Page 41 of Made for You

She pulls out of my grasp, and takes a step back. The loss of her body in my arms feels like more than just a physical loss. Shit. I fucked up again.

“No—that’s not it all. I wanted to apologize. I knew I needed to, I just—”

“Save it Liam. You don’t get to go all alpha-hole on me when it suits you because you’re jealous. Fuck you. You don’t want me but you don’t want anyone else to have me, is that it? Well newsflash, I already lived that life in New York with my mother. I will not do it here with you.” She snatches the bottle of wine off the counter and storms to the door, slamming her feet into her boots.

“Violet, please,” I plead.

“No. If you want me, earn me. You know where I am.” She slams the door shut, taking my bottle of wine with her.

Fuck.

“Fuck!” I growl out into the empty space.

I grab my phone and text Emma, the one person who will know what to do.

Me:I messed up.

Emma:Seriously? Again? You had pizza, how do you mess up when you’re giving a girl food and wine?

Me:I mentioned Alexander. And I might have told her she was mine.

Emma:> You had o.n.e. job. Apologize and play nice.

Me:Not actually helping, what do I do now?

Emma:Go cry into your wine, because you lost her.

Me:She took the wine.

Emma:Well brother, you are well and truly fucked now aren’t you?

I toss my phone back onto the counter. How did this happen? Things were going well! We were bantering, she was leaning into me, we had wine, great food.

I got greedy. That’s what happened. I didn’t take it slow like I should have. Earned her back as a friend.

Her last words burn into my memory as I turn the shower on and let the bathroom fill with steam.

If you want me, earn me.

It sounds like a challenge, and I love nothing more than a challenge, especially when the prize is Violet.

Sleep never came last night. I’ve been in the barn since I gave up on sleep around two in the morning. I saw every minute on the clock, and each tick made me want to crawl out of my skin.

So here I am, focused on a new project. A larger table to go in the dining room. Now that we have life in the kitchen again, we need the table space.

One thing my grandfather always said was that we shouldn’t have more than one table. Everyone who stays here is family, and families eat together. While the space doesn’t totally lend itself to that, I have as few tables as we can to accommodate.

But being that this table is being built because of Violet’s cooking, doesn’t help keep my mind off her.

The way she sings and dances while she cooks, the way she makes sure to listen to the guests and incorporates their favorite foods when they’re staying, the way her ass looks when she bends to get something out of the oven. All those things are on a constant loop in my brain right now.

Alongside the thoughts of Alexander admiring those things about her.

I slam the hammer harder than needed at that thought. At least it’s good rage therapy to build something.

Midnight bounces on the table as I hammer in new boards for the old farmhouse table. It doesn’t phase her though, she’s used to me working around her, and she’s just happy to have pets every few minutes when I walk by her. She stands up and curls back up inside the blanket I brought over for her, switching the side she’s laying on. I’ve noticed her favoring her left side, I need to get her to the vet. But as soon as she sees the carrier, she runs and doesn’t come back for a few days.

“Sorry girl. I’m done hammering for now.” I place a gentle kiss on the top of her head between her ears.

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