Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 85

CHAPTER 53-1

The last of the festival tents were already coming down when I stepped away from the Lawson Customs display with Diesel padding quietly beside me.

The afternoon sun had begun sinking toward the trees, painting everything in warm shades of gold and families were slowly making their way toward the parking lots carrying balloons, show bags and sleepy children.

Behind me, Ben and Hunter were debating the correct way to load the display motorcycles onto

the trailer.

Judging by the volume of the discussion, neither of them had any intention of admitting the other might be right and I smiled to myself.

“You’d think they were rebuilding an engine instead of loading a trailer.” I said and Diesel glanced

up at me before continuing beside my leg.

“Congratulations.” Someone said and I turned to the familiar voice.

Tyler stood several feet away with both hands shoved into his jacket pockets. Unlike every other

time I’d seen him recently, he wasn’t trying to force confidence he didn’t feel. His shoulders

slumped slightly, dark circles rested beneath his eyes and he looked like someone who hadn’t slept properly in days. And he glanced toward Diesel.

“I’ll stay over here.” Tyler said.

“Probably a wise decision.” I said and a faint smile crossed his face.

“I’ve heard he doesn’t like strangers.” Tyler said.

“He doesn’t like people giving me reasons not to trust them.” I said and Tyler nodded.

“I suppose I’ve earned that.” He said.

For a moment neither of us spoke. The festival continued around us but it somehow felt quieter

inside the small space where we stood and finally, I folded my arms.

“You said we needed to talk.” I said.

“I did.” He said.

“I’m listening.” I said.

He looked down at the ground before meeting my eyes again.

“I owe you an apology.” He said.

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CHAPTER 53 1

“You’ve said that before.” I said.

“Lknow.” He said.

“This time I’m not asking for anything.” He said and that caught my attention so he continued before I could respond.

Clam

“I spent weeks convincing myself everything that happened was somebody else’s fault. It wasn’t. I made my own choices.” He continued and he laughed bitterly.

“I ignored things I shouldn’t have ignored. I believed lies because they were easier than asking difficult questions.” He added. His honesty surprised me. Not because I thought he was incapable

of it but because it was long overdue.

“I hurt you. I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just needed you to know that I finally understand what I did.” He said as he shook his head slowly and I leaned against the side of the display trailer.

“What changed?” I asked as his expression became tired.

“Charlotte.” He said.

The single word explained more than he probably realized.

“I kept seeing the same patterns.” He continued.

“What patterns?” I asked.

“She’d tell me one thing. Then she’d tell somebody else the complete opposite. Every

disagreement somehow became somebody else’s fault. If something went wrong, she already had

a person ready to blame.” He said as he rubbed the back of his neck and I quietly waited.

“When we were together… she was constantly comparing herself to you.” He added looking

embarrassed.

“Why?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He said.

“She always wanted to prove she was winning. I thought she was just insecure.” He said as he let

out a slow breath.

“Now?” I asked.

“Now I think she enjoys creating problems.” He said and I couldn’t argue with that. It sounded painfully familiar. Tyler looked around to make sure nobody else stood close enough to hear.

“I wasn’t honest the last time I came to the garage.” He said.

SAT

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