shocker. We’ll get to me in a minute. First, do you have unsettled grievances with your parents? Or is it a done deal and you’ve moved on? It’s important for me to know how hard I should tread.”
I flop onto the mattress with a groan. “There will always be a need for closure when it comes to family drama. They don’t see our rift that way. I’m more of a jagged edge, or loose thread. If they try to sand me down or pull too hard, more destruction might follow. I prefer to think of myself as a rogue soul they can’t tame.”
“What caused it?”
With another strangled noise, I cover my eyes with a forearm. “They wanted me to stay in South Dakota and settle down with a nice girl from trusted stock. Whenever they brought it up, I felt like the rope around my neck was getting tighter. I wasn’t meant to be corralled in that sort of pen. It’s not the future I had planned.”
A furrow appears across her forehead. “And they weren’t able to get past that?”
“Nah, it always seemed like they took personal offense. As if they steered me wrong at some point.”
“You’re allowed to have aspirations and goals beyond their limits.” Her pert nose gives an adorable crinkle.
“Trust me, they didn’t see it that way. Their old-fashioned values don’t compute with expanding horizons. All they need can be found within a fifty-mile radius of Trixton Falls.”
“What did they expect you to do? Aside from marrying a Midwestern lass responsible for producing your brood of offspring? Staying barefoot and pregnant indefinitely holds so much value for a modern woman. But I’m sure plenty were prepared to leap on the bandwagon for you. The irony isn’t lost on me, by the way.” She winks and wags her brows. This girl can make me laugh even with the clouds rolling in.
“Damn, I love you.” I swoop in to steal another kiss.
Blakely returns my affection with a little tongue action. Much to my disappointment, she breaks the kiss within seconds. Again. “Quit distracting.”
I grunt while staring at her mouth, all glossy and moist. On top of resisting me, the sight makes her even more appetizing. “Quit being so sexy.”
She fluffs her already disheveled hair. “Can’t help it. Finish your tale and earn a reward. The night is still young, boss.”
A deep inhale fills me with enough hot air to get the rest out. “The options my parents provided in Trixton Falls held zero appeal. My uncle’s company is very profitable, but I’m not a cattle farmer. Working at my dad’s garage would’ve been even worse. Not that there’s anything wrong with those careers. The jobs are reliable and honest ways to earn a wage. They just aren’t for me. So, I broke out of the constraints. All was well until Stefano got his claws into me. When I was arrested, my parents took it as a sign that my choices delivered me there. If I’d stayed in town and led a simple life, none of the bad shit would’ve caught me.”
“And what do you think?”
“The decisions are mine, and I stand behind them. But for the record, getting locked up wasn’t part of the plan.”
Blakely turns onto her side, peering at me with a gentle smile. “Other than getting involved with those guys, are there any regrets?”
“I hate being estranged from them. It’s a constant nagging in the recesses of my mind.”
“It definitely sounds like there’s a heap of unfinished business. I’m sure they miss you.” Her observation is whispered into the crook of my elbow.
One of my shoulders seems to lift on its own. “Maybe, in their own way. They’re my family. I miss them, and that won’t change. Neither will the fact that my dreams were bigger than Trixton Falls.”