“Where are we going?”
“It’s my turn to buy.”
“Buy what?”
“Tacos.”
“You’re taking me for tacos? What do you mean it’s your turn to buy? I never bought you tacos.”
He just laughed and ran his fingers through his longish dirty-blond hair. “How did the rodeo go?” I asked because if he was taking me for tacos for lunch, I certainly wouldn’t argue with that.
“I’m the best bareback bronc rider in all of Texas, that’s how it went.”
I snorted. “Your head’s so big I’m surprised it fits in that ten-gallon hat of yours.”
“I upgraded to the twenty-gallon,” he joked, and all I could do was laugh. I’d never actually seen him in a cowboy hat.
Why was it so much easier to hang out with Brody these days? I sighed loudly, the sound drowned out by his music.
When he pulled into the roadside barbecue, my eyes widened. Oh no. No, no, no.
“Take me home. I don’t want tacos.”
Judging by the look on Jude’s face, he didn’t look thrilled to see me either. His eyes narrowed to slits and he crossed his arms over his chest, clearly unhappy with this whole scenario. He was leaning against his truck waiting for Brody but instead he’d gotten me too.
Brody had tricked us.
“You’re not gonna back down now, are you?” Brody asked, and I heard the challenge in his voice. His question was aimed at me but it was loud enough for Jude to hear. Which meant that neither of us were going to back down now. We’d eat tacos together if it killed us. We’d eat tacos together even if they were laced with arsenic.
Jude was the lion and I was the bull. I’d figured it out last night. Leo and Taurus. Those were the constellations he’d put on my bedroom ceiling. It was us and I couldn’t figure out why he’d done it.
One time during one of our random late-night conversations I’d asked him, “Who would win a fight if a lion was pitted against a bull?” I’d fully expected him to say that a lion would always win because, among other things, he had a superiority complex and really did think he was king of the jungle.
But he’d surprised me by saying, “Depends on the circumstances. If it was a fighting bull and they were in an enclosed space, the bull would win. It would spear the lion with its horns. If they were out in the open, a lion’s natural habitat, the lion would win. Lions have more grace, speed, and agility.”
Who would win if a bull and a lion sat down at a picnic table outside a roadside barbecue to eat brisket tacos with pico de gallo? Nobody would win. Because lions only fought when they had something to fight for. And Jude was done fighting for me.
But after we carried our order outside and sat across from each other at the picnic table under the shade of the trees with Brody next to me, Jude bumped the tip of his sneaker against the tip of mine under the table. I thought it was accidental but I kept my foot where it was and when he didn’t move his foot away I wondered if it meant something.
I looked up from my taco and met his eyes. Those blue, blue eyes like the wildflowers in the field. Our eyes locked and held and all the air whooshed out of my lungs when he reached across the table and cupped my chin in his hand, brushing his thumb across my jaw. “You’re the messiest eater.”
“I know,” I said, my voice barely a whisper because even though he’d removed his hand and he wasn’t touching me anymore, I could still feel it. And I’d heard something in his voice that was almost gentle and turned me into a pile of goo.
“About fucking time,” Brody said. “Can we all be friends again? I’m getting tired as fuck of playing monkey in the middle of you two dumb shits.”
My gaze swung to Brody then back to Jude. “I’ve missed us,” I said, making myself vulnerable and being way too honest.
But that was the true definition of bravery. It wasn’t about who could scale a wall or swing across a creek filled with crocodiles.
Being brave meant being honest and owning up to the things you’d done to hurt people. It was what my mom had tried to tell me but I’d completely missed the message. Until right this minute. And now I saw it all with such blinding clarity that I had no idea how I’d been so blind.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, praying he’d accept my apology. Because here I was, a girl offering up her own truth and begging him to cut her some slack. Like, please, take this heart I’m offering you in my own two hands. Be gentle with it. Don’t break it.
Would I do the same for him if the situation was reversed? I didn’t know.
“You’re so stubborn, Rebel. So fucking infuriating. How could you be so stupid?”
How dare he? Not like he’d been a saint throughout this whole ten-month stand-off. “You want to talk about stupid? Let’s talk about Ashleigh, Megan, and Kylie. And you... my God, you are the most annoying guy. You have such a hero complex that you feel like you need to rescue me from everything.”
“Oh yeah, much better to let you fall to your death. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I just panicked for a minute, but I would have been fine. I know I can do it.”
“Don’t even think about climbing onto that roof without me.”
“I don’t need you.”
“I don’t need you either.”
“I didn’t even miss you.”
“You never crossed my mind.”
Brody sighed and shook his head. “Oh, here we go. Feels like old times.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Jude said, and the three of us laughed. I wasn’t even sure what we were laughing about but it felt good. It felt like the world was right again.
After we ate, I rode home with Jude who
