Page 67 of I Want Crazy (Loco, Texas 3)

“If you want her, you need to suck it up and show her. Do not give up until there is no hope left.”

“Wow, Rand, that almost sounded romantic.”

“I know. I think I felt some bile rise up my throat on that one.”

Laughing, he stepped out and pulled her into a hug. “Thanks.”

“So, I’m still your favorite?” Rand teased, hugging him hard.

He thought about the feelings he’d held on to for Rand and was glad to have had his proposal turned down. If she’d accepted and they both had settled, he would have never known what real, lasts-forever, and completely-wrecks-you love was like.

The love he’d held on to for Rand paled in comparison to his feelings for Jessie. But because of Rand, he knew it was real.

Squeezing her hard, he said, “You’ll always be my favorite, Rand.”

* * *

“Jessie, package for you.”

Jessie got up from the table, leaving the want ads she’d been perusing, and took the box from her dad.

“It’s just the rest of my stuff from Loco,” she said, grabbing a knife to cut the tape.

“What all did you leave?” her dad asked distractedly as he thumbed through the mail.

“Just a sweater and…” Her voice trailed off as she opened the box and stared down at a stack of printed pages clipped together. A bright pink sticky note on the front read: “Please read it. Red.”

“Who is Red?” her father asked, peering over her shoulder.

Closing the lid, she said, “Just a friend.”

“Hmmm…what is it?”

“A book. A romance novel,” she said softly.

“Huh, since when do you read smut?”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “I don’t.”

Her father looked confused, and before he could ask any more questions, she said, “I’m going to go to my room, okay?”

She didn’t wait for his answer but took the box to her room and sat on the bed. With a deep breath, she pulled the book out and peeled off the note.

This book is dedicated to Jessie. Wherever you are, you have my heart.

She sniffled and turned the page, wishing he didn’t have the ability to turn her into a sobbing mess. She started reading the book again, noting where he had changed things. Before she knew it, she was halfway done and engrossed. When her father called her into dinner, she said she wasn’t hungry. On the last page, the hero carried the heroine into the house he’d built her and kissed her as the door closed.

She turned the page and read his l

ast message to her.

I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please, come home.

She didn’t realize how loud she was crying until her dad knocked on the door and hollered, “Jessie Jane, what is going on in there?”

She jumped up from the bed and ran to the door, laughing through her tears. “I need to go home.”

“What are you talking about? This is your home,” her father said roughly.

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