We reach the house at the edge of the property, and I help her off my bike before climbing off myself. But when she moves to walk to the door, I stop her, turning her to face me.
“Do you think that’s why I brought you here? For leverage?”
She shrugs. “I was going to try to talk to my dad to see if I could help.”
“Willa, I don’t want you involved under any circumstances. That’s not why I brought you with me.”
“Then why am I with you?” Her eyebrows scrunch.
I run my finger down the ridge of her nose, soothing her expression. “You’re here because I’ve spent twelve years without you, and I’m not adding another minute to that. Because you’re all that matters to me, even if I lose the ranch. You’re here because I need you.”
“What are you saying, Dean?” She gives me a pretty little smirk. “You want us to be together? Even after me and your brother—”
“We’re not talking about Kincaid. We’re not talking about the past—yours or mine. All we’re talking about is you and me now. And all I want is you.”
“All I want is you.” She tugs my cut, lifting onto her toes to kiss me.
The breeze tickles the back of my neck as Willa wraps her arms up over my shoulders. I lift her up until her ankles hook around my waist.
“That’s all you are, Willa.Mine.” I walk us over to the house, kicking the door open, which rustles up a cloud of dust, but it doesn’t matter because I’ve got her in my arms. “Twelve years wasted. I don’t care about the past or how ugly things get. It’s just you and me now, end of story.”
She smiles against my mouth. “I like the sound of that. Except—”
She cuts off when I drop onto the bed, caging her beneath me. “Except what?”
“If I’m yours, then you’re mine too.” Her nose scrunches. “No one else.”
“Princess, there is no one else. There is only you for me. From here until the end.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” If it were up to me, she’s all there ever would have been.
26
Willa
Dean grins, taking inthe dingy bar. “Some things never change.”
“The day something changes in Ransack is the day all of Lanceleaf Valley falls apart.” I scan the bar until my gaze snags on a familiar dark head of hair. “Harloe?”
She spins around from where she’s standing at the bar, and her blue eyes widen as her dark ponytail whips her in the face. “Willa! I was told you left town.”
“I did.”
Dean lets my hand go so I can hug my friend.
We were inseparable when I moved here in high school. Her family’s ranch is at the opposite end of town from mine, and her father, Tony, owns Ransack.
After we graduated, Harloe moved away for college, but she would visit me and her brothers any chance she got. Still, it’s been at least six months since I’ve seen her, and it feels good to hug my best friend again.
We pull apart, and she eyes Dean, who immediately wraps his arm around me and pulls me to his side.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, Dean Graham. About time you got the girl.” She grins.
Harloe was always Team Dean. She hated when I chose Kincaid, even after I explained why I did it. So I know her smile is genuine.
“You got that right.” He laughs.
