CHAPTER 36
BRADY
I hadn’t wanted to talk much in the truck, and Riley seemed to get that. She didn’t push me or ask questions. After going inside to grab the pizza, I drove us to the field. No one would be there on a Tuesday night. It was away from everything, and it was somewhere we could go undetected.
“Haven’t been to this field in a long time,” she said when I parked out in the clearing.
That wasn’t exactly the truth. “Remember, I saw you back in August. You came here.”
She ducked her head and stared at her hands. “Yes, but after seeing your welcoming face I left quickly. Never made it to the actual party. Which was a good thing. I’m not sure what I had been thinking.”
I reached over and covered her hand with mine. “I’m sorry about that. I was a dick.”
She shrugged. “You were reacting the way any of the guys would. You are Gunner’s friend. I had no business trying to come here.”
I hated that she felt that way.
“I was a dick,” I repeated.
A laugh escaped her, and she nodded. “Yes, you were.”
“Glad we can agree on that,” I said. Then reached in the back to grab a blanket I kept there in case of emergencies. Or other things.
“Here, take this. It’s cold tonight. I’ll get the pizza and Coke.”
“You have a blanket in the truck?” she asked, sounding amused.
I smirked. “Don’t read too much into it.”
Then she really laughed. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
We headed to the moonlit grass, and she chose a log by one of the bonfire sites. We wouldn’t be lighting it tonight. But it was where the best seating was.
She wrapped the blanket around her and sat down. “I’ll share if you need it,” she said.
I might take her up on that after pizza. The idea of getting under a blanket with her out here alone was nice. More than nice. Helped erase my fucked-up family issues from my head.
I opened up a Coke and handed it to her, then sat the box down and put a piece of pizza on a paper plate they’d given me with the order. “Here you go.”
She took it. “This is nicer anyway. No waiters to interrupt us. The smell of fall and greasy pizza to go with it. My kind of dinner.”
Being alone with her was my kind of dinner. “Glad you think so. Hell of a lot cheaper,” I said, getting the laugh out of her I was trying for.
We ate in silence for a few minutes, and I liked watching her chew. It was cute. When she finished her first slice, I started to put mine down and get her more, but she beat me to it.
“So, if Willa and Gunner are a thing, she knows about me. Why was she so nice?”
“Because she’s Willa. She also has a very low opinion of Rhett, and she’s smarter than the rest of us. She met you and picked up right away that you weren’t what we all assumed.”
Riley smiled and took a bite.
“You ready to hear about the Lawton drama?” I asked her, needing to get my mind off that woman at the restaurant.
She nodded.
“Rhett came back asking for his inheritance or part of it a little over a month ago. His dad was going to give it to him because Rhett was the heir to the Lawton fortune. But come to find out Gunner’s mother spoke up and Rhett isn’t the heir. Neither is their father. Gunner is. Gunner’s father isn’t Rhett’s father. It’s . . . his grandfather. When his grandfather passed, he left it all to Gunner, although he was young then. His father was just to maintain it until Gunner was of age. His mother blew all that out of the water, though. Now Gunner controls it all.”
The pizza was forgotten in her lap. “What?” she asked, sounding as amazed as I had. “You mean Gunner’s grandfather is his father, so his mother—”
“His mother slept with her father-in-law. Yes.”
“Wow.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Rhett was raised to think it was all his and took off when he heard the truth. Gunner has had a hard time dealing with all of it. His dad packed his bags and filed for divorce. Gunner’s mom is in France now, staying with a friend because she needs distance. So Gunner lives at home alone except for Ms. Ames being there to feed him and take care of the house.”
Riley shook her head in disbelief. “I had heard a little. Mostly that he had inherited everything and his dad had left town. Not much else. Why doesn’t the whole town know all this?”
I shrugged because I was surprised by that as well. “Gunner has kept it quiet. His parents aren’t talking, and neither is Rhett.”
“Jesus, that’s got to be hard on him,” she said, sounding truly worried about Gunner. A guy who had helped make her life a living hell. She didn’t hold grudges and had the ability to hurt for others. Even the ones who had hurt her. If I weren’t already completely taken with her, that one simple fact would have been all it took to send me over the edge.
“It’s not been easy, but he’s had Willa. She’s helped him survive.”
“I like her even more now.”
That was what had drawn me to Riley. I realized it in this moment. Her heart. She had a really big heart. She was honest and kind. She wasn’t bitter and vindictive when many people would be. The day I’d given her a ride in the storm and I’d seen her with Bryony, her only worry had been for her daughter. You can’t hide goodness. Hers was there, shining bright. It got to me. She got to me.
“You would be good friends if given the chance.”
“Maybe I’ll sit with her at the game. If she’s not worried about Gunner, then I don’t guess we should be.”
The idea of Riley sitting with Willa made me laugh. Gunner’s reaction to that would be priceless, but I also knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t upset Willa. He loved her more than he loved Rhett.
“You think that’s funny?” she asked.
“No, I think it’s awesome,” I assured her.
She took another bite of pizza, then set her plate down. “That’s the best pizza I’ve ever had.”
She meant more than that. I could see it in her eyes. It was being here with me that made it the best pizza. I agreed with her completely.