Rebel Soul: (Rebel Series Book 1) ((Rebel Series)) (8 page)

The cold water finally roused me from my thoughts and I finished washing the soap away before turning it off. Another downside to trailer life was that the hot water tank was ridiculously small.

I left the small bathroom, wrapping a towel around my waist, and made my way to the bedroom. My clothes were still tucked away in suitcases. There was no sense in unpacking; I had nowhere to put it anyway. I pulled out a pair of well-worn jeans, a white t-shirt and a plaid button up shirt. It was still warm out, although as soon as the sun faded, it would get chilly.

“What the fuck am I doing?” I muttered, staring at the clothes I’d laid out on my bed. Was I actually considering going to this concert? Was I actually considering putting myself right in front of temptation again? Temptation in the form of someone completely off limits?

But what if he’s there?
I thought, thinking about that piece of shit asshole that had attacked Tessa last night. 

My hands clenched into fists with aggravation. I felt responsible for it, in a way. If only I’d trusted my instincts about that guy. If only I’d trusted
Hunter’s
instincts about him. Hell, if only I had allowed myself to do the one thing I desperately wanted to do, talk to her. Claim her as mine. She would have never been put in that situation. I could have protected her better if I wasn’t so busy trying to ignore her existence.

Hunter whimpered from his spot beneath the kitchen table, almost encouraging me with those yellow eyes.

“Fuck it,” I sighed, tearing off the towel and stepping into a clean pair of boxer briefs. I dressed quickly, pulling my jeans on and sliding into my boots. I pulled my shirt over my head as I walked out the door. Hunter followed me, dutifully walking over to the chain wrapped around the tree. I always tied him up and left him water when I had to go somewhere without him. If I didn’t, he’d tear the inside of my trailer apart. My next project would be a kennel for him once the cabin was completed, but for now this was enough.

I clipped the chain to his collar and patted him on the head before I turned around and walked to my truck.

* * *

The fairgrounds were packed; it seemed like everyone in town was there to see the concert. I found a parking spot and locked up, joining the stream of people heading towards the brightly lit stage. I kept my head down and my hands in my pocket, regretting my decision to come with everything I had. It felt like everyone was staring at me.

I wasn’t an idiot; I knew the town gossiped about me and my family. We were
that
family in town, the family from “the wrong side of the tracks”, the family that had never
really
fit in. My father was an alcoholic that couldn’t hold down a job, and we were the kids that couldn’t stay out of trouble growing up. If something bad happened, a Miller was likely nearby. 

I just took it to a new level with ex-convict on my resume.

Before I could turn around and give up on this stupid plan, I heard someone shouting my name. I looked around, catching sight of red hair. Melanie Clayton sauntered up to me, wrapping her arms around me in greeting. I froze, my body tense. She didn’t let go for several long moments. When she finally pulled away, I exhaled with relief.

“Hey, stranger,” she said, her voice dripping with flirtation. “Grady and Braden said you might show up tonight! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

I bit back the cold responses I longed to fire out at her, like
No shit, I’ve been in jail – remember?

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” I said instead.

“You look good,” she told me, her eyes lingering on my chest before they slowly made their descent downward. I inwardly sighed. Melanie was one of the first girls I’d slept with, and she’d made her way through every last one of my friends. I definitely didn’t want to go down that particular road again.

“Well come on, everyone’s waiting for you,” she said, reaching for my hand. She led me through the crowd to a cluster of people.

Everyone turned out to be Grady, Braden and two of his friends; Peter, who still looked absolutely terrified to be in my presence, and Ezra, his cousin luckily
not
in attendance.

Grady lifted his beer and nodded in greeting. “It’s good to see you out tonight, man!”

“Yeah,” I said, tugging my hand free of Melanie’s relentless grip. She pouted like I’d personally offended her, but I ignored her. “Is Gordon not here?” I added, glancing around.

“No, he might show up later tonight,” Grady answered. “He had a situation to deal with.”

“Oh.” I nodded once, my eyes restlessly roaming.

“Tessa will be here soon.” Braden smirked. I glared at him and Melanie shot a look at me, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Why the fuck would you care if Tessa is coming?” she demanded, as if she had any right to the answer. This pissed me off and made me want to tell her that I fucking cared because Tessa was gorgeous and classy and everything she wasn’t. But I bit my tongue, knowing it would cause unnecessary drama and knowing I couldn’t act on my feelings anyway.

