Freed (22 page)

“Sounds good. Thanks, Denver.”

“No problem. That means you’re on dish detail,” she declares before propping her chin on my shoulder. “Ugh! I can’t believe we have to head back in two days. I’ve had such a good time. So peaceful here,” she muses, her voice going dreamy.

Yep, good call not to bring up the ex now. I turn and plant a quick kiss on her cheek without saying anything more. I already feel like a fucking liar and need to get this over with.

Victoria’s going to have to say what she needs to say over the phone, no way around that. I slide out my phone and glance back up to make sure she’s gone inside. She’s just opening the door and turns to look back at me. When she sees me watching her, she shakes her hips suggestively and blows me a kiss, eliciting a stilted laugh from me.

Cursing a little more than usual to get it all of my system before Victoria gets on the line, I finally hit the talk button. It rings once. I’m pretty sure I’m still cursing.

“Um … is that you, Ransom? Victoria asks.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh …”
I, uh, can’t cover my ass since I’m really pissed that you couldn’t take no for an answer, and subsequently, I let out a string of profanity before being forced into talking to you.

“How are you?” she coos, picking up my slack.

“Good. Real good,” I say a little too brightly to make up for the quiet.

She hesitates, probably waiting for me to make small talk, but I just want this want this conversation to be over. “I can’t believe we’ve been home all week and haven’t seen each other.” Her voice is all slick. Her words measured. I long for the girl who shoots straight and doesn’t think before she speaks half of the time. Out of the blue, it hits me that Denver has a phone sex operator voice, not a cheesy one like on the commercials, either. It’s the voice that every guy dreams of having directed toward him and him only—throaty, sometimes breathy, yet honest and heartfelt. Damn! The sound of her voice has never failed to get me hard, and now just
thinking
about the sound of her voice has me hard.

Focus
! I snap back from my daydream so I can get this over with. Once upon a time, she had been a rock for me, so I strive to be diplomatic. “Look, I tried to work it out, but it’s not really a good time for me. I’m winding down the visit with my mom before heading back to school. I don’t see us hanging out this go-around.”
And I have this little fighter of a girlfriend with a possessive streak a mile wide, and I’d advise backing away slowly
. Just thinking about that puts a huge grin on my face. I’d love to say it out loud, but damn, I really don’t want to be a douchebag. Our breakup may have sucked, but we’d found our way back to being friends since then. Not to mention the other connections we share—we live on her family’s land; her father and I are close; and my mother will work for her father again. Suddenly, something that never felt complicated threatens to choke me.

She huffs a breath like I’ve completely put her out. “I can read between the lines, Ransom,” she replies, her voice smoothing out even more. “
She
doesn’t want you to see me, and I find it appalling that you’re allowing yourself to be controlled by your girlfriend.”

Maybe I was still obsessing over that little badass I have waiting on me about thirty yards away, and I did
not
really just hear that bullshit. “Wanna run that by me again, Victoria?” My voice runs glacier-cold.

“I didn’t want to get into that on the phone, but you’re leaving me no choice,” she sighs. That one sigh exudes ulterior motives, and I want to chuck my phone across the yard. “Ransom, I’m concerned about you. You finally have a girlfriend after all these years, and the first thing she does is alienate you from your friends. None of the guys have seen you, and that’s just absurd. We’ve been friends for over a decade, and you can’t
manage
to get thirty minutes away from her?” she asks, disbelieving. I can picture her eyebrows, buried in hairline, and that alone makes this almost funny. “Do you see anything wrong with this picture?”

Breathing in deeply, I search my mind for the best way to defuse petty female drama. Honest to God, I’ve only seen ridiculous shit like this on TV. “Victoria, you know I was all for me and Denver meeting up with you, until your messages took a wrong turn toward manipulation. I don’t have the time, patience, or inclination to deal with that kind of shit, and you know it. Not to mention, I refuse to put my girlfriend in that kind of situation. What the hell? This is not even like you.”

“Manipulation?” she stammers. “How is my wanting to see you manipulation? Is that what she called it?”

“You should read your texts back to yourself. When I told you I’d let you know when the three of us could get together, you started with guilt trips and demands about Denver not being there, and when that didn’t fly, you’ve decided to try to make this about my mom.”

