The sound of metal rubbing on metal reverberates through the quiet room, waking me from my sleep. The sound is unfamiliar, and I immediately go on the defense, looking for whoever caused the noise. The stakes are higher this time because it’s not just me to worry about. Sierra is next to me, and if anyone lays a finger on her, I’ll kill them.

The glowing screen of my phone catches my eye, and it takes not even a second to realize the sound was a text coming through, causing the phone to vibrate up against a metal bowl full of change. Sierra didn’t stir. She did tell me she’s a sound sleeper and doesn’t wake easily once she’s passed out.

It’s my old phone, which sounds weird to say since this one is actually a newer model than the one I got from the Summer Hill electronic store. The text is from Jax, and I know I should read it. I unlock the phone and internally groan at the number of texts, missed calls, and messages.

I go to the voicemails first. There are fewer of them than texts, and Jax would call instead of text if it were actually important. It’s like I’m listening to Sierra’s messages all over again, except my mystery woman is naked in bed next to me, fast asleep and none the wiser to the shit I’m about to listen to. I press play on Jax’s first message and bring the phone to my ear.

“I got a job for us,” he starts. “Fifty-grand easy. Call me.”

The next message is from over a week later. “Where the fuck are you, Henson? I got fucking arrested and need you to bail me out. I know I flaked on you last time, but I had a good fucking reason. I’m at Stark County.”

The next message comes three days after the last. I hit play. “Fuck you, man. Fuck. You. I had to get Weston to bail me out. But really, where the hell are you? No one’s heard from you in weeks. If you’re fucking dead I’m going to kill you. Don’t you fucking force me to ask Beth what happened to you.”

I know he did because the next message is from Beth, who was more than a fuck buddy but far from my girlfriend.

“What the fucking hell, Chase?” she starts. “Jax just left and said he hasn’t seen or heard from you either. I’m worried. Really fucking worried.” Her voice is raspy and I can tell she’s sucking on a cigarette as she talks. “Last I heard you were going down south to handle some family shit. Call me, asshole.”

The last message is from Jax again, and it was left last night while Sierra and I were at the bonfire. “I’m in trouble and need a place to lay low. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t serious. And I’m serious. Beth said something about Mississippi. I’m headed south now to stay out of dodge. If you’re not dead, call me back, motherfucker.”

“Shit,” I mumble, bringing the phone away from my face. Jax has helped me out more than once. I can’t walk away from this.

I run my hand through my hair and open the texts. The majority are from Jax, telling me about jobs, then asking where I am. Three texts are from Beth, with the first being a photo of her new nipple piercing, the second inviting me to come over for the night, and the third asking where I am as well. The rest are from clients, seeing if I’m available for hire. The most recent text is from Jax, asking if I’m alive.

I let the phone drop onto the bed and lay back down, curling my body around Sierra’s. In her sleep, she arches her back and moves closer. The sound of the river surrounds us, and my chest tightens when I think about how bad I want this.

Sierra.

A simple life here in Summer Hill.

Together.

Living happily together for the rest of our days.

They say nice guys finish last. What the hell happens to the bad ones?

* * *

“You work tonight, right?” Sierra asks over breakfast. We’re at Suzy’s Cafe, and we’re both well aware of the stares we’re getting from the other customers. I can only assume half of them are jealous. I’m the one walking hand in hand with someone as beautiful as Sierra, after all. And the other half are probably wondering what the fuck Sierra is doing with me.

“Yeah. I’m closing down the bar.”

She makes a face, looking down at her phone. “My mom keeps pestering me to go spend the day shopping with her and Sam.”

“Go with them,” I tell her, reaching for my coffee. We’d talked about walking the deer path I’ve been running. Sierra told me she likes to hike, but gets a little freaked out to go alone, which she should. My mind goes to all the bad things that can happen and it makes my stomach hurt. “If you want to, that is.”

“I haven’t hung out with them in a while.”

“It’s nice you guys do things together.”

“Yeah, it is. My sister and I are total opposites, but we get along for the most part. Same with my mom. I’m way more free-spirited than the rest of my family, and it makes me stick out.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” I say and Sierra smiles. “This might be a dumb question, but when you say you’re going to spend the day shopping, you can’t mean you’re going to be around here, can you?”

“No. They want to drive to Eastmont, which is almost two hours away. They have good stores there.”

Our food comes, and we talk throughout breakfast. On our way out, an elderly woman comes up to Sierra, smiling as she eyes me up and down.

“Good morning,” she says with a thick southern accent. “To both of you.” She brings her eyebrows up and smiles again.

