Page 58 of Finding Chloe

“You’re one to talk. The guys can’t fuck me in a tack room with the door locked, but you could in the stall in the middle of the day last winter. That’s not fair,” Chloe huffed, placing her hands on her hips.

I wanted to high-five her. Matt’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he snapped it shut. I wasn’t confrontational in the least bit, but I was ready to knock some sense into him. When was he going to realize we all belonged with Chloe?

“Please don’t judge me when I haven’t seen you in days. Where were you? I needed you, and you weren’t here.” Chloe voice cracked.

I quietly shut the door, closing off this conversation from the rest of the barn. There was no way Chloe wanted the entire staff to know this talk was happening.

“You said you’d give this a shot, Matt. So what happened?” She crossed her arms over her chest, hurt flashing in her eyes.

“Chloe, not now.” Matt’s deep voice held a warning.

“Yes now.” Chloe stepped forward. “You disappeared for days. I need to know what you’re thinking. Do you even feel anything for me?”

“It’s not that simple.” Matt took a few steps away from her.

“Yes it is. I need to know if you want to continue this or not, because it’s killing me not to know. I thought we had something together, but you just walked away.”

We all needed to know what he was thinking. This could only work if we were in this together.

“I can’t, Chloe. I just… can’t.” Matt rounded on her as his voice cracked.

“So you’re not going to give this a shot?” Chloe wasn’t going to back down.

“I don’t know if I can.” Matt threw his arms in the air.

“Well you need to figure it out. Please don’t ask me to choose.” Chloe reached for Matt and then dropped her arms by her sides. “It’s all or nothing. I won’t be with them and not you. And vice versa. I wantallof you, but I need you to decide if that’s what you’re willing to accept.”

I heard Hunter nearly choke behind me. I hadn’t told him Chloe wanted all or nothing. My pulse was hammering so loudly in my ears I thought it might burst. I couldn’t believe this was happening. We’d brought her in here to clear her mind, not cause more issues. Now everything was crumbling to pieces.

CHLOE

Three days.

It had been three days since I walked out of that tack room and didn’t look back.

Three days of throwing myself into the last of the wedding arrangements and trying to forget about the three men who claimed my every remaining thought.

I hadn’t wanted it to be this way, but I wasn’t going to have any of the men if I couldn’t have them all. It wasn’t fair. Kyle and Hunter deserved someone who could give them their whole heart, and if I wasn’t with Matt too, then there would always be a hole there. And eventually it would eat away at our relationship.

“Do you have an update on the steamer?” I asked Sarah over the phone. Another round of calls to get the last-minute updates. The wedding was only two days away, and I was on edge. I needed to wrap up all the fraying ends.

“It should be delivered tomorrow. Alex’s dresses are already at Jessie’s house, so as soon as it’s delivered, I’ll run out to the ranch and get it done.” Sarah knew a lot was riding on this—for her as much as it was for me.

“Great. Is there anything I can do to help?” I poised my electronic pencil to take notes.

“Just make sure they don’t put either of those dresses in the shower and try to steam them. Those dresses will be ruined if they do.”

I jotted down her comment. “Got it. I’ll touch base with you tomorrow.” I hit the button on my headset and ended the call. One down, four to go.

I typed a quick text message to Jessie about the dress staying as far away from the bathrooms as possible. She gave me the thumbs-up, and I relayed the message to Alex as well just to be safe. Even though Alex wasn’t in charge of the dresses, I didn’t need the bride trying to help and accidentally ruining things.

After a few more calls, I had to switch my focus. The bride and grooms each had their bachelor and bachelorette parties tonight. They had only agreed when their wedding party promised it wouldn’t be anything too extreme.

The men wanted to do a poker night. All the guys on the ranch and some people from town were invited. I’d worked hard to turn the dining hall into a casino. Luckily, a company I contracted had the equipment and supplied the dealers. I’d added a few extra decorations and worked with Jessie to create a list of food to serve. The room looked good with various poker tables going and a lot of whiskey flowing.

The girls had chosen a calmer night. Alex wanted to play a few games and watch a movie. She’d confided that she wanted to feel young again, with the wholesome fun from high school with her girlfriends.

The girls had picked Alex’s favorite romcoms to have on-screen at all times. We took over the living room in the big house since it had a massive flat screen television, and the babies were all tucked in their bassinets in one of the guestrooms while Mrs. Roberts was on babysitting duty. Although I didn’t miss Blake and Tori discreetly checking the monitors glued to their hands.

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