Tate sighs. He looks… defeated. He stands. “So let me get this straight. You didn’t want me? You’re not attracted to me, and you just… put up with it so that it was fair?”
I freeze. Shoot. That’s not it. I mean, yes, but also…
“I do want you, Tate,” I whisper. The words feel small. Like I dug them out of somewhere deep within my soul. Like they’re the truth, and I didn’t know about them until now. “It wasn’t just like, me putting up with you so that it was equal. I wanted you. I want you.”
Tate looks hungry. His eyes are dark, and the lines on his face are more defined than they were before.
I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath. “But I don’t want to ruin our friendship. If I told you how much I wanted you, how much I wanted all of you… it would ruin everything.”
“Why?” Tate asks, his voice almost a growl.
I shake myself. “Because I could never pick. I could never choose just one of you. I want you, Tate. And I want Dalton. And I want Brent. And I hate to say that because it means that for so long, you’ve been great friends to me, and I value that friendship more than I want you?—”
Tate cuts me off. His fingers on my lips stop me, and he’s looking down at my mouth when he speaks. “What if you didn’t have to choose, Piper?”
I freeze.
Tate’s eyes lock with mine, and the look he’s giving me is intense.
“What if you didn’t have to choose between friendship or something more? What if it was all of the above?” he purrs.
What Tate is describing is… impossible.
One girl can’t be this lucky. To have her best friends, and to have… more?
I open my mouth, ready to tell him that I don’t understand, when a knock raps out from the front door.
We fly apart. I’m breathing hard, but Tate’s breathing harder. We stare at each other, until another impatient knock sounds. I move over to the door. Opening it, I struggle to put a smile on my face.
“Hi there. You must be the plumber,” I say.
An elderly gentleman shuffles into the room, and I look at Tate. His eyes are sparkling, and he gives me one quick smile before he moves in, chatting it up with the plumber about the water heater.
I’m actually grateful he is, because I have no words left.
What if it was all of the above?
No one, especially me, could ever be that lucky.
CHAPTER 15
Brent
The bruise hurts. My chest hurts. But cows don’t stop for anyone.
I do about a half day with them before I come back. The morning is still haunting me, especially the… domestic nature of it all.
The rollercoaster of having that moment, then having it all go to hell with Tate’s comment, is haunting me too.
Riding up to the house, I scour the driveway for Piper’s truck, but all I see is Tate’s ancient Mustang. Great. He must have fucked it up again.
Fully prepared to give Tate a lecture when I walk in the door, I freeze when I hear the sound of feminine laughter coming from the kitchen. Cautiously, I take my boots off and creep in.
The way my whole body sags with relief when I see Piper sitting in our goddamn kitchen is… Well. I can’t believe that she’s here.
Tate catches my eye, looking at me from the kitchen. “Welcome back, Brent.”
“Piper,” I mumble.