“Good morning, Mrs. Williams. This is Chase.” Sierra turns, introducing me. “And Chase, this is Mrs. Williams. She owns The Book Bag.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say and shake her hand.

“I knew Sierra was seeing someone new. I just didn’t know he was this handsome.” Mrs. Williams winks at me and squeezes my hand. “It’s nice seeing her happy again,” she whispers to me, loud enough for Sierra to hear. “I hope to keep seeing you around.”

“I plan to be here,” I tell her, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Sierra smile. I take her hand the rest of the way to the car. We go back to my place so she can get her stuff, needing to hurry home to shower and change in time to meet her mom and sister. She’s stuffing her clothes from last night into her oversized purse when she gets a text.

“Lisa’s at work,” she tells me with a laugh. “She’s begging for coffee. I didn’t know she had to work this morning.”

“She has to feel like shit.”

“Yeah. Total shit.”

“The bank isn’t open long on Saturday, at least.”

“Right. She’s there until noon. And it’s nine-thirty now…yeah. She’s gonna need that coffee.” Sierra makes a face. “I’m already running late, but I feel bad. I’ll get her coffee. And food. I doubt she ate.”

Watching Sierra, I remember how I felt last night lying in bed next to her. How I want to start over. Make this place my home.

With her.

“I’ll take it to her,” I offer. “I need to go to the bank anyway. Tell me what to get.”

“You don’t have to do that, Chase.”

“I’m going to the bank today. It’s no big deal.”

Sierra looks at me as if it is. “Thank you. She likes black coffee. Easy.”

“That is. What to eat?”

“Blueberry muffin.”

“Got it. Go shop.” I take her in my arms, needing to feel her breasts crush against me one more time. “And if you’re shopping for lingerie and can’t decide on something, feel free to send me pictures.”

The words leave my mouth and intrusive thoughts immediately take over. I have her late-boyfriend’s phone. The phone that he held in his hand. She held it too. Did she send him naughty pictures on it? The parallels are too much for me to handle. It’s wrong, and I fucking hate myself for listening to those messages.

Those messages that I haven’t deleted yet.

“Chase?” Sierra asks. “Are you okay?”

I blink and put my mouth to hers. “Better now.”

We kiss once more, and then she leaves. The second she’s out the door, I feel relief. Not to be away from her, because I’m missing her already, but because of this sudden feeling that I’m teetering on the edge of fucking up. I let out a breath and go into my bedroom, pulling out a bag filled with cash from under the bed. I take a couple thousand out, stick it in my nightstand drawer, and zip up the bag to take with me. At the last second, I grab my phone—my old phone—from the nightstand.

I get the coffee and muffin first, then go to the bank. Lisa is at the front, head resting in her hands.

“I come bearing gifts,” I say, holding up the coffee. The sun is behind me, and Lisa cringes when she looks up.

“Oh my God, I could kiss you.” She takes the coffee from me and chugs it. “Where’s Si?”

“Shopping with her mom and sister. She was running late so I offered to bring this.”

Lisa opens the bag and digs into the muffin. “Seriously, thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I need to talk to Melissa, actually. Is she here?”

“She is, but that’s not what I mean. Well, it is. I needed coffee like it was nobody’s business. And I’m fucking starving and this muffin has those big sprinkles of sugar on the top. So damn good. But I mean for making Sierra happy again. I don’t even think she realizes it. You know she wears those weird outfits, right? Well, she stopped after Jake died. I think it was like too much effort or something. Now she’s back to those damn character-inspired whatever.” Lisa waves her hand in the air. “I can never guess what she is, and I hate when I can’t do something. But my point is, she’s herself again. Part of her died with Jake, and whatever you’re doing, it’s bringing her back to life.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. Suddenly, I realize that’s a whole lot of fucking responsibility.

“And,” Lisa goes on, “I just want to remind you once again that my family owns a lot of farmland in this town. You hurt Sierra, I can kill you and make it look like an accident and scatter your body over the thousands of acres we own.”

I smile, liking Lisa more and more. “If you were going to hide my body, you don’t need to make it look like an accident. Save yourself the trouble.”

Lisa smiles back. “Good point. Then I’d just beat you to death with a shovel.”

“Sounds about right. I won’t hurt her.”

“You better not. Want me to get Melissa now?”

“Yeah, then finish your coffee. You’re gonna need it.”

I pull out my phone while Lisa goes in the back and open Jax’s text. He asked if I was alive. I simply respond ‘yes’ and hit send.