“Ransom, there were a few things I wanted to talk to you about. Things I’d prefer not to discuss in front of a girl I don’t know. One of those things involves Karen. I don’t see why this is a problem.”

“It’s a problem, because anything that can’t be said in front of Denver makes me think you’re up to no good, and an ex-girlfriend who demands the
current
girlfriend make herself scarce is clearly trying to start trouble. And you don’t know me at all, if you think I’m stupid enough to fall into that trap.”

I can practically hear her gritting her teeth in frustration. “You know me better than that, Ransom. Like I said, it’s personal, and I don’t feel comfortable talking about it in front of a stranger.”

God, maybe I
am
being an ass. What if she needs my help, and I’m blowing her off? I would never forgive myself. “Are you in trouble, Victoria?” I ask, striving to sound less pissed off.

“Well … no.”

“If you’re in trouble, you know I’ll help you; otherwise, say what you need to say now. Over the phone.”

“I want to see you,” she demands, sounding a lot less polished.

“No, I’m sorry you can’t understand why. But, it’s still a
no
. What’s this about my mom? Whatever’s going on with her, tell me now, or save it.”

“Wow,” she exhales. “We made promises to each other too, Ransom. I can’t believe you would ignore those for a woman.”

“Well, believe it. If you can’t be an adult about this, I have nothing more to say to you.”

“Ransom, please,” she whispers brokenly. “I just don’t want to talk about this over the phone.”

“Goodbye, Victoria.” I hit end, and seriously hope that’s the end of it.

Denver

Our last day with Karen has crept up on us quickly, and we try to make the most out of it. She woke up this morning with a rare burst of energy and didn’t want to squander it, so Ransom and I took her to a few antique shops in the small, neighboring towns. She was a trooper, only protesting a little when Ransom picked up on her body language and suggested we head back home. She laughed when he declared he was starving for another “cancer casserole” —my nickname for them since they have to be so bland they won’t upset her stomach—most of the time. Since it is so pretty outside, we set Karen up on her chaise lounge to enjoy a late lunch while Ransom and I sit at the picnic table nearby. She claims sitting outside “puts color into her sallow cheeks and vitality into her feeble bones,” so we’ve spent a great deal of time on this deck over the last week.

Karen gives up on eating after a few bites; her frustration at the offending food has her pulling her mouth tight and her throat lurching. After a minute, I watch, amazed, as she visibly shakes it off and moves right along, leaving her brief bout with despair in her wake. Her eyes meet mine, and I return her smile. “Johnny, when do you think you’ll be able to bring Stone to meet me? Soon, right?” Karen pauses, her forehead wrinkling. “On second thought, do you think he’ll even
want
to meet me? I mean, why wouldn’t he?”

Spinning around on the bench, Ransom scratches his stubble and leans back, propping himself up by his elbows on the tabletop. “You want to meet him?” I shoot him a
Duh!
look, because it’s no secret she’s eager to meet him. She’d made us tell her about every single conversation we’d had with him, and no less than three times apiece.

“Of course,” Karen gasps, her fingers flying up to trace over her throat. “He’s your brother—a part of you. I can’t wait to see him.”

A wide grin nearly splits my face in two. She’s so accepting and honest and unbridled. I’ve been taking notes all week, and I’m pretty sure my adoration of
her
is no secret either. Ransom’s eyes dart to mine, and his grin smacks of wicked intention.

“As eager as you are, you’ll have to promise not to scare him off,” he deadpans, ignoring Karen’s huff of outrage. “He’s a good guy, and I’d like to get to know him.”

“John Ethan Ransom,” she protests, and my eyes flare ‘cause
Ethan
.
Hot
! “How dare you? I know how to behave myself.”

“Oh, I know you know. Question is—
will
you?” He gestures my way, and I want to shout,
Take it back! I’m not picking on your mom with you!
I figure I better play along since he’s my ride back to campus … and for other obvious reasons. “Look at the way you grilled Denver her first night here.”

“I did no such thing.” She casts a beseeching look at me. “Did I, Denver? I haven’t scarred you for life, have I?”

