Page 166 of Forever To Me

I set down my drink, trying to peek out the window with no one noticing. “He didn’t stay?” I ask, my voice smaller than I want it to be.

Mack shrugs. “He didn’t think you’d want him to.”

My stomach twists.

Maggie exhales softly.

“But,” Mack continues, swallowing the last of her stolen fries, “he did ask if you’d come over tomorrow.”

I blink. “What?”

Mack shrugs again, but I see a little smirk forming. “He said to meet him in the barn. Noon.”

The room goes quiet. Everyone watches me. Waiting.

My heartbeat stutters. I exhale, trying to steady myself. Because I don’t know what tomorrow is gonna bring. But I know one thing.

I’ll be there.

Chapter 37

Walker

I’ve been pacing this damn barn for the past thirty minutes, kicking up dust and wrestling with my own damn thoughts.

I told Mack to ask Violet to meet me here. At noon.

It’s noon. She's not here. Maybe she's not coming.

I honestly couldn’t blame her. I was a jerk, and I should have handled this all better.

My chest feels tight, my heart racing in that restless way it does when I know the words that I say could change everything. God, her performance was amazing. I watched her perform from a distance, not wanting to interfere. I didn’t feel like I had that right. I’ve really messed things up with how I handled things. But then when she was so upset at the end, I could barely handle it. I felt like I was going to lose it.

I don’t know why I’m so nervous. Maybe because I know how bad I screwed up. Maybe because I’ve spent the past few days trying to figure out how to fix it, and nothing I come up with feels big enough. Because how the hell do you make up for breaking the trust of the woman you love? For making her feel like she wasn’t worth believing in?

I lean against the stall,exhaling hard, hands shoved into my pockets. The horses shift around me, sensing my tension. Or maybe they’re just judging me.

And then I hear a vehicle pull up and a car door shut.

I look up, and there she is.

My Red.

She stops just inside the barn doors, the sunlight casting a golden glow around her like something straight out of a dream.

But she doesn’t look like a dream. She looks wrecked. Like she’s been carrying something heavy for too damn long. Guilt pulses through me because I know I put that weight there.

I swallow hard, forcing myself to stay still, even though every damn cell in my body screams at me to go to her. But I don’t feel like I’ve earned that right, yet.

I’ve missed her so bad it feels like my heart is heavy. I’ve spent days pretending like I needed space like I needed time to process, but the truth is, I just needed her. And now she’s standing right in front of me, and I don’t even know if I get to have her anymore.

She crosses her arms. “Hey, Walker.”

Her voice is too careful, too steady, and I hate that. I also hate that she didn't call me Asher. She's the only person that I don't mind calling me by my name. To everyone else, I'm just Walker. And now with her, I'm back to Walker, and that feels like we're not close anymore.

I hate that I did that to us. I swallow, nervously. “Hey, Red.”

Silence stretches between us. Heavy and loaded.

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