Page 19 of Wilder

Sighing softly, I shook my head, a smile pulling at my lips despite myself. “All right. Since you’re really twisting my arm here.”

“And you love me for it.”

I scoffed. “Debatable.”

“Is that a yes I’m hearing? I think it is.”

“Only if you’re the one that actually calls Gage and tells him the news about us not coming home,” I countered.

“What?” He sputtered. “Oh, come on! It will be way funnier if you do it!”

“Nope. That’s my stipulation.” Mostly because I knew damn well that hearing the hurt in Gage’s voice—and the quiet disappointment he wouldn’t even try to hide—would wreck me.

It would actually kill me to pretend we were leaving him all alone for the holidays, to hear the resignation in my brother’s voice while it slowly dawned on him there was nothing else he could do to change reality. Because that’s what Gage did.

He’d argue until he knew it was a losing battle, finally giving in while wishing us both a quiet ‘happy holidays’. He wouldn’t bother guilt-tripping us, there was no need for that when he knew we’d already feel bad enough telling him the news. He’d just take it in stride, let our absence settle in once it became obvious that this would be his first ever Christmas alone.

And that thought alone would get me to absolutely cave.

Greyson knew it, too. Which was exactly why he wanted me to make the call and not him.

Asshole.

“Grey,” I warned when he stayed silent.

A long, exaggerated sigh came through the phone. “Fine. Fiiine. I’ll do it.”

“Good,” I said, smiling again. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

Greyson muttered something under his breath—things that were probably not very nice but I chose to ignore out of self preservation. Because for the first time in a while, my chest felt lighter.

From relief maybe?

Or the sudden washing away of the homesickness I’d been feeling since winter hit?

Whatever it was, it was gone, replaced by a warmer, steadier pulse.

Love.

That deep, unwavering kind of love that came with knowing, no matter the distance, no matter how much time passed, my brothers and I would always find our way back to each other.

I was going home. I was finally going home.

Now I just needed to muster up asking Wilder to let me go for a while.

CHAPTER 6

Asher

I let a full day pass before trying to find Wilder to talk to him about going home.

It wasn’t that I thought he’d say no. In fact, I had no doubts he’d let me go without a problem once I mustered up the courage to actually ask. Wilder wasn’t unreasonable; he’d never been the type to hold anyone back from seeing their family.

But still, some weird, nagging feeling settled deep in my chest every time I rehearsed what I was going to say to him. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe it was something else entirely.

Not because I was leaving—I knew I deserved the time, knew that going back home wasn’t something I should have to justify to anyone, let alone my boss—but because I felt like I had to prove that I was coming back to begin with. That this wasn’t me cutting myself loose after I’d finally grown tired of the work and the people.

Boone Ranch had the unfortunate problem of having a constantly revolving door when it came to hiring ranch hands. With it, came the lingering expectation that no one ever really stayed unless they had no other options.