“Ease up, Melanie.” Braden cackled. “No need to flash your crazy bitch card so soon. Brock doesn’t like crazy bitches.”

“Whatever.” Melanie tossed her hair over her shoulder, her expression as sour as her mood. I moved away, my irritation growing tenfold.

“I need a beer,” I grumbled. I motioned with my head for Braden to follow me. Luckily, he picked up on the hint. We headed towards the beer tent, my silence stony.

“What crawled up your ass?” Braden scowled, sensing my aggravation.

“You need to fucking quit it with this Tessa shit, Braden. It isn’t going to happen.”

“Why the hell not?” he demanded. “I saw how you two looked at each other. I know I’m not university material, but I can tell when two people want each other; so what’s the problem?”

I stopped walking. It was out of character for Braden to question me on my motives, or lack thereof. “Because,” I responded slowly, “I don’t have time to get involved, and I can’t anyway. Besides, do you really think the Armstrong brothers will let me get anywhere near her? I’m an ex-convict, Braden.”

“You can’t be afraid of them.” He shook his head, a wry grin on his face. “You could take all three of them at once; fucking
look
at you.”

“That’s not the point.” I sighed, massaging the stubble on my jaw with my hand. “I have enough shit to deal with right now; I don’t need to add to it.”

The expression on Braden’s face was akin to the one he used to wear when we were younger and I told him he couldn’t tag along with me and my friends: it was an expression of crushing disappointment.

“Why is it so important to you anyway?” I asked, my voice gentle.

“Forget about it.” Braden waved away my question. “Let’s just get the fucking beer.”

Braden’s attitude perplexed me. I couldn’t figure out why he was so invested in the whole Tessa thing, but I knew he wouldn’t talk to me about it. Braden didn’t talk to anybody about the thoughts in his head. He was so stubborn; so much like me, so much like our old man.

Tessa

True to Elle’s word, I won the first place ribbon. A scowling Melanie came in second place, and a girl from Carling won third.

My dad and I loaded up Spirit and I returned to my farm with Elle. She helped me with my evening chores, just like she promised. I think she helped more or less so I wouldn’t bail on her.

By seven o’clock, we were pulling out of my driveway, heading back to the fairgrounds for the Travis Channing concert. I was dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans, a cream tank top and an off the shoulder light brown knitted sweater.

Elle was dressed in painted on floral tights, high heeled boots and a tight white tank top with a pale blue jean jacket. She wore her hair down under her black cowgirl hat. I had a matching one in brown that Elle had bought me a couple summers before. It sat on the seat between us, with me undecided as to whether I wanted to wear it. I always thought cowboy hats were a little too overkill, but Elle insisted they were fun.

I parked my truck and gave Elle a leveled look, about to open my mouth to complain.

“Hang on,” Elle said with a slight frown. She shuffled closer to me and gently began to pull free the pins that held my braided hair in place. The braids fell against my shoulders, heavy and long, and Elle tugged the elastic bands out. She finished running her fingers through my hair and pulled back with a smile. “Perfect! Let’s go.” She grinned brightly. Her primping had made me nervous, and I couldn’t get my jaw to loosen enough to voice my concerns. We climbed out of my truck and entered through the front gates, heading towards the stage and the beer tent.

“I don’t know about this.” I stared at the brightly lit stage and the swarm of people before it. Travis Channing was set to go on in ten minutes, if that.

“Oh, Tessa,” Elle sighed heavily. She clucked her tongue, shaking her head. I felt her arm link with mine, and she pulled me closer to her so I could hear her voice over the crowd. “I’ve been your best friend for literally my whole life. I know when you like someone, and I
know
you like Brock Miller. You are forever complaining about how
boring
life is and how you can’t wait for college because nothing exciting ever happens around here. Then when something exciting
does
happen, you run scared.”

I exhaled. “I’m not running scared, I’m being realistic.”

“Realistic is hardly any fun.” Elle rolled her eyes, repressing a smile. “Try not to make a big deal about this. It’s just a concert; Brock probably doesn’t even know we’re coming. He’s here with Braden.”

I couldn’t help but feel a swoop of disappointment in the pit of my belly. Brock wasn’t expecting us to join him and his brother. This whole charade was an ill-hatched and impulsive plan of Elle’s to force us in each other’s company again. “Great,” I muttered, drawing in a shaky breath.

