Page 84 of Always Mine

“Cooper,” I whisper, at a complete loss for words. He’s so selfless, so understanding. The best person I’ve ever met in my life. I swear the person who lands him better count their lucky stars and hold on tight. He’s a keeper, he’s just not meant to be mine. “I love you, you know?” I say through a watery smile.

“I know.” He leans in, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. “Just not like you love him, and that’s not anyone’s fault,” he mutters, swiping away one of fallen tears. Why is he so damn perfect? “Now, let’s stop with all this, okay? I came over to hang out with you because I missed you. Plus, you have the good channels and I haven’t seen the newExorcistmovie.” He rubs his hands together in excitement, making me laugh.

“Fine,” I mutter, getting up from the couch and throwing the remote at him. “I’m going to get the snacks. Don’t start it without me.”

“Make sure you get popcorn, chips, and pretzels. I need them all!” he calls when I walk away.

I smile, shaking my head as I go. That went way better than I could have hoped for, and I’ve never been more grateful.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Paxton

The sun is beginning to set and I inhale deeply, trying to let go of any nerves that have settled over me.

We’re having a tailgate picnic at the back of my parents' property, thankfully it’s not as cold today as it has been.

The last time we did this, it ended badly and I really want to replace that memory with a better one. I’m just hoping when I tell Wyatt the bad news about me having to leave early he won’t hate me.

“You okay?” Wyatt asks, opening up the cooler and pulling out a soda.

Plastering on a smile, I nod, holding out my hand for him to pass me a drink too. “Can I have one of those?”

“You can…” he teases, taking one out for me, but not handing it over. “But it’ll cost ya.” I don't have a chance to respond before he’s smacking a kiss to my lips. “Payment accepted.”

“I feel cheated. I wasn’t prepared at all.” I pout, taking the drink from his outstretched hand.

“You can always have more,” he tosses me a wink before sitting on the opposite side as me. “If you’re good.”

I move fast, putting my soda down beside his on the cooler holder and advancing on him in the small confides of the truck bed. I brace my hands on his shoulders to stare into his wide eyes. “But what if I want to be bad?”

He snorts, wagging his finger at me. “Then you'll get a spanking.”

“As if that’s a threat? Please spank me, baby. I'd be okay with that.”

He rolls his eyes, reaching up and pushing my face away. “You're too much sometimes, you know that?”

I groan, trying to nip at his palm. “Yeah, that's nothing new.”

He drops his hand, rolling his eyes at me. “So, I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I feel like we should cut to the chase. You wanna talk about what's been bothering younowor should we wait?”

His question throws me, and my whole body stiffens as I try to come up with what to say. Of course, he noticed. This is Wyatt we’re talking about. I figure that he knows me better than I know myself at this point.

“How did you know?” I ask in wonder, not even trying to hide the fact that something is on my mind. There's no point when he reads me so easily.

He holds a hand up, ticking off a finger when he speaks. “One, I’ve known you my whole life, and two, you are really easy to read.”

I hate that. Sometimes it’d be nice to keep my secrets locked away for a while. “It’s kind of creepy that you do that.”

He sighs, pulling the handle of the tailgate and dropping it down. He slides forward, dangling his legs off the edge. “Paxton… What’s going on?”

His voice has a hint of sadness and it’s like being punched in the gut. I don’t want to make him feel upset about anything involving us. Not anymore. Not when it’s taken so long to get us here—together and in love—the way it was always meant to be.

I reach over, lacing our glove covered fingers together. “I planned on talking to you about it. I was just waiting for us to get a little further into our date.”

“I don’t think I can wait,” he whispers, hand tightening on mine. “Not to bring up the past, but this place doesn't hold the best memories for me.”

I hate that he feels that way. I can remember several amazing memories with this guy in this very spot, but I’ve tainted them all with my carelessness. “I know, I’m sorry.”

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