“You promised to dance with me,” Duke says, grabbing Bo’s wrist.

She wrenches it out of his grip and shoves him hard in the chest for good measure.

“The hell I did!” she cries.

Duke makes a sharp hissing sound, like the noise you might make to correct an unruly animal. He shoves between Bo and me, stomping into The Wagon Wheel.

The silence he leaves behind him is thick and poignant.

I’m torn between my desire to ask Bo for details, and the knowledge that she probably wants me to mind my own damn business.

“There you are!” Raylan says, handing me a bottle of water. “I was looking all over for you.”

“Where’s my drink?” Bo says to him.

“I didn’t know you were out here—you can have my water.”

“Water isn’t a drink,” Bo says sullenly. She ignores the proffered water bottle and heads inside to get something more satisfactory.

I twist off the lid and gulp down the water, dehydrated from my long session of dancing.

Raylan cocks his head, watching me.

“Why’d you come out here?” he says.

I slip the question, saying instead, “What’s the deal with Bo and Duke?”

“Oh,” Raylan chuckles. “They were best friends growing up. A couple of hellions, getting into trouble constantly. Now, I don’t know exactly what they’re beefing about, since I haven’t been around lately, and I only got a few things second-hand. But I gather that Duke wants to be more than friends, and Bo is pissed about it.”

“She doesn’t like him that way?”

Raylan looks over at me, dark eyebrow cocked. “Women don’t always know what they like.”

I feel the color rising in my face. “That’s pretty sexist,” I say.

Raylan shrugs. “Okay. People don’t know what they like.” He grins. “Especially women.”

I frown at him, my temper rising. “I know what I like and don’t like,” I tell him.

He keeps smiling at me in that infuriating way. “I don’t think you do.”

I want to slap his smug face again, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

This is exactly what I suspected. He thinks he can manipulate me. He thinks he can break me.

“Let’s go back,” I say coldly. “I’m tired.”

Raylan’s expression clearly shows that he thinks I’m pouting, not tired. But all he says out loud is, “Alright, I’ll go get the others.”

As we step back inside The Wagon Wheel, the heat and humidity are higher than ever. The band is stomping the stage while they play, and the boots of the dancers likewise thunder against the wooden floor. It seems to shake the whole hall.

Raylan heads over toward Grady and Shelby, who are still dancing together in the corner, away from the wildness of the other dancers.

I look around for Bo. I spot Duke instead, dancing with a pretty redhead. He’s got his hands on her hips and she’s looking up at him with a flirtatious expression, obviously pleased to be this close to him.