Elle jumped with glee. “See! You like him so much you’re upset that he doesn’t know we’re going to show up. I knew it! I told Braden this was an awesome idea!”

“Braden’s in on it?” I came to a stop, my jaw wide with disbelief.

“Oh don’t give me that look.” Elle refused to allow me to dampen her spirits. “Braden just said Brock seemed taken with you.”

“Taken with me? What are we, in the 1920s?” I rolled my eyes, biting down on my lip to keep from smiling.

While I was totally
not okay
with this idea of hers, equal parts of excitement and dread rolled around within me at the prospect of seeing Brock again, and the small hope that he was interested in me. I couldn’t help but analyze exactly how I had felt when I saw him at the bush party, and any moment after that we had spent alone. I remembered the affect his voice and presence had on me. But I also couldn’t help worrying that all he’d see when he looked at me was that naïve drunk girl he had to rescue because she was too stupid to stick to the buddy system at a party.

I didn’t have time to dwell on it though, as my eyes fell across the space and landed on Brock’s tall build. He was standing with Braden surrounded by what appeared to be a huge group.  Peter, Krista, Ezra, Joanna, and a couple of Gordon and Brock’s old friends: Grady McDonnell, and Steve Winters. My eyes widened with surprise when I noticed Melanie Clayton standing beside Brock, but that surprise faded quickly, replaced with nervous anticipation when my eyes moved on to Brock.

He had his back to me, and I took a moment to really appreciate the view. He was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged the curves and dips of his muscles like a second skin. The contrast of the white shirt against his tanned complexion was breathtaking, and he wore Wranglers even better from behind. As if he felt my presence, Brock turned his head and looked over his shoulder, directly at me, catching me staring.

I could feel my cheeks heating up.

Melanie’s dark eyes landed on me and she sent me a vengeful smirk. She tossed her thick red hair over her shoulder and stepped closer to Brock, practically hanging off his arm as she batted her lashes at him. Brock looked down at the contact and gave her a patient smile before detangling his arm from her grasp. I couldn’t help the swell of satisfaction at the sight of him turning her down, not that it meant
anything
for me. Still, it was nice to see the smug smile fade from Melanie’s lips.

“Hey, babe.” Elle grinned, stepping up to Braden for a kiss. Braden placed his arm around her, grinning playfully at me from over the top of Elle’s head.

“Tessa, so good to see you. You look hot as fuck tonight,” he said, his voice full of double meaning as he smirked towards his brother. Brock said nothing; he just stonily took a sip from the beer he was holding, his eyes narrowing darkly. “Wouldn’t you say, Brock?”

Brock didn’t respond. Although he didn’t speak, those steel-coloured eyes were caressing me as they slowly travelled the length of my body, finally pausing to rest on my lips.

“Thanks, I think…” I blinked, my thoughts disoriented. The heat of Brock’s gaze was doing strange things to me. I felt lightheaded, almost dizzy. Nervous butterflies exploded in my belly and my legs threatened to give out as Brock’s eyes rose to lock on mine.

I opened my mouth, about to say something,
anything
else, when Melanie’s face appeared around Brock’s body. “Oh, yeah. I think I saw that top on clearance at Walmart. It’s cute, I guess…for Walmart,” she said, smirking at me.

I arched a brow, my heart pounding in my chest. “You could spend all the money in the world on clothes, Melanie, but they wouldn’t make your ugly personality any prettier,” I responded, keeping my tone airy and light.

“DAMN!” Braden cackled, delighted. I stole a look at Brock, and he was trying to suppress a grin. Melanie glared at me, turning her head to the stage.

“Hello Parry Sound!” Travis’s appealing voice fell across the crowd that had gathered before the stage, and mostly everyone stopped their conversations. Brock’s intense eye-contact finally broke, and I instantly felt empty. The crowd hooted and whistled, and Travis walked along the stage, chuckling at their exuberance. “It’s been a while!”

The crowd continued making a ruckus, and Travis chuckled almost bashfully, peering out from under his red trucker hat. “Alright, well I’m going to kick things off with my first single,
Trucks and Stuff
!”

Elle cheered loudly at my side, bumping her hip into mine. Elle loved concerts. She loved to lose herself in the energy around her.

