“I’ll take your word for it.” She snickered.
I sighed. “I really did try, you know. You mean the world to me, and it felt like such a betrayal of our friendship. I feel terrible about keeping it a secret from you. But I’m also…” Istruggled to find the words. “I’m alsogladI love him. I wouldn’t want to be in love with anyone else. He’s so…Steven.”
She studied me. Stroked my hair off my damp cheek. “You really do love him, huh?”
I nodded. “So much I can’t remember what it felt like to hate him. It’s not really his abs, you know. He’s so good to me that it’s almost embarrassing. I could list all of it, but you still wouldn’t understand. Because all those nice things, that’s not why I love him. I…”
The enormity of the emotion rolled over me like a tsunami. “It’s the strangest thing, falling in love with someone. The strangest damn thing, James. I knowwhyI should love him, but that’s not really why I do.”
James linked her elbow through mine. “All right. I’m listening.”
“It’s all these little moments, you know? I love him because he’s infatuated with a pig and because he refused to come inside after a bad day because he didn’t want to take it out on his sister. I love him because the more he cares, the grumpier he gets and you know what? That’s adorable. I go so soft every time.” I felt soft right now, just thinking about it. “And I love him because he tries. He tries so fucking hard.”
James squeezed me closer. I knew she understood, but I also knew that might not be enough.
I hesitated before asking the question I knew I had to ask. I wasn’t sure I was ready for the answer. “Do you think someday you could be okay with that? You don’t have to be his friend,” I added hastily. “But maybe you could come over sometime? Visit the baby?”
She rolled her lips together, thinking. “Honestly, I don’t know. I want to say yes because I love you so much, but the truth is, I’m not sure how I feel about him. What I do know is that I love you enough to try.”
“Really?” I asked hopefully.
She nodded. “Really.”
Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket. Her eyebrows shot up. “It’s from Adam. Steven is here.”
“Steven ishere?” I squawked. “At Lodestar Ranch? And Adam knows?” I scrambled to my feet. “Oh, god, they’re going to kill him.”
James pushed herself up the wall. “Chloe, wait?—”
But I did not wait. I couldn’t.
I left the stables at a sprint that quickly devolved into an awkward jog. I wrapped my hands underneath my belly for support and hustled toward the house, looking this way and that for any sign of Steven or the Hale brothers or blood.
When I saw Steven’s truck parked in the circular driveway, I picked up speed…and then immediately slowed down again because Radish was somehow taking up all the space in my lungs and I couldn’t pull in a full breath.
“Chloe!” James hollered behind me as I made for the front door. “Back deck!”
I changed direction, huffing and puffing. James finally caught up with me and we skidded to a stop as we found them. Steven, Adam, Brax, and Zack had each claimed a rocking chair with a beer in hand.
I grabbed the deck rail and wheezed.
“Chloe?” Steven was on his feet in a flash. “What happened?”
“I thought…you…I ran…fuck,” I wheezed.
That goddamn grin of his could power the whole earth. It lit up his face, the sky, the mountains.Me. “Aww.” His arms went around me, loosely because I was still panting. “Were you worried about me, princess?”
“You just hadto go and fall in love with that asshole, didn’t you,” Adam said, pushing a glass of water into my hand.
I took a long, grateful swallow. “Hisabs, Adam. Have you seen his abs?”
Adam made a face. “It’s a good thing James likes you so much.”
“Yeah. It really is,” I agreed.
We both looked to where Steven and James were talking quietly, far enough away that we couldn’t hear their conversation, but still close by. I shifted anxiously. I wanted everything to be okay so badly, but I had to let them work it out for themselves.
Adam sighed. “I know he didn’t mean for her to get hurt the way she did, but every time I look at him, all I see is James unconscious and crumpled on the fence.”
