Page 20 of Kept By The Mountain Man

“I didn’t even know you two were together!”

“We’re not… or, well, wewere—but it was fake.” The words spill out of me in a confusing jumble, and I can hear Olive’s confusion through the phone.

“Fake? What do you mean fake?”

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself as I let myself into my apartment. “It’s a long story, but we pretended to date to keep people off our backs, and then last night, after a fake date, we just… we slept together.”

There’s another pause on the other end, and I know Olive’s trying to process all of it.

“So,” she finally says, “do you want him?”

My stomach flips at the question. “Yes,” I answer without hesitation. It’s the truth. I’ve been drawn to Hendrix since the moment I interviewed for the job. Somewhere along the line, my innocent crush turned into something so much deeper. Something I couldn’t admit, even to myself, until now.

“Shit. I love him,” I whisper, the realization hitting me like a freight train. Olive snorts in response.

“Duh! You wouldn’t have slept with him if you didn’t. Now, you just need to be brave and tell him you want to be his girlfriend. For real.”

A wave of anxiety washes over me. “What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

Olive laughs, the sound full of confidence. “Well, I don’t know Hendrix, but he sounds a lot like Xavier. And Xavier wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to do. He wouldn’t have slept with me if he wasn’t serious about it, knowing how complicated it could get. He only would’ve done it if I meant something to him.”

“You mean everything to me,” I hear Xavier murmur in the background, and I smile despite myself.

Olive is right. Hendrix and Xavier are a lot alike. The memory of Hendrix telling me that he never does anything he doesn’t want to flashes in my mind. Maybe we’ve both been fools. Maybe we’ve both been in love with each other all along but too scared to do anything about it.

“Thanks, Olive,” I say, feeling calmer already.

“Of course! Call me after you sort things out with your man, okay?”

“I will,” I promise.

We end the call, and I take a deep breath, my heart no longer racing quite so fast. I finally have a plan. I’ll take a shower, put on fresh clothes, and go talk to Hendrix. I’ll lay everything out for him. If he feels the same way, then great. If not… well, I have enough saved up to quit and head back to Wolf Valley. I could stay with Olive or one of her sisters until I get back on my feet.

The thought of leaving Hendrix makes my chest tighten, but at least I have a backup plan. That’s enough to calm me down as I strip off my clothes and step into the shower. I rushthrough washing my hair and body, my thoughts already on the conversation I need to have with Hendrix.

As I’m pulling on a clean outfit, there’s a sudden, insistent knock at my front door. A loud,angryknock. My heart skips a beat, but I already know who it is.

Looks like we’re having this talk on my turf.

I roll my shoulders back, taking a deep breath as I walk to the door. My hand trembles slightly as I reach for the knob, knowing that once I open it, everything will change. I’m about to lay it all out there—my feelings, my hopes, and the possibility of heartbreak.

I open the door, and there stands Hendrix, looking every bit as intense as I imagined. His blue eyes are stormy, his jaw clenched, but beneath the anger, there’s something else. Something raw and real that mirrors the way I feel inside.

It’s time to lay it all out there and let the chips fall where they may. I just hope that I don’t break my heart in the process.

TEN

Hendrix

“Why did you sneak out?”I demand once she answers the door.

Her neighbors next door start banging on the wall, yelling at us to keep it down, and I glare at the wall separating us. I’m already in a shitty mood, and having to deal with those jerks isn’t going to help matters.

When I woke up to find Evie gone and her side of the bed cold, I was furious. After last night and earlier this morning, I thought that we were finally on the same page. Obviously not, though. I don’t like that I have to track my woman down and explain to her that we're meant to be and that she needs to stop running away from me.

“Why did you leave?” I ask, stepping into her apartment and closing the door behind me, shutting out the rest of the world, including her rude neighbors. My focus is entirely on her, and the small space feels even smaller with the tension that’s been building between us.

We need to get her moved out of this place ASAP.

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