Page 27 of Trying Not to Need You

“Sit here,” he says, pulling a stool out from the island. I hop up. He kisses my temple and slowly backs away, his grin still in place. “One ice cream sundae, coming right up.”

Eight

Macklin

I must have done something really fucking good in another life to have things working out for me the way that they are. She’s staying. Here. With me. I don’t have to worry about her getting home safely, and this night doesn’t have to end.

Not yet.

I keep glancing over at her as I make our sundaes. She’s so damn beautiful it almost hurts, and she’s here. In my kitchen. I know that we have a long road ahead of us. I know that my confession has taken her by surprise, but she’s not running, so for tonight, that’s a win in my book.

“Extra whipped cream,” she says as I grab the can to add some to each bowl.

I grin at her. “Anything you want, babe,” I say, giving her bowl extra, before topping it with the chopped peanuts. I slide the bowl across the island to her. “One chocolate sundae with extra whipped cream,” I announce, which earns me a grin.

“This is my favorite,” she says, dipping her spoon into the bowl and scooping up a large bite.

“I know.” I wink as I take the stool next to hers, then take my first bite.

“All these years…” She shakes her head. “How did I not know?”

I shrug, taking a bite, trying to find the right words to explain it to her. “The best answer I have is that I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t know if you would give me a chance, and I didn’t want to disturb your life. College, then New York.”

“Yeah, but you said you were going to come to New York.”

I nod. “I’d decided that it was time to take my shot. I thought about you every day. Lived off the snippets of conversation I got about you from your sisters or the guys, who also got the information from your sisters.” I chuckle. “It wasn’t our time,” I say with a shrug.

“And now it is?” she asks, before taking another huge bite of her sundae.

I nod. “I hope so, Baylor. Regardless, I’ll know that I tried.”

“So, what? You want to date?”

“Sure, to start.”

“To start?”

I place my spoon in my bowl and turn to look at her. “I don’t want you just for now, Baylor. I want you for always.”

“That’s ridiculous, Macklin.” She says the words because they’re what she thinks she should say. She feels this. I know she does. I can see it in her eyes.

“Maybe, but maybe it’s the grandest love story of all time.”

She shakes her head, but there is a tiny tilt of her lips telling me that she’s fighting a grin. “Shit’s getting deep in here. You might want to roll up those pant legs,” she teases.

“That’s fine. Laugh it up. I’ll remind you of this conversation when we’re old and gray and watching our grandkids play in the backyard.” I smirk when her eyes widen.

We both dive back into our sweet treat, and the silence between us is comfortable. It’s Baylor who breaks the quiet. “I trusted him. I trusted the plans we made, and the future that we were working toward, and he blew that trust to pieces.” Her voice is soft, almost as if she’s telling me a secret she’s not supposed to tell.

“I know he did, and I’m sorry. I hate what he did to you, but Bay, I wouldn’t be sitting next to you if he hadn’t. At least not tonight, and even though I hate the pain he caused you, I’m really fucking glad that you’re here next to me.”

“I get it.” She nods, taking her final bite, and dropping her spoon into her empty bowl. “I wish the stars had aligned for us before Todd. Before I wasted so many years on a man who didn’t love me, but the idea of me. He needed a woman on his arm. It might not have started out that way, but as years passed, as he fell more into his career and gained distance from our relationship, that’s how I felt.”

“I wish that more than anything,” I tell her. “But I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason. Each time something came up and took you away, I told myself it was for a reason, and now, here you are. Living back in our sleepy small town, and we’re both single.” Reaching over, I place my hand on her thigh, giving it a soft squeeze. “This is our time.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready. I don’t know that I’ll ever trust again. He hurt me, but he didn’t break my heart, not really. We’d been drifting apart for far longer than I’d like to admit, and we were just going through the motions, but changing the outcome of our future—a future we planned together, without discussing it with me—that cuts deep.”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say. That Todd’s a fucking moron? Yeah, we both already know that, but his fuck-up brought my girl home, so I feel like I can’t really say much other than I’m sorry he hurt her. Because no matter what, I never want that for her, even if it means I never get my shot.