“Are you in the rodeo too?”
“No, ma’am—I mean, no, Pearl.” I bite the inside of my cheek to stop from laughing. He looks so uncomfortable, but then his gaze flits to me. “Your son is incredible. He kicked some serious butt out there. It was amazing to witness.”
My throat tightens, and what I’m sure looks like the goofiest grin spreads across my face. The four of us talk for a little while longer before we eventually end the call in favor of getting to the airport on time. The whole time we’re packing, we keep sneakingglances at one another. The air is charged, and I’m craving to taste him one more time before we leave.
“I’m glad you were able to come this weekend,” I tell him as I zip my suitcase.
He smiles warmly. “Me too. It was really cool to get to watch you in action.”
“And what came after was pretty great too, right?” I toss him a wink.
“At the bar? Yeah, that was fun too.” His lips twitch as he tries to hold back laughter.
Rolling my eyes, I mutter, “Not what I meant, city boy.”
Xander rounds the bed, wrapping his arms around my middle. His blue gazes locks onto mine. “What came after wasperfect.”
When he leans up and seals his lips to mine, it takes all my self-control to let this be just a kiss. We pull apart, and I drag in a steadying breath, replaying what I talked to Shooter about.
“Let’s set aside some time when we get home to talk about all of this,” I mutter softly.
Xander smiles. “I’d like that.”
22
XANDER DAWSON
The week since I’ve been back in Copper Lake has been a mess. One wrong thing after another after another. First, the morning after I got back, Aunt Colette slipped on the icy stairs on the back porch as she was heading down to feed the animals, fucking up her hipagain. I took her to the doctor, and thankfully, nothing major was wrong with it. He instructed her to take it easy for a few days, ice it, then put some heat on it, and not overdo it.
He has clearly never met my aunt before. She’s been a pain in the fucking ass to keep still, but somehow, I’ve managed to do it. Gemma told me she was just as stubborn while I was gone. Not surprising. My sister’s flight ended up leaving a few hours before mine landed, so I wasn’t able to see her in person, which was a bummer, but it made me feel a whole lot better that she was here.
Then, as if that weren’t bad enough, a couple of nights ago, a skunk came into the yard and sprayed Aggie because, of course, she couldn’t leave the little guy alone. In her haste, trying to run away from the stench that was actuallyon her, she, too, slipped on some ice in the form of a frozen puddle in the yard. It wasclear she’d hurt herself, but I didn’t know how bad. Panicked, I called Cope, freaking out at, like, eight at night. Like the fucking gem he is, he came over right away and called Whit, asking him to come take a look at her.
Thankfully, she just twisted her ankle and it’ll heal on its own. Getting the skunk stench out of her was a whole different situation. That wasn’t fun. There was no way I was going to ask Cope to help me with that, on top of everything else he had already helped with, but he insisted. We spenthoursdoing that, and by the time we were done, we were both so exhausted, we ended up going our separate ways, and I went back inside and passed out.
Cope’s also had his own shit going on. When he was here, helping me give Aggie a deep cleaning, he told me his bathroom had flooded the night before. Apparently, some lever broke on the toilet, and it overflowed before he could turn the water off. If I believed in it, I’d say us hooking up was a bad omen.
Because of all of this, we’ve barely had time to talk, let alone hang out again. We’ve sent texts here and there throughout the day, but it’s never anything of substance. I want more. I don’t know where his head’s at after everything we did in Las Vegas. The morning after, he was behaving normally, and when he came over for Aggie the other day, he was his usual cheerful self. He even kissed me. It wasn’t drawn out or heated in any way, probably because the stench of skunk was everywhere, but it was nice. I’m sure it’s simply a matter of lack of time on both our parts, and not anything deeper than that.
At least, I hope so.
Finishing up evening chores, I head back inside and take a long, hot shower. Once I’m finished, I slip into some flannel pajama pants and a plain black long-sleeve shirt, and climb into bed. I turn on Netflix, picking some random, top-rated show,and I zone out, watching episode after episode until I look at the clock and realize several hours have passed in the blink of an eye.
It’s after midnight, and I’m knee deep in the drama of this cheesy show, not a wink of sleep in sight. I’ve got way too much on my mind to relax enough. It’s getting to be time for me to head back to Washington soon. My business partner, Bastian, and I have been looking into opening another bud store, and he thinks he’s found the perfect location for it.
The last week since I’ve been back here, I’ve been going over all the figures, and I know we have enough to buy out our investors, which is great. That’s what we want. But in order to do that, that means paying off Henry, too. After the couple of years we spent together in a relationship—no matter how not serious it may have been—it feels wrong to pay him off and go my separate way without at least sitting down and having a conversation with him. We haven’t spoken since I dropped him off at the airport. Not that I expected we would. In fact, I’m glad we haven’t, but I do think there are things weshouldtalk about, but it should be face to face.
I don’t want to go. At least, not for good. I’d like to maybe come back once I get everything figured out in Washington, but who knows how long that’ll be. While my aunt has been doing better, I do think she could still use the help around here, especially since shejustfell again. She’s getting older, and while she’s stubborn and would never admit it, I think she appreciates having a second set of hands around here to help with the weight of it all. And if I’m being honest, I’ve kind of grown to love this place. Not even because of Cope either. I’m not the type of person to make a huge life change for a guy. He would be a nice plus, though, if I did down the road decide to stay here.
Who knows. I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s not even close to a fully fleshed-out idea. It’s just something that’s been on my mind a whole lot for the last few weeks. I’ve lived in Washingtonfor most of my life. It’s never occurred to me that I would want anything else. I’m happy with where I’m at in my life, but I’ve never felt overly fulfilled. Something about being in Copper Lake feels good. The small-town feel, the friendliness of the residents, getting to know my aunt a bit better, and the animals. The animals are a big part of it. I’ve grown attached to them, and the idea of never seeing them again makes me sadder than I’d care to admit. Even my kitty has grown to…tolerate Aunt Colette and this house.
Another thing that’s surprised me a lot is how much enjoyment I’ve found in of taking care of them and the yard. When I first got here, I thought for sure I’d end up dreading my chores every morning and evening. Sure, they’re a lot of work, and sometimes I kind of want to relax instead, but for the most part, I look forward to it. They’re so full of personality, and most of them get so excited when they see me. I don’t know if I want to leave them for good.
Part of me thinks I’m going crazy. I’m almost thirty, and I’m rethinking my entire life. Who does that? Well, probably a lot of people, but I never thought I’d be one of them. This trip here has been eye opening.
My phone vibrates on the bed beside me, startling me out of my thoughts. Confused at who would be texting me this late, I grab the phone and unlock it.
Cope: I can’t sleep.
