“More space…Wyatt…” She placed her hand on the paper, her fingers tracing the lines. “Once Upon a—”
“That’s a placeholder,” I cut in. “Of course, we can change the name to whatever you want, and like I said…this doesn’t need to be built any time soon. I figured you wanted a few more years in the rodeo, but…I wanted to have everything ready to go so whenyouare ready…we can make it happen fast.”
“You’re…” She swallowed, and her gaze finally rose to meet mine. “Going to build a horse sanctuary on the ranch?”
“Not just any sanctuary, Quinn. Your sanctuary. I don’t want or need these two hundred and fifty acres. But you…” I decided to be bold, reaching out and placing my fingers over hers. “You could take them and make them brilliant.”
“I can’t take them from you,” she whispered, her fingers starting to intertwine with mine.
“You won’t be. I’m giving them to you. Or we can simply add your name to the deed if you would rather.”
She inhaled and glanced down, her eyes searching the blueprints. I watched her face the entire time, desperately wanting to know what was going through her mind. Her brow pinched, a sigh left her lips, and she once again met my gaze. A small hint of anger flashed behind her eyes…and my stomach dropped.
“If this is to make me forgive you—” She pulled her hand away quickly.
“I was working on this well before I fucked everything up,” I admitted, keeping my hand right where it was, hoping she’d take it again. “This was always the plan. I wanted to give it to you at Christmas, but Abi told me your lease was ending soon. I got nervous you would be leaving after the NFR, and…well.” I shrugged. “I couldn’t wait until then. Quinn, I…” I stopped, placing both my hands on the counter and lowering my chin.
My mind flashed to the bar when Quinn first kissed me, the way she said she had prepared an entire speech, and the moment she saw me, it was lost. I said that her kiss told me everything, but in this moment, I couldn’t kiss her to tell her exactly what was going through my mind. I had the words—they just wouldn’t form. I needed them to—I needed her to know.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I raised my chin. “I never meant to hurt you. It kills me to see you every day knowing I’llnever be able to hold you or kiss you again…justhaveyou again. The first moment I saw you, I knew. Even after you turned me down so many times…I knew you were it for me. You were the one who was going to change my life. And fuck, Quinn—you did. I found myself wanting to be better, wanting so much more than I had, as long as you were there, too. And then…I fucked it up. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to forget about you, but I couldn’t…I can’t. I’ll never be able to move on from you. I hate that I hurt you. I hate that it’s taken me this long to find the words to say, and believe it or not, these are not the words I practiced.” I paused briefly, catching the little smirk on her lips before she dipped her chin. “But I need you to know you were never a play. I need you to know that Kelly—” My throat closed, and I tried to force myself to keep speaking, but nothing came out, not even a sound.
“That…” she squeaked. “I may have overreacted. That’s nothing. Abi…she…” she stammered and then waved her hand in the air as if to erase everything. “It’s not important.”
“I hate that I let it happen. I never meant to hurt you,” I raised my gaze, meeting her eyes. “You were never a game. You were more…aremore than that. You’re my everything; you’ll always be my everything—and I will never stop loving you, even though you’ve stopped loving me.”
“Wyatt…” she whispered, her hands morphing into fists.
“It’s okay. I didn’t come here to win you back; I came here to tell you that and give you these—which I did. So.” I pushed myself off the counter and looked at the clock on the oven, letting a breath out through my lips. “I believe my fifteen minutes are up. I’ll respect your boundaries and give you the space. I’ll stop chasing.” I wiped my hands in front of me, erasing everything that had happened since that night in The Steel when I first approached her. That felt like so long ago, but now withher in front of me…I couldn’t help but have some hope. Maybe, just maybe, we could be friends again. I just had to stop chasing.
A slight shock flashed across her face. “I’m not moving,” she said quickly, catching me completely off guard. “I signed another year, paid in full.” She picked at her fingernails. “And I’m going to talk to Jeff about buying the place.”
I felt the corner of my lips tug up. “That’s great.” I took a few steps back, telling myself the further I got from her, the less likely she was to hear my heartbeat. It was pounding, echoing through my chest and most likely this room. If I didn’t leave, I never would. I gave in to the smile. “I’m proud of you,” I added, loving the small gasp that came from her. “And glad you’ll be sticking around. I’m sure Hook would miss me.”
She chuckled and licked her lips. “Yeah…he would.”
Would she?
“I’ll just…” I pointed behind me to the front door.
“You don’t need these?” she asked, her hands gliding across the blueprints.
I shook my head. “No, they’re yours. It is your sanctuary, after all.” Slowly, not wanting to leave just yet but knowing I had to, I made my way to her front door, only to twist and take one more look at her. “We’re all going to the NFR, by the way. All ten days. Cash made sure we all got tickets to support you, but…” I hesitated, suddenly shy as her green gaze bore into me. “I’ll stay out of the way and just cheer you on from the stands. I can’t wait to see you take it all. I know you will.”
Quinn, who was still frozen in place in front of the blueprints, took a deep breath in, her shoulders raising.
“But”—I waved my hand at the pristine living room—“you should pull all your boots out though; I tried it, and hey”—I winked—“It really helps you be able to see everything.”
And right before I shut the door behind me, I heard her soft laugh.
Forty-Three
Quinn
“Roundone,”Cashmusedas he scratched Hook behind his ears.
“Round one,” I repeated, slipping my phone into the small saddlebag.
“You ready?” He raised a brow, craning his neck to see me.
