Right?
Wynter had been painfully absent over the last six years. And Nora had always been a little quiet when it came to whether she got visits. Marcus never got the feeling that Nora hated him. It was quite the opposite, in fact. She liked talking about Wynterand all her accomplishments, but never about her coming to visit.
A hole had been carved in Marcus’s chest at Christmastime six years ago. And the hope that he’d allowed himself to hang onto when Wynter had allowed him to pull her close at her grandfather’s funeral had been almost painful.
But then she’d left again. And that had been the end of it.
Marcus had always been the happy one. The guy people could count on to have his life together. He was good at doing whatever his brother wanted him to do. Even after they’d hired people to work at the ranch. Marcus had never really felt like an afterthought, but he’d never felt like he was the first choice either. Anything he’d wanted, he had to take. It was fine. He was confident enough in himself not to worry about losing anything.
Until Wynter had gone and upended his whole view on life.
Wynter had been the first to abandon him. She’d been the first to make him second guess himself. Their friendship had been perfect.
The kiss.
Marcus gripped the hair at his scalp with both hands as he stopped dead in his tracks. He’d never told a soul about that kiss because he knew what everyone would say.
You never kiss your best friend.
It ruins everything.
You scared her off.
Doesn’t matter if it didn’t mean anything; you still messed up.
He had. So much.
And the worst part was that the kiss had woken something up inside him. He’d realized that Wynter wasn’t just the cute girl who moved to Copper Creek the same year he had. She wasn’t just the nerdy kid who loved to talk about bugs and could identify them in seconds of seeing them.
Wynter was so much more.
And he hadn’t even gotten a chance to tell her that before she up and made changes to her future. She opted to stay on campus during her off semesters. She rarely came home, and when she did, he’d only heard about it after the fact. She stopped responding to his texts and emails. And she stopped answering his calls.
He’d lost his best friend, and all because he thought their friendship was strong enough to withstand a silly kiss.
Another groan escaped his lips as the front door opened and Isabelle entered with Jason on her heels, both with rosy cheeks and carrying red shopping bags. She looked happier than she’d been in ages. More well-rested, too. Something had gone down in her life, and she’d been struggling to keep it under wraps, but he’d known better.
Marcus nodded sharply at Jason. The man was a good guy and someone Isabelle had needed in her life. Marcus was happy for them. Truly.
But right now, he wanted nothing more than to kick them out of the house so he could wallow in the knowledge that a quick drive away was the girl of his dreams, and he didn’t know whether he should go over to her house or pretend that they hadn’t bumped into each other at all.
“You look…” Isabelle drawled. “A little strung out.”
Marcus glowered at her.
“Is this about Wynter?” she asked as she started taking off her coat.
He stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “You knew she was here?”
His sister laughed. “Not until a few minutes ago. I thought I saw her in town, so we stopped by her place to say hi.”
Marcus’s stomach dropped. “Youwhat?”
“Relax, I didn’t actuallyseeher. And even if I did, your secret is safe with me.”
He frowned. “What secret?”
His sister rolled her eyes and ignored the question. “Anyway, talked to Nora. Turns out that Wynter is in town for a bit because Nora fell.”
