Page 67 of Every Single Wildflower
“I talked to dad.”
“Yeah? How’d it go?” He asks.
I roll my lips. “Good. He apologized, and we worked it out.”
He reaches out to tug on one of my curls. “I’m happy for you. I know it’s been wearing on you.”
I reach for my lips gloss. “Yeah. I feel so much lighter already.”
“Can I offer some advice?” He tips up my chin.
“Speak, oh wise one,” I tease.
“I know it’s hard to think of your dad as anything but this perfect man who does no wrong. As kids we idolize them. We think they don’t make mistakes or make bad choices. But the best thing you can do is not let your love be conditioned by who he is to other people. To your mom. To your brothers.” He places a kiss on my temple. “You love him for who he is to you.”
I close my eyes. “Thank you.”
He cups my jaw, then presses a kiss to my lips. “Anytime."
Warmth spreads at his beautiful words, but my nerves swarm as I prepare to say mine. “I think we should tell your family.”
He pauses his exit from the bathroom.
“I mean, your sister. Brady. I want us to…...” I close my eyes. “I don’t want to hide my feelings for you anymore. I don’t want to have to jump away from you if someone walks into a room.”
His eyes blink, his face emotionless.
“Or not,” I whisper. “If you don’t want this to be exclusive, we don’t have…”
“Goldie,” he says, casually crowding my space, causing my ass to press into the counter behind me. “This is exclusive.”
He towers over me, his hazel eyes a wonderful storm. “I want this. You and me.”
I sigh in relief, and my forehead drops to his chest. “Thank God.”
He chuckles. “I thought I made myself clear when I confessed my undying love.”
I swat at his hip. “Shut up. A girl just needs a little confirmation before she potentially destroys a family.”
He grips my face in his hands. “This is not on you, Ivy. This is two people who love each other. And if Brady loves us both, he’ll understand.”
I sure hope he’s right.
Chapter fifty
Ivy
The bar is calm tonight. It’s the middle of the week, so after we ate dinner, we conjured around a table at the back and watched one of our hometown bands take the stage. Dakota is adorned in a white cowboy hat, complete with a tiara and a leopard sash that saysbirthday bitch.Cooper has drug her across the dance floor for half of the night, while the other half she’s spent dancing with random old timers and a few teenage boys who are living their cowgirl dream.
Ryder of course didn’t attend, and I was surprised Laiken showed after yesterday’s event with Rhodes, but she looked like she could use a beer and some two stepping. I haven’t dancedwith Maddox yet, and I wonder if that’s even more noticeable than if we danced every song. I don’t know how to navigate this with him. In the open. I know we agreed to tell his family, but tonight it’s not happening. Tonight, we are still hidden behind closed doors. Still a secret.Will I ever escape those?Downing the last of my drink, I hop down from the stool.
“Be back boys," I tell Hoss and Waylon.
They salute me with their drinks as I weave through a few empty tables until I’m ducking into the bathroom. I handle business quickly, before checking myself in the mirror then head back out to the table. I get two steps down the hall when Maddox rounds the corner. He glances over his shoulder, I’m assuming to confirm the coast is clear, before he reaches for my face, gripping my jaw in his overpowering hands.
“I’ve been wanting to kiss you all fucking night,” he admits as he slams his lips on mine.
I whimper when his tongue lashes out to taste me, the simple act causing my nipples to tingle in anticipation. He walks me back until we reach a door to what I’m assuming is some sort of supply closet. His hand drops behind me, twisting the knob before he nudges it open with the toe of his boot.
