She shoves my chest, pushing me back. "You can't say stuff like that. I want to work and don't need you to take care of me."
"But what if I want to?"
"I know you're used to gettin' what you want and your family has tons of money, but I take pride in payin' my own way. Plus, I like my job."
"But it's not what you want to do long term."
"Correct, but until I figure out what I wanna do, I'm not quittin'."
"Okay, fine. But come Wednesday, you're mine through Saturday."
"What about your anger class and volunteerin'?"
"I'll go to my class on Thursday. It's only thirty minutes away from where we'll be. And I'll let Miss Tierney know I’ll miss Saturday but will make it up during the holiday break."
The retreat closes Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day, so Landen can take his job back at the stud farm since there won’t be any trail rides for him to guide. Waylon can handle barn duties and I’ll help wherever I’m needed when I’m not at the shelter.
She looks at me skeptically. "Okay...I'll figure out my schedule. But—" The smirk on her face grows as she sucks in her lower lip and bites it. "You better bring condoms this time."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Delilah
"Oh my God, finally!" Mattie screams when I walk into our apartment.
After dinner with the Hollises and Wilder convincing me to go with him next week, I drove home to tell Mattie the news.
I drop my suitcases when she hurls herself toward me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Jesus." I chuckle, grabbing onto her so we don't fall. "You act like I was gone for a month."
"You left me with Harper and Amanda at work..." She deadpans. "They couldn't find a clue even if they put their two brain cells together. I swear, if they weren't Lacey's nieces, they would've been fired by now."
I wince, feeling even more awful for what I'm about to tell her. "I'm sorry."
"I didn't hear from you very much. Did you have fun at least?"
She grabs one of my bags, and I take the other, bringing it to my bedroom. My heart hammers in my chest at what I need to tell her, but the sooner I spit it out, the better.
"Yeah, it was a good time. Lots of drinkin', which I haven't done in ages. Ellie kicked ass, so that was fun to watch."
"You and Wilder still goingslow?" She raises her hands into air quotes. "Or did you finally jump on him like a bronc rider?"
I snort, tossing my suitcase on my bed and opening it. She reaches for the lavender lingerie set that's wrinkled into a ball.
"I knew it!" She holds it like an active bomb before tossing it into my laundry basket. "So...how was it?"
"We didn't have sex," I confirm, and then decide to just spill it. "But we did get married."
Her head falls back as laughter erupts from her throat. "Good one. So how big is his dick?" She holds her palms up, spreading them apart wider as if she’s waiting for me to confirm.
"Mattie!" I chastise, then hold out my left hand to reveal my ring. "I'm being serious."
Her jaw drops and she freezes in place as her eyes narrow in on the rock.
"We were really drunk…like had seven shots too many drunk," I add. "I woke up to this on my finger, completely blackin' out on what we'd done the night before."
"What in the livin' fuck?" She yanks my hand, putting it two inches from her eyes. "This islegal?"
