Free Lone Star Burn: Broncos & Bouquets (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Stephanie Haefner

secrets. You just sat there with your own. You kept your mouth shut instead of telling me.”
    “I know and I feel awful about it.”
    “You feel awful about it?”
    “Yes.” He stepped to her and reached for her hand. She yanked it away. “But I promise. From here on out, it’s nothing but the truth.”
    “I trusted the wrong man. Again. I’m still trying to rebuild my life after the last asshole. I can’t let someone else bring me down. I never should have gotten involved with you to begin with. I should have stuck to my instincts and ignored everything else. This is my fault. But it ends now.” She stepped to the driver’s side door.
    “Laney. Please. Let me make this up to you.”
    “You can’t.” She looked him dead in the eyes. “I need to salvage my life. You’ll just make it worse.”
     
     

Chapter 11
     
    Sawyer watched Laney drive away, a cloud of dust in her wake.
    “Poor Sawyer Williamson got dumped.” Michelle stood on the porch, sneering at him. “Don’t expect any sympathy from me. You deserve a hell of a lot more than that.”
    Don’t you think I know that? He was stupid to think he could forget his past and start a new life. He was stupid to think he deserved any kind of joy…love. His mother’s words echoed in his ears. You worthless piece of shit.
    He pulled out his cellphone to call Travis. Dead. He wasn’t surprised. Karma wasn’t a bitch. She gave people what they deserved. He headed for the road and the four-mile walk into town. He knew these roads like the back of his hand. The town, too. It hadn’t changed much over the last decade. Same stores. Same churches. A flood of memories he’d rather not remember.
    It was past one when he made it to Sloppy’s Saloon, the town hangout, already open for the day’s business. He sat at the bar, one of many stools he’d occupied from the time he was seventeen. The owner hadn’t cared. Not when Sawyer was dropping the kind of money he was every night.
    “Ho-ly shit. I’m either seeing ghosts or my eyesight is more fucked up than I thought.”
    Sawyer turned to the voice behind the bar. The bartender, he assumed. He tried to place the face. “Do I know you?”
    “Dude. It’s Billy.”
    Fuck. The one friend he’d had when he was a kid. They’d gotten into a lot of trouble together. Innocent trouble, like smashing school windows in the middle of the night, stealing beers from the mini mart. Which he now realized was far from innocent fun, but nothing compared to his bigger sins.
    “Sorry, man. I didn’t recognize you. How’ve you been?”
    “Can’t complain. Married, couple kids. I manage the bar.” He filled a glass and set it in front of Sawyer. “How long have you been out?”
    “Three years.” Sawyer took a long swig of his beer.
    Billy leaned on the counter. “Man, it really sucked the way it all went down. I still can’t believe that guy was an undercover cop.”
    “I deserved it.”
    “You were just trying to survive, like the rest of us.” He poured his own beer and took a drink. “So where the hell have you been hidin’ out?”
    “Fort Mavis on a horse ranch.”
    “No shit.”
    “I like it. It’s honest work.” Sawyer drained his glass. “And I really need to get back. Can I use your phone? I need to call for a ride.”
    “How’d you get an hour from there without a way to get back?”
    “It’s a long story.”
    “Then you can tell me on the way.” Billy grabbed his keys from under the bar top then yelled into the kitchen. “Johnny. I gotta go somewhere for a few hours. I’ll see ya later.”
    “You can’t just drop everything and drive me home.”
    “Sure I can. It’s the least I can do. I woulda been there with ya, but you kept your mouth shut. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”
    Sawyer nodded and followed his old friend out back to a rusty pickup. They got in and he turned to Billy. “Thanks, man.”
    “That’s what friends are for.”
    Sawyer hadn’t wanted to hold