I rub my lips back and forth to gain myself a slight reprieve, then burst out laughing, as Ransom launches himself from his seat to kiss the top of her head. “Mom, seriously, you know I’m kidding. I’ll get with him soon and bring him out here. I know he’ll want to meet you.” She playfully rebuffs him, so he sits back down on the bench beside me, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

“
Hmph
!” is about all he gets out of her, before our attention is turned to a sleek, black BMW easing up the driveway. If we weren’t so far off the main road, I would guess they were lost since that car looks totally out of place in these parts.

I shift my attention to Ransom to see if he has a clue who it is, and am a little startled by the hard lines that seem set in his face, but, quick as a blink, they fade away.

“Ransom?”

“Victoria.”

Ugh,
this
could be awkward. “Ah … do I suddenly need to check on something inside?”

“Hell, no,” he stresses without hesitating. “I didn’t know she was stopping by, or I would given you a heads up. It’s not unusual, though.” He shrugs against me, relaxing into me a little more. “She probably just wants to say hello and goodbye before going back to school.”

“All right,” I reply. I fight the urge to look at Karen and get her take on the ex stopping by for a chat. It would show weakness, and while I certainly
do
feel a twinge of the useless quality, I’m unwilling to show it.

The door to the sedan finally opens, and the most hideous creature known to walk the planet emerges.
If only!
Yeah, she’s the exact frickin’ opposite of hideous. All legs. Slim. Brunette hair waving behind her like she travels with her own personal wind machine just in case an impromptu photo shoot arises. Ah, found a flaw! She’s flat-chested. I’ve never been prouder of my awesome breasts. Don’t judge me. It’s my one silver lining here.

She smiles prettily and waves to us. I would make some snotty comments about her wardrobe, but I can’t move past the fact that she’s wearing stilettos (Fact to ponder: are all high heels stilettos?) in the middle of a cattle ranch. Wouldn’t it be cool if she couldn’t walk properly on the narrow, uneven stepping-stones that make up the long walkway? No such luck there either. She manages just fine. “Hi, Karen … Ransom,” she calls as she gets a little closer. “Enjoying the sunshine?”

“We were,” I barely mutter.

Ransom leans in and kisses my cheek, and all is right in my world. A wisp of breath warms the skin around my ear when he whispers, “You’re so hot when you’re jealous,” and I have to fight not to shiver.

I tilt in further and laugh lightly, like I don’t have a care in the world. “Not jealous. Just … proceeding with caution.”

“That’s my girl,” he praises, and if we’d been standing, I’m pretty sure he would have patted me on the ass.

She’s made it to the steps now, and could she possibly swing her hips more as she climbs them?
So
obvious. My eye roll is both mental and physical, I’m sure.

“God, you’re cute,” Ransom continues to torment me, not missing a thing.

“Shut up,” I grumble.

Karen decides to further acknowledge Victoria, since neither of us have.
Thank you, Karen
. “Victoria, I didn’t realize you were home. Pull up a chair and enjoy this beautiful day with us.” Maybe Karen is
too
accepting.

“Thanks, Karen. I just have a minute. My dad sent me to steal Ransom for a little bit.” Her gaze moves to mine, and she smiles ever so sweetly. “
If
you can bear to let him go, that is.” Oh, this bitch is gonna get slapped. There were, like, eight euphemisms reasserting her claim on
my
boyfriend in two sentences. She doesn’t wait for a response to that. “Ransom, who’s your friend?”

Ransom stretches his legs out in front of him and shifts a little more, bringing me impossibly close. “This is Denver, my girlfriend,” he says, no bragging evident, just simple fact. “Denver, Victoria is Edwin’s daughter. You met Edwin, the owner of the ranch, when we first got here.”
Nicely played, Ransom
. No mention of her being your friend or your ex. At least he’s not oblivious to the game she seems determined to play. My mind flashes back to the ride up when he told me I didn’t have to worry about the claws coming out. Ransom, usually good at reading people, sure missed the call on this piece of work.

“Nice to meet you, Victoria. This is a beautiful ranch your family has. I’ve really enjoyed being here this week.” Oh, wow. I said every bit of that without a hint of sarcasm. I deserve some kind of reward. Maybe Ransom will give me one later, and the thought of that brings a hazy kind of smile to my face.