“Not the whole time. That’s not how I felt this morning. Roar, I want a second chance with you.”
She stares at me, stunned. “What?”
“The last two days have changed everything. I think you feel it, too. I know we have a lot to talk about still, but I want to put the work in. I want to find a way back to being happy together.”
She looks at the dildo in her hand, then back at me. “What about the ninety-minute rule?”
“Yeah, we still seem to fight every hour and a half. But we’re pushing through it, aren’t we? I can handle you being mad at me. Anything is better than the freeze out.”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because….” She cuts off a sob and shoves the stupid purple sex toy at me. “I deserve more than tolerance. I missedyouwhen I texted you in the summer, you dummy. Not your dick. But you hate my job so much, you couldn’t even see that. You just?—”
“I don’t hate your job.”
“Yes, you do.” She pushes out of the chair, her small body slipping past me.
Slipping away, again.
I catch her by the wrist and tug her back, sprawling her across my lap. “Don’t run away.”
She shoves at my chest.
I catch her wrists and hold her palms to my body. “Don’t. Run. Away.”
“I’m notrunning,” she protests, her eyes wild. “I’m justdone.”
There’s a footstep on the stairs, and I know we have an audience. I don’t know if it’s her mother, or her sisters, or tiny children, but we’re no longer alone.
Damn it all to hell.
“I know you’re done,” I say quietly, my heart breaking. “But I also know you’re miserable and it’s not because of me.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t hate your job, Roar.” Fuck.Fuck. I take a deep breath. “Youhate your job.”
Chapter 24
Rory
I scramble off Garrett’s lap, but before I can yell at him becausewhat the fuck do you mean, my mom appears at the top of the stairs.
My pulse is pounding and I can’t get it under control.
“Rory,” my mom says, and something in her voice cuts through the red haze.
I blink and refocus on her worried face.
Garrett stands, too.
“Jake called. Something’s wrong with Dani.”
The drive to the hospital is completely silent.
I don’t argue with Garrett that he should drive. He can’t exactly stay at the farm with my aunts and sisters, and I don’t have a vehicle, even if I did want to drive myself, which I don’t.
