Page 40 of Sundown Somewhere

“And what?” I laugh. “Leave Hickory Hills with the Kountry Kitchen?”

I look pointedly at Hux, watching the hint of green pass through his coloring at the mention of one third of our town’s eating establishments. The Kountry Kitchen has never been known as gourmet eating—far from it, actually—but a run-in with the owner’s daughter post breakup with his buddy Jake left Hux sick for weeks in our twenties.

“Please don’t,” he chokes out. “But that doesn’t mean you have to run the greasy spoon either.”

I nod. A menu revamp has been on the to-do list for a while, but I’ve been putting it off, telling myself that it would be a post wedding project. Truth be told, there’s another reason I haven’t tackled it.

“I’m not sure how people would take to that. Dolly’s has been around for more than fifty years, and that menu hasn’t changed.”

“Then maybe it’s time.”

Hux reaches across the table, taking my hand and interlacing his fingers in mine. I relax into the touch, even as my senses come alive, the easy, natural move seeming like second nature. The soft, simple connection is too much and not enough all at once, the butterflies in my chest starting to flap their wings in time with my rushing pulse.

“Maybe.”

“You could always⁠—”

“Did you mean it?”

I blurt out my question, letting it rush out of me like water bursting through a dam. Hux is quiet for a moment, the silence as thick as molasses on a cold day, time slowing down as I wait for him to reply.

Straightening up, he lets go of my hand, the warm air feeling cold suddenly as it replaces him against my skin. Shit, he’s going to let me down. Tell me that he didn’t mean it. That it was just something that came out in the moment.

Okay, that’s fine. I can handle that. Hux is my best friend, and I know that I won’t ever lose him. Things might be awkward after such a declaration, but it’s nothing we can’t get over. I think.

Clearing his throat, he starts to answer, but is cut off by the waiter.

Fuck!

We maintain composure, listening to the specials and then placing our orders. I’m not sure how hungry I’m really going to be if this continues the way I think it’s going, but that’s fine.

“Did you mean it?” I ask again, as if he needed a reminder. My heart is in my throat, and I’m prepared for whatever the answer is. “About being all those things for me?”

“Yes.” His answer is short. Simple. Full of so much confidence that there is no way to question it. “If that’s what you want.”

If that’s what I want…

Wow. Just wow. So much for thinking he was going to let me down gently.

“I don’t know if you know this about me, Huxley Hayes, but despite what I might have led you to believe last night, I’m not a quick fuck kind of gal…”

Hux throws his head back, letting out a loud, deep guffaw. One that not only rattles the table, but reverberates deep inside me, pulling out my own laughter.

“I do know that about you, Dolly McLain,” he replies, leaning in and staring me down. “And I didn’t plan on treatin’ you as such.”

A shiver rips through me, straight up my spine then back down again, settling straight in my core.

“But you’re allergic to relationships.”

“I’m not allergic. I’ve just never felt the need to be in one. My needs were met.”

I squint at him, trying to figure out what that even means. My needs were met. Ugh, such a guy thing to say. Shaking my head, I let out a sigh, because I honestly don’t know how to respond to that.

“Look,” he adds. “I’m not saying this has to be a thing. Just that I’m happy to be the man in your life. Whatever form that takes.”

Whatever form that takes…

Smiling, I nod, reaching back out for him. He takes my hand, squeezing it. That same electricity crackles again, and I have no idea if Hux feels it or not, but there’s no denying that it’s weaving its way through me. Taking over and taking root.