Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“We’re friends.”
“Friends don’t look at each other the way Maddox looks at you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you look at him, too, when you think no one is watching.”
“Whatever,” I grumble. She’s right, at least about me watching him. I can’t seem to help myself. The man is perfection, but that’s still not reason enough to stay married. “He wants to stay married.”
“You like him. I’ll even go as far as to say that you care about him.”
“We’re not even dating. We can’t just wake up married after a drunken night in Vegas and say, ‘Hey, let’s give this a whirl.’ That’s insane, Briar.”
“Meh,” she replies. “If I’ve learned anything since meeting Forrest, it’s that this is our life. We only get one and we can do with it what we choose. Living in fear keeps you from experiencing some of the most blissful moments.”
“We know that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows,” I remind her.
“We do. That’s why we fight harder for the good times. It took me time, but I let Forrest in, and now look at us. The girls and I have our happily ever after.”
“You dated first,” I mumble.
“Who cares? Toss society’s rules out of the window. This is your life, Brogan. You get to decide what makes you happy.”
“What happens when it doesn’t work out?”
“If. If it doesn’t work out, and you don’t know how it’s going to end. None of us do. All you can do is give it everything you have and see where it takes you.”
Her words give me hope. “Now you sound like Susan,” I tell her. Susan is the therapist that we both started seeing a couple of months ago. She’s incredible and talking to her on my own and with my sister has helped me so much to get over the traumas of our past, but I’m still a work in progress.
“So I sound intelligent? Thanks, sis,” she teases.
“I should get back out there.”
“Out where?”
“The living room. I needed a few minutes, so I locked myself in the bathroom,” I admit. “Maddox is waiting for me.” I don’t say might be, because I know him well enough to understand he’s not going anywhere until we make a decision that could affect our entire group of friends and family, not just us.
“You can trust him, Brogan. Take a gamble; you might be surprised where that chance leads you. I love you, big sister.” I can hear the smile in her voice. As twins, I’m two minutes older and she very rarely admits to me being her big sister.
“Love you too.” I end the call, shove my phone back into my jeans pocket, exhale, and twist the lock before pulling open the door.
“Everything okay?” Maddox asks as soon as he sees me.
“Yeah. Sorry, Briar called. She just wanted to make sure I made it home okay.”
He nods and pats the couch cushion next to him. Once I’ve taken my seat, he turns to face me, and I do the same. Our knees are touching, and I ignore the heat that flows from his body to mine.
“I’m a simple man, Brogan. I love my friends and the business we’ve built with our blood, sweat, and tears. I love my family. I pay my taxes, I don’t lie or cheat, and I keep my promises.”
These are all things I knew about him already. Well, maybe not the taxes part, but one can only assume being one fifth of a successful growing business, paying taxes is a given. Why he’s telling me all this is yet to be determined. I open my mouth to ask, but he takes my hand in his, and I clamp my mouth shut.
“I’ve always followed my gut. Once in my life, I didn’t, and this—me and you—that’s fate's way of telling me I fucked up and is fixing my mistake. I want you, Brogan. I want to come home to you. I want to cuddle with you on the couch after a long day at the shop. I want to hold you as you drift off to sleep, and I want to be the first person you see each morning when you wake up.”
“Maddox….” My voice trails off because what do I say to that?
“I know we aren’t dating, but we should have been. I should have followed my gut. My instincts were telling me you were the one. That’s my fuck up, and I won’t make it twice, which is why I have a proposition for you.”
“What kind of proposition?”
Maddox stands from his seat on the couch, only to kneel again. I turn my body to face him, and he takes my hands in his. “Give me six months. To date you. To show you how good we will be together. Give me six months to make you fall in love with me.”