“Listen, I shouldn’t have let it go this long. I should have moved on and reached out, because I’d be lying if I said I haven’t missed you every day.” She held her hands up to stop me when I started to speak. “But I needed that time, Axel. And at the moment, my life is a bit of a shitshow. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’d like to fix our friendship while I’m home. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and I miss that. I miss you.”
Her voice trembled the slightest bit, and my chest squeezed in response.
I wasn’t going to push her for answers. Not tonight.
And she’d made it clear that she regretted what we’d done.
I’d never even considered that was the reason she’d left.
I’d clearly misread everything.
Her biggest regret was a night that I couldn’t get out of my mind, even two years later.
“I missed you, too,” I said. Her hand grazed along the back of mine as we sat side by side beneath the tree.
“So, we’re friends again?” she asked.
“Yeah, Horse Girl. We’re friends again.”
“Just like that?”
“In a heartbeat.”
It was obvious that we were both still hesitant with one another, but this was a good start. It was progress.
And I’d take it.
eight
. . .
Wren
I was relievedthat Axel and I had agreed to repair our friendship. We still had some apprehension, probably on both of our parts, but it was nice to let go of all that anger.
I didn’t miss the way he’d winced when I said I regretted that night we’d spent together.
The night we’d both poured our hearts out to one another.
Made promises that we shouldn’t have made.
It changed everything.
It ruined everything.
Maybe I’d have handled the betrayal differently if I’d been able to confront him, but hearing that he’d taken another woman home the night after being with me—it was a gut punch.
And I’d never reacted well to gut punches.
Fight or flight was a real thing, and when I was hurt, I always took flight.
“Hey,” he said as he walked over to where I was brushing Wrax in the stall. Axel had this lazy smile on his face that always did strange things to me.
I pushed that thought away before stepping out of the stall and pulling the door closed. I’d taken Wrax out for another long ride this morning, as he was still acclimating to his new home.
For the second time in just a few weeks.
But Rosewood River was ultimately home to both me and Wrax. It was where it had all started.
