Page 15 of Defending What is Mine

Mollie furrows her brows. “Um, we would hate that?”

I swallow a laugh and push forward. These thoughts have spent too long spinning in my head and I need someone else’s perspective on them. “You know what I mean. Let’s say I realize how wonderful he is and just as I start to feel something—boom—it’s time for him to leave. While I’m left here, alone. All over again. Only now I have this Wilde-shaped hole in my heart.” I shake my head. “What then? Are we going to try to create some kind of relationship through email? I don’t even know if he has access to email over there.”

To her credit Mollie doesn’t relent. Instead, she takes another page from my book and doubles down. “What if that’s exactly what you want?”

I scoff. “Thanks for caring, chick.”

“No, hear me out. We both know you aren’t looking for some random hookup, right?”

“Obviously,” I bob my head down the hall toward Vanessa’s room.

“So, maybe a little distance is a good thing. It could give you both time to get to know each other in a way that isn’t always being disrupted by physical attraction.”

“Whoa. Stop. Give me a sec, all this sexy talk is making me hot,” I joke, though just the thought of not having to permanently say goodbye to Jack gives me hope.

“Come on, seriously. I get that it isn’t ideal, but maybe on a deeper level it’s perfect. You get to talk to him, and listen to him, without any prospect of sex constantly lingering over you. Maybe it’s a chance to get to know him. And not just the version guys put forward when they’re trying to get a girl into bed.” Mollie playfully pushes my arm. “Huh? See what I mean? It could turn out to be ingenious.”

“Yeah.” I nod along. “Or, it could turn out to be another mistake. In what is becoming a long and lonely road of them.”

“But Sam, what if it isn’t? Has Jack given you any reason, any reason whatsoever, to think he’s that kind of guy?”

I feel my defenses weakening. “No.”

“And in the time you’ve spent with any of the Wildes, have you ever gotten that feeling? From any of them?”

My eyes light up at the question because I have met one Wilde who has given me that feeling. “Well…”

“Excluding Leo.”

“No,” I answer as my excitement falls. “But all this what if-ing still doesn’t change the fact that he hasn’t asked me out again.”

Mollie shimmies in her seat as she picks up her phone and taps out a message. “Done.”

“Done?” I ask in wary disbelief. “What’s done? What did you just do?”

“Hank’s going to invite Jack to Nessa’s party.” Mollie’s wearing a smile from ear to ear. “It’ll be totally low pressure. With lots of other people. We’ll just see what happens from there.”

“You didn’t!” My outrage is eclipsed by my excitement and she knows it. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

Mollie’s phone buzzes on the table. After a quick glance at the message, her smile gets even bigger and she stands to leave. “That’s Hank. He said to consider Jack RSVP’d.”

“Where are you going?” I look at the clock on the wall. “It’s after ten.”

“Well.” Mollie blushes. “He also asked if I was in the mood for dessert. See you tomorrow!”

I hug her goodbye and lock the door behind her, watching through the window until her taillights disappear. As I go through my bedtime routine, I can’t help but let myself wonder what if.

What if he is my Mr. Wonderful? What if we do fall in love? What if he comes home at the end of his tour and surprises me at work? What if he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him?

As I crawl into bed and pull the sheet over, I look down at my old, comfy, mom pajamas.

What if he gets one look at this and runs like hell?

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