Page 28 of Chasing Forever
“Five.”
“Three!”
“Four. Final offer. You plan two. I plan two. Fifty-fifty.”
She glares at me as though she’s trying to set me on fire with the purity of her rage. “I don’t know what you’re trying to prove. This wasn’t fate or kismet. Jack Daniels is the one to blame.”
“Jose Cuervo, to be specific.” It’s only a guess, but I remember drinking a lot of tequila shots before I remember nothing.
Mack drops a slobbery ball between our feet, but neither of us breaks eye contact. I can see it—the flicker of doubt, the tiny what if she’s trying so hard to crush. I think she’s hoping I’m going to back down. Maybe because I usually do when she really wants something, but not this time. This time, I’m taking what I want because it’s the only way I’m going to show her the man I can be for her. That I’m more than just the Sheriff of Willowbrook. More than Holden’s younger brother. More than her cousin’s best friend. More than the jokester. I’m the man for her.
“Fine.”
Relief floods my veins. “You agree?”
“Reluctantly.”
“But you do?”
“I plan the first date.”
I nod. “Deal.”
She blinks, thrown for half a second, before recovering. “Okay then. Four dates, and then you’re signing those papers.”
“I’ll sign… if you still don’t want me.”
“I won’t.”
I shrug, cocky. “We’ll see.”
She huffs, spinning away, marching back to the doughnut box. She yanks out the Mr. and Mrs. doughnut and bites into it as if she can dismantle our marriage with the same ease. “I’ll be in touch, Sheriff,” she says around a mouthful of doughnut, mock saluting me. “See you, Mack.”
“Say goodbye to Mommy.”
She flips me off with her finger raised high in the air. “You’re going to regret this, Brooks!”
I watch her leave, shaking my head. She’s all fire, that one, and I love every little bit of her flame.
I’m pissed I can’t remember the night we were together and what happened between us. Did I already have her? But I remind myself I’ll have her again. And the next time, we’ll both be sober and clear-minded, and it will be so much better.
Relief washes over me that it’s over. I’ve got my shot. Finally. Now all I have to do is make her fall for me the same way I fell for her so long ago.
Chapter Thirteen
Lottie
I barely remember the drive back home because I’m so in my head about what just went down.
I’m furious. How can he do this to me? Why won’t he just sign the damn annulment papers and be done with it?
Once I’m back on Plain Daisy Ranch, I park at the house and head to the she-shed where I work on my pottery. I grab a chunk of clay, hurl it onto my potter’s wheel, and sit on the stool, my fingers already centering the cold, damp mass as though I can work my anger out of my body if I just press hard enough.
He’s so full of himself, thinking that four dates are going to make a difference.
I get up off my stool, my rhythm completely shot because of him and this dumb idea. I’m too hot under my sweatshirt, so I strip it off and crank up Florence + the Machine, letting the pounding beat drown out my chaotic mind, and I sit back down.
I let go of all of the thoughts ping-ponging in my head—the future I no longer believe in, all the pain that went down over a decade ago, the baggage I carry around with me every damn day. All the expectations people have for my future that can never be fulfilled.
