Page 33 of Endlessly Yours
“I’m not. And I don’t mean fuck me. Just sleep with me. I could really use a hug. And I know that’s desperate, but I don’t care. Just hold me? For a bit?” I let out a breath. “Because I have a feeling you need one too.”
He stared at me then, and I had to wonder who exactly had just said all those words. Because they sure as hell didn’t sound like me.
Instead, he ran his thumb over my lips before letting out a breath.
“Okay. Okay.”
And without another word, he closed the door behind him, locking it. And then he followed me into the bedroom as we toed off our shoes, and not even bothering to take off my makeup or my clothes, I slid under the covers as he did the same. His jeans were warm against my legs, and I snuggled into him, needing that warmth.
I hated the fact that his arms felt like home, even though he was nothing of the sort.
But as he finally let out a breath, his heart beating softly against my ear, I sank into him, letting myself pretend.
Pretend that I knew what I was doing. Pretending that I wasn’t failing my family.
And pretending I could be someone that Brooks Wilder could want.
That Brooks Wilder could love.
And I fell asleep letting the facade wash over me, knowing that it would end with the next breath, and it would be something I would just have to get over.
Again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
BROOKS
I’d left before she’d woken up. Frankly, I shouldn’t have stayed at all. Yet the feeling of Rory in my arms continued to slide into my memory as if she’d never left. I’m not sure why I agreed to sleep next to her, but I hadn’t been able to say no. It was just as if it were a normal thing—to sleep next to the woman who wasn’t mine.
I didn’t know what we had between us, though I knew it had to be nothing. Because no good could come from a relationship.
I nearly tripped over my own feet at the thought of a relationship.
Because there was no way I’d be having a relationship with that woman.
In the two weeks since ladies’ night and the football game, I had done my best to avoid her.
Which was pretty hard to do, considering we were now neighbors.
I might be her landlord, there to help her with anything around the house, but she hadn’t asked for help yet, and from what Ava had mentioned in passing, she hadn’t needed it.
And it wasn’t as if I was going to allow Rory to pay rent. No, she didn’t get to pay rent when she was having to feed two more mouths. I might not have children, but I knew they came with a shit ton of needs. Between clothes, food, school, activities, and just life in general, kids were expensive. And I wasn’t sure what Rory made with her job. It wasn’t a nine-to-five job that I understood.
Not that my job was nine-to-five.
I pulled off my hat, running my hands through my hair as I folded the brim a bit. I had completely ruined my previous hat, the one that I had worn-in over the years. Now, I was trying to force a UT ball cap into some form of work attire that didn’t look as if it had just come off the shelf.
“What are you thinking about?” East asked, and I looked over at my cousin, who’d come up to my side when I hadn’t been paying attention.
East was the so-called handyman of The Wilder Bunch. He was so much more than that. Before I had come along, he had been the one who had done most of the construction and upkeep for the entire resort. The only thing he really didn’t take care of was the winery itself because we had an entire staff who were trained and brilliant at that.
I wasn’t sure how East had handled the resort, all of the cabins, the barn for events, and countless other outbuildings by himself or with his small team when he had finally begun to hire them.
Now we worked together when I wasn’t contracting on other businesses and homes around the area.
I liked East. Yes, he was an asshole, but sometimes I could be too.
I thought about how I had been treating Rory recently and realized that maybe it was more than just sometimes.
