Cole(100)

The sight of him on that running track, how my stomach had gotten butterflies and my palms were sweaty, like I had a schoolgirl crush on him.

Then I’d remember the table at our first dinner together, how we didn’t order and went back to my place—the feel of his lips, the way he held me, the way he carried me. The way he made me groan, as I raked my fingers through his hair. The feel of him inside me.

The feel of him all the other times, too.

And I always asked myself the worst question, the one that plagued me:

Did he miss me like I missed him—utterly and completely?





Three months later



“Addison, can you clean out Taffy’s stall?”

“Who was that?” Sia asked over the phone.

I tucked my phone more securely between my shoulder and neck, gave Kirk the thumbs-up, and began heading to the opposite end of the barn. Horses looked up in every stall as I passed by.

“That was the guy I’m helping,” I told her. “My mom got tired of me moping around the house. When the barn manager for our county fair mentioned he was looking for volunteers, guess who she suggested?”

“She didn’t.”

“She did.”

I stopped halfway to Taffy’s stall. My bags were stashed next to the food bins. I grabbed some of the apples I’d brought and kept going. When it came to the alpha mare, I’d learned bribes went a long way.

“It’s been fine for the most part, and honestly, it really does get me out of the house.”

Sia made a noncommittal Mmmmm sound as Taffy stuck her head over the stall door. She had large doe eyes and a long white blaze down the middle of her brown face. Her nostrils flared as she smelled the apples, and she nuzzled against my hand.

“Besides, some of these horses have better attitudes than humans,” I told her. “Like this one.” I ran my free hand up the front of Taffy’s face, all the way to her forelock. “Oh, yes. You, Miss Taffy. You’re a bossy mare, aren’t you?”

“Are you flirting with that horse?” Sia asked.

I laughed and grabbed the phone, switching it to my other ear. Taffy picked up the apples and pulled her head back, content to let them drop in her stall so she could eat them.

I leaned against the stall door. “I am, and I don’t care.”

Sia laughed, then was quiet a moment. “You’re not coming back, are you?”

“What?”

“You sound happy. Or, well, you’ve been sounding happier the last few times on the phone. You’re not coming back, are you?”

I could hear her disappointment. “Uh…” What did I say? My stuff was still there. Waiting. Gathering dust. Sitting alone. “I don’t know, Sia. I really don’t.”

“I still had hope since you keep turning us down, but now I can hear it in your voice. You can tell me. You’re really not coming back.”

I looked at the ground, holding my phone so tightly. My throat swelled. “Uh…”

“Never mind. I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. I’m sorry. I just—I’m going nuts not having my best friend here.”

“I know.” I sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I think Jake’s going to propose.” She rushed on before I could say anything. “I have no proof. It’s not like I found a ring or anything, or even a receipt, but every time I go on his computer, ring ads pop up on the side. And when I’m searching for clothes, suddenly dress ads have started showing up, so that means he’s looking, right?”

I already knew he was. Jake had called a week earlier to ask for my “permission.” He’d laughed as we talked, but I heard how nervous he was. “I know you’re not her mom and dad, but you’re the reason I met her, and you’re her family,” he’d said. “I figured, well, this feels right to be asking you. I’m going to ask her parents, too, but to be honest, she’s way closer to you. I know it’d mean more to her if I asked you, so here’s me—” He laughed again, ending at a high pitch. “—asking you if I can marry your best friend?”

“Yes,” I’d told him. My cheeks had hurt from smiling during that conversation. “A thousand times yes. She loves you so much.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes!”

He’d sounded so happy, and it’d been a struggle to keep quiet since then.

“Well, if he does, he’s a very smart man,” I said now to Sia.

She snorted. “You’re damned straight he’s smart. He was a genius to seal the deal with a quickie that first night. Insta-love, Addison. I swear. It was during that first dinner at his place, after we found William’s stash—when he finished and before quoting Derek’s T-shirt.”