I tried to relax and enjoy, but between worrying about whether Ezra’s cousin was going to show up and trying to ignore Brock’s presence as he stood less than five feet away from me, it was difficult. Relaxing was completely out of the question and Brock wasn’t even looking in my direction. He was focused intently on the stage.

Melanie was still standing close to him and every so often, she would stand on her tippy toes to speak into his ear. Each time she did this, she looked over his broad shoulder at me and smirked.

I tried my hardest to put on a good face and enjoy myself, but I was feeling spent. Especially when Travis called it a night and told everyone he’d be at the Clayton’s barn for the after-party. Melanie stood taller, extending a royal smile to our group of friends, almost as if she was the Queen of England herself.

“No, Elle. I don’t want to go to Melanie’s house,” I hissed, tugging on Elle’s arms.

“Do you think I want to go?” Elle rolled her eyes dramatically. “Hell no! I hate Melanie as much as you do. But Travis is going to be there, and so is everyone else!” Elle said this last part while gesturing toward Brock. I couldn’t help but follow her line of sight, my eyes locking on Brock’s. My breath caught in my throat as he held my gaze for several long minutes before finally breaking away to answer something that Grady McDonnell said to him.

“Fine,” I muttered, dropping my shoulders in defeat.

“Awesome!” She grinned, practically bouncing on her heels. We started to follow the crowd out towards the parking lot. She looped her arm through mine, tugging me towards her. Krista and Joanna walked just ahead of us, chattering amongst themselves about how amazing the concert had been. The guys, and Melanie, were ahead of Krista and Joanna. Elle fell back slightly so we could continue our conversation without running the risk of anyone else overhearing. “Braden said Brock would drive us,” she added.

“I have my truck,” I pointed out.

“You’re missing the point,” Elle murmured, smiling wickedly.  She gestured towards Brock again and winked.

“I really don’t think that’s going to happen.” I sighed, my eyes zeroing in on Melanie’s close proximity to him. “Besides, I’m not even sure I want anything to happen.”

“Lies,” Elle said with confidence. “You do want something to happen, which is why you’re here. And furthermore, I’ve
never
seen you back down from a challenge before. What’s up with you?” Elle looked at me pointedly.

I took a deep, steadying breath. Elle wasn’t an over-analyzer like I was. She let things roll off her shoulders. She didn’t worry about the
what ifs
like I always did. She wouldn’t understand why I was still out of sorts after the almost-attack.

“I’m just tired,” I said instead of explaining myself. “I’m sure I’ll get my second wind soon enough.”

“Any chance you’d give me a lift?” Melanie was saying loudly, gazing at Brock with adoration and twirling her hair with her finger. She was even doing that ridiculous duck-face pout that almost every girl in and around my age thought was cute.

Brock hesitated, glancing from me to Melanie. “Yeah, I guess that’d be alright.”

“I don’t think so, you’re in the back. Brothers get shotgun, bitches ride in the back,” Braden sneered, blocking the passenger side door. He winked at Elle and she laughed.

Melanie was seething with anger, but Brock said nothing as he walked around to the driver’s side. Our eyes met as I passed. I felt tethered to him, as if his gaze had a physical hold on me.

Elle grabbed my arm, jerking me forward with a smile. I frowned, climbing into my unlocked truck. I didn’t keep anything worthwhile in my cab, so I never had to worry about locking it up. 

“So if neither one of us likes Melanie, tell me
why
we’re going to her stupid party? I don’t care if she provides all the alcohol. I’m sick of being around her,” I grumbled, putting my truck in reverse and pulling out of the fairground parking lot.

Elle was checking her reflection in the visor mirror. She turned her head slowly to the side and smacked her lips loudly. She was purposely taking her sweet time to answer; she knew how much it drove me nuts. I gritted my teeth, biting my tongue, and forced myself to be patient.

“I’ve already answered you. We’re going because Travis Channing is going to be there. How many people can say they’ve been to a barn party with a Billboard topping country singer?” Elle arched a brow at me. “Besides, Melanie needs a reality check. Did you see how she was all over Brock? Pathetic!”

I resisted the urge to huff in aggravation. Yeah, I saw, and it was part of the reason why I was so miserable. I opened my mouth to speak, but Elle cut me off.

“He’s
so
not into her. He practically flinched any time she happened to ‘accidentally’ brush up against him.”

“Oh really? If he’s ‘so not into her’, why is he driving her home?” I grumbled, irritated with my excessive feelings of jealousy.