Page 72 of Entangled with a Mountain Man

"That's your so perfect."

"I'm not perfect, Everett." I lift up my head, staring into his eyes.

"But you are perfect for me."

16

THE LAST TIME

KENZIE

I'm stunned, silent. My heart wants to believe him. But my mind questions everything. So, instead of ruining the moment I lay my head on Everett's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"What just happened?"

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you. Look at me." He grips my chin between his fingers, and now I'm looking into his eyes.

"I'm not good at this, Everett. People leave. People change their minds. People have wives. And I want to believe you. I do… But…"

"I'm not him." He leans forward and kisses my lips. And I've never felt so safe, so cherished. "And you're not her."

I nod, and he pulls me close.

"Tell me about her," I say softly, breaking the comfortable silence. "About Jillian."

Everett tenses for a moment, then relaxes with a sigh. "It's not a happy story," he warns.

I prop myself up on an elbow, meeting his gaze. "I want to know. All of it."

He nods, pulling me closer as he begins to speak. His voice is low and gravelly, the pain of the past etched into every word.

"Jillian and I... we met in the military. I guess you could say we bonded over our shared ambitions and our dreams of serving our country." A wistful smile tugs at his lips, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "We were both so driven, so focused on our careers. When she got pregnant with the twins, we figured we could make it work."

He pauses, jaw clenching as he relives the memories. I reach up, trailing my fingers along the tense line of his cheek.

"For a while, it did work. We had our girls, got married...built a life together, as much as the military would allow." Everett's gaze grows distant, clouded by regret. "But the separations, the long deployments...they took a toll. Jillian started pulling away emotionally. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late."

A muscle ticks in his cheek, and I can practically see the walls going up, that stoic mask slipping back into place. But there's a rawness in his eyes that breaks my heart.

"She cheated on me," he says flatly. "While I was overseas, fighting for our country, she was back home, betraying everything we'd built."

My breath catches in my throat, and I tighten my arms around him, wishing I could absorb some of his pain. Everett lets out a shuddering sigh, leaning into my embrace.

"We tried to work through it, for the girls' sake. But in the end..." He shakes his head. "Jillian made her choice. She re-enlisted and left me to raise Hazel and Harper alone while she chased her career."

The bitterness in his tone is palpable, a stark contrast to the tenderness of his touch as his fingers trace idle patterns on my back. I shiver at the intimacy of the moment, the way he's baring his soul to me.

I stare into his eyes, seeing nothing but raw vulnerability. His jaw tightens, lips pressed into a hard line as he waits for my response.

"Everett," I say softly, reaching out to brush his cheek. "What happened with Jillian? That wasn't your failure. She made her choices, and you did the best you could."

His eyes flick away, guarded once more. But I catch the slight tremble in his fingers as they curl around mine.

"My Meme used to say… Sometimes shit is just shit." He chuckles, and I press a soft kiss on his brow, my heart aching for this man who's been through so much. "At the end of the day, that wasn't your failure. It was hers. You did everything you could to make it work, and sometimes that's all we can do."

A flicker of relief passes over his features, and he pulls me flush against him, burying his face in the crook of my neck. We stay like that for long moments, bodies intertwined, drawing strength from each other's embrace.

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