Boots Up (Port Ranch Book #1)

Chapter 19

BRIELLE

My day has been absolute shit. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Mitch is going to be so angry when he finds out, but I just think about Lex’s words over and over again. I want to protect Mitch, but the things that Lex wants me to do are just heartbreaking, literally.

My door opens with enough force to slam into the wall. I’m startled, worried that it’s Mitch so I tuck the folder under my pillow. To my surprise, Brooke is staring at me with murder in her eyes.

“Where have you been today?” She hisses.

“Just doing stuff. Why?”

“What kind of stuff, BB?” She raises her voice. “You haven’t been down at the bunks, Britt said she hasn’t seen you today either, Mom is in the kitchen and obviously you haven’t been there because I’ve been in and out of the house doing laundry all day so I’m going to ask again where have you been?”

“Brooke, I...just...please leave me alone.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that he contacted you?” I gasp. There is no way she could have known about my meeting with Lex. She narrows her eyes at me, “That’s right, I know. What I’m trying to figure out is why you didn’t say anything. We had an agreement, you promised after last time.”

“I know I did,” I threw my hands up, “but it’s complicated Brooke. You wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re right, I don’t understand. You know who else doesn’t understand?”

“Who?”

“Mitch.”

“You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“I didn’t have to, Brielle. He told ME. I mean he almost bit my head off and I’m pretty sure he was ready to trash the entire bunkhouse and would have if I wasn’t in there when he happened to get home.”

“He saw me?” My heart sinks. This is the last thing I wanted. I made sure they wouldn’t be in the west field today so I could meet with Lex. “No...no no no.” I cover my face and rock back and forth. Tears I’ve been holding back most of the day fall from my eyes. This is almost as bad as the news I received earlier.

“Yeah, he saw you and to say he is pissed is an understatement. What the hell is going Brielle? What aren’t you telling me?”

“I have to go.” I grab the folder that I had hidden under my pillow and yell bye to my sister as I run down the two flights of stairs and the gravel path that takes me to Mitch’s bunkhouse. I think about going right in, but it sounds like he’s mad at me right now, so I do the respectful thing and knock on the screen door instead.

“Go away,” he yells.

“It’s me, Mitch.”

“Then go away quicker,” he snarls.

“Please don’t do this, Mitch. We need to talk, it’s important.”

I hear his heavy steps moving my way and finally he opens the door. This isn’t the Mitch I’ve been falling in love with. He looks disheveled and his eyes are dark. He also smells like a brewery. I did that to him. “Go, Brielle. I don’t want to see you right now. Just fucking leave.” Mitch took up the entire doorway, he wasn’t giving me any opening, a clear message that I wasn’t invited in.

“I just want five minutes, Mitch. Just five minutes and I’ll leave you alone.”

“Better idea,” he slurs, “I give you zero minutes and you fuck off.”