“It’s nothing.I mean, I don’t think it’s anything.”
“Tell me all the things.I need this, Kinz.Distract me.”
She smiles.“Cody Wagner.”
I nod approvingly.“He’s a DILF for sure,” I tell her.
“Right?”She laughs.“It’s nothing.Just the last couple of months, when I’ve visited the feed mill to get supplies for the office, he’s been… different.Chattier.”
“He’s been divorced for what?Five years, now?”
“That sounds about right.They were divorced by the time Carter was born.”
“And he’s five.I know because Cody brought him to go horseback riding on the estate.That’s what Carter wanted to do for his birthday.”
“So, a little over five years.”Kinzie nods.“You like him.”It’s not a question.I can tell by the gleam in her eye.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s older.”
“He’s Chandler’s age.So, forty.That’s only an eight-year age gap.”
“It feels like less of one at this age than it did when we were in high school.”She chuckles.
“Truth.So, are you going to ask him out?”
“What?No.Of course, I’m not going to ask him out.He’s just nice and easy on the eyes.”
“If my sisters were here, at least Baylor and Courtlynn, they’d tell you that your lady bits are way past due for servicing,” I snicker when I think about my messages with my sisters when we first got here.
“I think I’ll go with Leighton.”
“Oh, she’s the quiet one, but don’t let her fool you.She’s the voice of reason, so if you want to be serviced, you’d also have Leighton’s blessing.Mine, too.Not that you need it.”
“How did this get turned around on me?”she asks, grabbing the couch pillow and gripping it to her chest.
“I’d rather talk about you.Copeland and I, we’re old news.I have to find a way to let him go.Maybe his being here will help with that.”
“Maybe.Or maybe it will bring the two of you back together.”
My heart flutters at the thought.“How could I ever trust him again, Kinz?He just left me.If we were to give this another shot—hypothetically speaking, which I know is not in the cards for us—but if we did, then what happens if we have kids and he leaves again?It wouldn’t be just my heart he was breaking.”
“Copeland’s not—” she starts, and my hard stare cuts her off.She clears her throat.“There has to be more to it, Ellison.I’ve said that from the very beginning.I was there, Ellie.I saw the way his eyes lit up when you walked into a room.I watched him ignore every other girl in our school but you.He loved you.You can’t fake that.”
“Yeah, well, I guess even that wasn’t enough because he still left me.He left my heart shattered in a million tiny pieces, and even after seventeen years, those pieces are still scattered on the ground.”
“And tonight?”
I shrug, because I don’t have an answer for her.He was mad—that was obvious.But he had no right to be.“Old habits die hard, I guess,” I finally say.
“Looked pretty intense to me, and the way he tossed you over his shoulder.Damn,” she says, fanning her face.“And I’m just going to toss this out there, but the Marines were good to your man.Time has not aged him.Did you see those arms?”
“I didn’t notice,” I deadpan, and she rolls her eyes dramatically.
“Right.”She nods.“I’ve got some oceanfront property just down the street.I’ll sell you.”She snickers.
“Fine.I might have noticed.”
“Kind of hard not to when he manhandles you and carries your ass out of the bar.”
