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“Ready?” Mike said, making me jump.
“Sure, yeah. Ready.”
“You okay?” he asked, a slight chuckle coming out with the question.
“Yeah, just ready to leave.”
He nodded, and we started to make our way through the crowd and down to the driveway. I could see my truck. We were almost there when I heard her call out my name.
“Rip! Mike! Are you leaving?”
“Fuck me, could this day get any worse?” I whispered as Mike hit me on the back. We both turned and looked at Chloe, jogging down the driveway.
“You weren’t even going to say goodbye?” she said with a sad look.
“I needed to get home, and Mike is driving me.”
Chloe frowned. “Why can’t you drive?”
Mike and I exchanged a look. Fuck it. The truth it was.
“I drank a little bit too much.”
Her eyes bounced from me to Mike, then back to me.
“Oh. Well, thank you for coming. I’m not sure where you were hiding out. I hardly got to see you. Maybe we can do lunch tomorrow?”
“I can’t. I’ve got a full day of work. I’m helping Trevor.”
She smiled. “So you’ll be here on the ranch?”
Mike looked away, trying to hide the corners of his mouth that were quickly raising.
“Yeah, but like I said, I’ll probably be really busy.”
“I’ll call you. If you can take a break, I’ll bring something for you to eat. I’d like to catch up.”
Goddamn it.
“Sure, you can give me a call, and we’ll see. Enjoy the rest of the party.”
She walked up to me and hugged me goodbye. Then she did the same with Mike. “Thanks for being here. See you tomorrow.”
The moment she turned around, I started walking to the truck.
When we got in, I dropped my head back against the seat.
“Rip…”
“Please, Mike. I already got the lecture from Jonathon. I just want to not talk about Chloe. Please.”
The truck started. “Sure. We won’t talk about Chloe.”
And we didn’t. We didn’t talk at all.
Chloe
AFTER BREAKFAST I went for a quick run before heading to the main house to see Easton off.
He was sitting on the front porch swing, staring off down the long driveway.
“Hey, I heard you were out here. Ready to head on home?”
“Yeah, but I wish you were coming with me.”
My face fell slightly. I didn’t want to argue about this again. Easton had started in last night about why I had to stay here until the wedding. He couldn’t understand how hard it was for me to leave. I needed time. I wanted to be with my parents. Spend the summer with my brother. Work for my father and start my career that, unfortunately, would be short-lived. I couldn’t figure out why that was so hard for him to get.
“I don’t want to fight about this again, East.”
He scrubbed his hands down his face. “Why can’t you come to Houston after the summer is over? Hell, if it’s a job you want, Chloe, you can get one there.”
“Easton.”
He laughed. “I know, I know. You can’t blame me for wanting you with me, Chloe. I love you. I want to wake up every morning next to you. I want you with me.”
I felt sick.
Oh, good Lord. Why can’t I say one word of that back to him?
“Are you okay? Your face just went completely white.”
“Yeah, I’m going to miss you, too. Please be patient and let me have this time with my folks. I just want that. I’ll see how things feel this September.”
He smiled and pulled me to him, kissing me. He moaned as he pressed his body to mine. Two nights earlier, when he asked me to marry him, he had wanted to be together, and I couldn’t do it. I was too emotional and couldn’t bring myself to sleep with him. Not when I had so many thoughts racing through my mind, most of them consisting of doubt over saying yes. Easton had been understanding when I told him I was exhausted. I saw it in his eyes, the disappointment, especially since we hadn’t slept together in weeks. For Easton, a marriage proposal and one night of sex would fix everything. For me, all it did was make me even more confused than I was before.
Ugh. Jesus, Chloe, get your shit together.
“That’s what I wanted to hear, baby. I need to get going. I’ve got a long drive.”
“Be careful. Let me know when you get there.”
“I will,” he said. I walked him to his car and waited for him to roll down the window.
Leaning in, I kissed him. “I’ll see you soon.”
“I told my folks you’d be down in a few weeks. They want to have an engagement party of their own and my mom’s birthday is June second. I’ll get you a plane ticket, so you can fly. I don’t want you making that drive all alone.”
A part of me was angry he would make plans without even asking me. Not wanting to start yet another fight, I smiled and kissed him once more.
