I cup her cheeks, lifting her face to mine. “Baby, I am so sorry. I wanted to come by that night to explain something. Something I want you to know.”
She keeps her eyes low, lashes staining with fresh tears. “Wes told me about your mother. I’m the one who should be sorry.”
That’s it.
That’s the guilt I see. Why she stayed away from me.
I should have been the one to tell her. I had an entire weekend to open up to her. But I stayed closed off. Insisting I was there only for her. Not the other way around.
“Why can’t you look at me?” The question sounds pitiful from my tongue. Desperate, but I can’t find it in me to care. I just want the answer.
She finally replies and it pains me to see how much I’ve hurt her. “I’m embarrassed for pressuring you to do something that is clearly out of the question.”
“What did I tell you about being sorry or feeling ashamed?” I grab hold of her hands and bring her knuckles to my lips.
Her lips curve up, a shred of that familiar light returning to her eyes. I kiss her before she changes her mind and runs off again. I press my impatient, needy lips to hers, and she responds, melting into me.
It’s a rough, hungry kiss and I say fuck it. Fuck boundaries, fuck what this means for the rest of the summer, fuck the wheels pulling up to a hard stop in front of the Saddle Room. I’m not taking my hands off this girl.
Rose pulls back with a gasp. “Wilder.”
“I don’t care,” I respond, kissing her soft skin like a starved man. I cup her face again. “I want you, Rose. Not for a night, or the weekend.”
Her eyes are wide, flickering with .?.?. hope, maybe? “Give me the summer.”
“Wilder, that could be Wes.” There’s literal fear in her voice, and I step back just as the door to the Saddle Room flies open.
We both turn, finding Dallas shutting the door behind him. His eyes flick between us, but it’s not like he didn’t know anything.
Something’s off. He looks pale. Even more than he has in the last few weeks. “Dal, you al—”
“Ellie’s mine,” he states gruffly.
Shock and .?.?. relief wash over me. And man does it surprise me. I could have sworn I was rooting for a different outcome.
Rose jumps off the desk and rushes to my brother, throwing her arms around his shoulders. “Congratulations,” she whispers, a smile in her voice.
I run a hand down my face, still processing as I walk over to them and grip my brother’s shoulder. “You’re not alone.” I said it to him at the hospital and I’ll keep saying it. Because no matter what, we stand by each other.
Dallas nods, then looks down at Rose. “You still coming Sunday night? Dinner at Wilder’s?”
When she hesitates, I answer for her. “She is.”
He releases a breath. “Good. Ellie is coming. I want her to meet everyone, but it’s .?.?. a lot of men.”
Rose smiles. “I understand. I’m happy to be there for it.”
“Is she .?.?. with us for good now?” I ask, careful not to ask if he plans on staying at my house with the girl.
“No.” He’s quick with his answer. “Step by step. I’ll be spending a little bit of time with her over the next few weeks until Mr. and Mrs. Hartly leave town for good.”
“For good?” I ask.
“They’re going to take one or two trips before they move officially at the end of summer. During those trips, they’ll leave Ellie with us.”
I watch him to see his plan for those .?.?. sleepovers. Prayinghe’ll take this as a sign that he needs to finish the house he was building for him and Millie.
He turns to Rose and a small part of me hopes he’s about to ask for help decorating Ellie’s room at the new house.
