“I understand.” I fiddle with the zipper on my coat. “So, Dylan wants to set you up, huh?”
Brayden lets out a breath. “Yes. And I don’t need his damn help, which I’ve made clear to him. But my cousin is—and this is something you’ll learn if you meet him—not easily deterred. No doubt that persistence helps him out when he’s being chased by three-hundred pound linemen.”
I laugh. “I’m sure it does.”
“But he’s driving me fucking nuts. He won’t let up, and he’s insistent he’s going to set me up with somebody if I don’t bring my own date.”
I swallow. “Well, I’m sure the wedding will be amazing. You’ll have fun no matter what.”
“I guess so. Dylan and Jasalie deserve an amazing wedding.” His hands drop into his pockets.
“That sounds great.” I clear my throat. “And I understand if you can’t make dance class next week. I know you’ll have a lot going on with family and friends in town.”
Brayden tips his head back and gazes overhead again like he did last night. My heart lurches, and I feel like it’s hanging in the balance as I wait for him to answer me.
“I don’t want to back out on you,” he finally says as he lowers his gaze to meet mine.
While we’re standing there in purgatory, I hear a car start up. I turn my head to see Sophia zipping out of the parking lot.
“Soph!” I wave my hands at her as she passes us. “I need a ride!”
She slows down and her window lowers a crack. “I have to run, Lei. Have Brayden take you home?”
“I have to make a quick stop,” he says, glancing at his watch. “It’s my parents’ anniversary, and I promised Luke I’d pick up the gift from all of us. The place will be closed by the time I bring you home and then go back for it. So if you don’t mind an errand…”
“Great!” Sophia throws a hand out her window, now fully lowered, and then she accelerates until she’s a cloud of dust.
“Okaa-ay.” I shake my head at my completely unsubtle best friend. “I guess I’m going with you.”
Chapter Twenty
Brayden picks up the enlarged and beautifully-framed photo of his family at the photo store in the main shopping plaza in Wilcox.
His phone rings as he’s setting the gift in the backseat.
“Yeah?” he says as he answers. “She’swhat? How the hell did she escape? There are coyotes all over the damn place at this hour…look, I can be there in about twenty minutes. I have to drop someone…I don’t think I can get there any faster. She’s on the other side of town from the highway…”
I twist around to catch his eye. “I can sit in the truck and wait for you while you go do what you need to do,” I offer. “It will save you fifteen minutes easy.”
I can read the conflict in Brayden’s eyes from here. He understandably doesn’t want to tote me along to his family ranch. Why would he? But at the same time, he obviously is needed immediately.
The desire to help out his family wins, and soon we’re driving down the windy road at Wild Ranch, right on the border of Mountainview but in the town of Wilcox.
“Come on inside,” he says when he pulls up into the driveway and I make no move to get out of the truck. “It’s so dark out here. You can hang with my parents while I help Luke find his damn dog. My twin brothers are out for the night or they’d be the ones running around in the dark.”
Meeting parents is normally something I’m fairly skilled at. Meeting Brayden Wild’s parents is not something I feel even remotely prepared for. And this mini skirt is never something I would have picked out for a parent meeting. I wonder if there’s a way to cover up my legs somehow. Doubtful.
But I feel like I owe Brayden this after everything he’s done for me. I take a deep breath, open the passenger door, and climb out.
Brayden grabs the framed photo and leads me down the path toward the gate that leads into the backyard. “They hardly ever use their front door,” he explains. “We always go in and out through the kitchen.”
He opens the screen door, which leads into a small porch area. Then he opens the wooden door beyond and ushers me in ahead of him.
And suddenly, I’m in the middle of the Wild kitchen. All I smell is chocolate chip cookies. It’s so warm and cozy that I take off my coat right away, without even thinking about it. Brayden’s behind me, and he takes the coat from me and lays it on the closest chair. Then he puts his coat over mine, and I turn to face him nervously.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
He places his hand on my lower back and whispers into my ear. “It will be fine.”
