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Disappointment floods every inch of my body, and I fight the urge to cry. I don’t know why I got my hopes up, even when I’ve told myself the exact same things he just said. Why does it hurt so bad? He says he cares for me, but why do I feel like I’m being rejected by Dane Bennett all over again?
8
DANE
“Care to tell us what’s going on between you and Summer?” Austin asks.
I glance over at my friends and grunt. The girls have been out in the front yard playing in the snow for over an hour. So far, they’ve built three snowmen and are working on a snow puppy while Jaxon’s dog, Willie, jumps around with them, wagging his tail and eating the snow. Cole and Silas, a couple of our other friends, showed up a while ago, and the five of us are sitting on the porch watching the Littles play.
“Nothing. We’re just friends.”
Silas snorts. “I’m pretty sure you and Summer Pierce have never been just friends.”
Jaxon smirks. “I have to agree with Silas. You might think you’re only friends, but you’ve had feelings for her forever, and she’s been in love with you even longer.”
I rub circles over my forehead. As much as I want to deny it, my asshole friends are speaking the truth. I’ve always had feelings for Summer. Even when we were younger. There was something about her that called to me. I wanted to protect her and take care of her. She’s had this pull over me. I tried to deny it. I tried to keep a distance. I lied right to her face on her prom night and told her I didn’t have feelings for her. I’ll never tell anyone, but I went home and cried that night because I knew I’d hurt her, and it killed me inside.
She deserves so much more than what I can give her. Not only that, but she has a life in Seattle. A good one from what Nash has told me. I’ve had him keep tabs on her all this time. I needed to know she was okay. The times he’d told me she’d gone to a BDSM club in Seattle, I’d nearly lost my mind over the thought of her playing with another man. I know it’s completely irrational, but when it comes to Summer, I don’t ever seem to think straight.
“Look, it doesn’t matter how I feel about her. She’s not moving back here. Once she figures out what to do about her mom, she’ll go back to Seattle.”
Austin turns to look at me, and I already know he’s going to say something I’m not going to like. He’s my best friend, and he knows me way too well.
“Have you asked her what she wants? Maybe she’d stay in Pine Hollow if she felt she had a reason to,” he says.
I stare out at the girls and smile when Summer bends down to give Willie a kiss on the top of his head. The tip of her nose and her cheeks are pink from being out in the cold, and the smile on her face is so genuine. It warms my whole heart.
“I’m not ever going to hold her back. If she decides to stay, maybe something could become of us, but she went to Seattle and has stayed there for the past twenty years. Obviously, she’s happy there.”
Jaxon snorts. “She only went because you told her you didn’t have feelings for her. She would have stayed or come back after college if you had told her the truth.”
My smile turns into a scowl as I glare at my friends. “She lived under the thumb of that abusive asshole for eighteen years. She deserved to get the hell out of this town. And she sure as hell deserves better than me.”
Austin shakes his head, but his gaze is on my sister. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed him watching her so closely. Is there something going on between them? If they’re sneaking around, it’s going to piss me off. I trust Austin, but Greer is still my little sister.
“You’re so fucking dense. Seriously, Dane. Do you honestly think there’s someone out there who’s better for her than you? She looks at you like you hung the damn moon, and you ignore it,” Austin says bluntly.
She looks up and meets my gaze. And yeah. He’s right. She does look at me like that. I fucking hate it.
“I’m a mechanic. She’s a lawyer. I can’t give her the life she deserves.”
This time it’s Cole who shakes his head. When I glance over at him, he gives me a disgusted look. “You’re an asshole. The only thing that woman wants is someone to love her. And what the fuck do you mean by just a mechanic? You own your business. You own your home. You have investments and savings. You might not be rich, but you’re doing fine. There’s nothing wrong with being a mechanic. You work your ass off. We all do. Just because we’re blue-collar guys and work with our hands for a living doesn’t mean we don’t deserve happiness.”
I mull over his words for a few minutes as our conversation turns to silence. Finally, I let out a deep sigh and nod. “You’re right. I hate it, but you are. I know I’m a good man. We all are. But I don’t want to hold her back from something greater. If she decided to stay in Pine Hollow, I’d be all in, but I won’t ask her to stay. It needs to be her decision.”
When no one says anything, I stand. “I’m going to go make the girls some hot chocolate.”
I’m in the middle of stirring the steaming mugs of cocoa when Austin comes inside and leans against the counter.
“Is there something going on between you and my sister?”
He shifts and crosses his arms over his chest. “Besides her being a royal pain in my ass? No.”
I know Austin well enough to know he’s telling the truth, so I nod and glance up at him. “Do you want there to be something between you two?”
We stare at each other in silence for a few seconds before he shakes his head.
“No. Greer is a good girl. But she’s your sister, and I wouldn’t go there with her. She’s been through a lot with her divorce and all that. She’s still struggling, so I try to be there for her and help her whenever I can. We’re just friends, though.”
