Grayson nodded, looking pleased.
“Are you going to take your own advice?” Dalton asked him.
Grayson suddenly looked alarmed, and Dalton couldn’t help bursting out laughing.
A moment later, Grayson was laughing too. Then he took his shot and sank one ball after another until he had run the whole table and beaten Dalton soundly.
“Holy cow, man,” Dalton said, impressed.
Grayson thumped him on the back and turned to face the others.
“Who’s going to challenge the winner?”he yelled as he swaggered back like a conquering hero.
Everyone laughed and Dalton felt another rope of tension in his chest untangle as he thought about the other man’s words.
You should tell Ella what you want…
Could it really be that simple?
17
DALTON
Afew days later, Dalton stood by the old red barn and watched Ella watching the snow swirl down over the farm.
Last night, she had agreed to go to the diner in town with him for dinner. And maybe it was wishful thinking, but instead of keeping him firmly in the friend zone, he thought he’d caught her gazing at him dreamily once or twice over their BLTs and chocolate milkshakes.
The Hometown Holiday Celebration changed things for both of us,he thought to himself.We both realized that this is special.
But realizing something silently was worlds away from making it official. And he had meant what he said when he talked to Grayson the other night.
He didn’t want to talk to her in front of a diner full of people, or even in the house with her parents, so he’d asked her to walk around the farm with him tonight after dinner, figuring it would be better to speak his piece with a little open space around them.
Ella turned back to him now, her eyes shining.
“I feel like a little kid again,” she admitted softly. “I haven’t just walked outside on a snowy evening in forever. It’s so beautiful.”
Not as beautiful as you are,he wanted to say. But he would have to go deeper than that if he wanted her attention.
He cleared his throat and said a silent prayer that he might miraculously overcome his awkwardness.
“I love spending time with you,” he told her, his voice deeper than usual, but steady. “These last few weeks have been really special for me.”
Her dark eyes stayed locked on his, and there was worry in them mixed with something brighter that he clung to.
“I’ve had fun too,” she told him.
Her words hung in the air as the snowflakes drifted down around them. He waited for her to say something more, something deeper.
But as the seconds passed, it seemed that she had nothing more to say.
Every instinct told Dalton to curl in on himself and protect his heart. He’d been hurt so many times by so many people that he couldn’t even remember them all.
But Ella was worth more than that. Ella was worth fighting for.
“I’ve never been serious about a woman,” he admitted to her. “But what’s between us is different. You and Dove… you’re everything to me. And I’m ready to do whatever I have to do to make you happy and be the man you need.”
He wanted to keep talking, to try to find the words to tell her what was in his heart, but he forced himself to stop and listen.
