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“When will be the right time?” he shot back at me.
I shrugged. I didn’t know. I had too many other things to deal with right now. Maggie wasn’t pressing me for a ring.
“Maggie isn’t expecting this. She’s not asking for it.”
Brady sighed heavily. “When has Maggie ever pressed anyone for anything? I sure as hell can’t think of a time. She takes what is given to her and never expects more. Problem is I expect more for her. She’s the closest thing I have to a sibling, and I want to see her have it all.”
I jerked my gaze from the field and leveled it on Brady. No one wanted more for Maggie than I did. “She is my fucking world,” I shouted at him, angry at his assumption I didn’t want her to have everything.
He shrugged. “Then act like it,” he replied, then turned and walked away, leaving me standing there alone again. I waited until he climbed into his truck and drove away before heading to my own to leave. Maggie had texted and called. I needed to respond. She’d get worried.
Before I drove off, I texted her:
On my way back to the house.
Then I started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot.
I’m not at the house. I tried to call you. I am at lunch with an old friend. A very old friend. It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.
Glancing down, I read her response. What the hell? She didn’t have very old friends. Not in Lawton. I pulled over to the side of the road and checked Life360 to find her location. I didn’t want an explanation later. I wanted to see Maggie. Now. I needed to see her. It was the only thing that would make the ache inside me ease. It always had been.
CHAPTER FOUR
MAGGIE
Tate sat across from me at Wicks. The outdoor seating here was the best in town, and I wanted to be in clear view. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but being here with a guy and not being able to explain it to West felt off. Taking a sip of my water, I waited until Tate had ordered his lunch.
When the waitress walked away, he looked back at me and grinned.
“I looked for you, you know. For years after you left. I tried to find out where you had gone. Then I let it go.” He paused and shook his head. “But a week ago I realized maybe I hadn’t. Let you go. I’m… I’m engaged.” He stopped then and looked at me.
“Congratulations,” I said, feeling some relief. I hadn’t been sure what he was here to say to me or why he felt like he needed to see me other than to catch up.
He did a small sigh mixed with a laugh, as if that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “I thought coming to see you would give me the closure that I needed. You were my best friend, then you were the girl who was out of my league, and I had to watch you date other boys. Junior high sucked.” He laughed. “But we still met out by the pond and talked as if life hadn’t changed. I had that. I still had a part of you. You were my first love, and although that love was unrequited, it was powerful for me. One day you were there and then you were gone. Even before leaving school and moving, you pulled away from me. From life. I never got to say good-bye, and next weekend I’m supposed to get married. But for the past month all I can think about is what if she’s not the one? What if she is a stand-in? What if I don’t love her as much as I loved… you?”
I sat there, my hands fisted in the napkin in my lap, wishing for a way to escape this. What was I supposed to say to him? Yes, a part of me had known back then that Tate had feelings for me. He had always just been my friend, and I hadn’t wanted that to change. But time went on, and itdid. When I had moved to Lawton I hadn’t thought of him once. He hadn’t been more than a part of my past. A past I didn’t dwell on.
“Tate,” I said, trying to think of the right thing to say and not sure what that might be. “I, uh, I think you’re just nervous. You asked her to marry you. That means something. Something much bigger than a childhood crush. We never had more than a friendship. Could it be that you’re just worried about getting married and you’re projecting that onto me? Because I didn’t say good-bye?”
He shook his head. “No,” he replied firmly. “I still dream about you, Mags. That’s not some childhood crush.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but my words were cut off.
“That sounds like your problem. Not hers.” West’s deep voice came from behind me just as his hand landed on my shoulder.
Tate looked from me to the man standing behind me. “Excuse me?” Tate asked, a touch of irritation in his expression.
“You heard me,” West replied. “Let’s go, Maggie.” The possessiveness in his tone left no room for argument, and honestly, I was glad he was here. I hadn’t expected this, and I was unsure how to handle it.
“We’ve not been introduced,” Tate said, standing upand holding out his hand. “I’m an old friend of Maggie’s. Tate Morris.”
West didn’t reach out to shake Tate’s hand. Instead his hand squeezed my shoulder. “An old friend who’s dreaming about her.” West’s tone held a warning there I hoped Tate picked up on.
“We have a past,” Tate replied in a challenging tone.
I stood up then. If I didn’t end this, then it was going to get nasty. I could feel the tension coming off West, and he wasn’t himself. Something was wrong. There was an anger just below the surface I didn’t think had to do with Tate. West trusted me. It was something more.
West’s hand moved to my back, and he kissed my temple. “Let’s go,” he told me.
