Page 32 of Trying Not to Need You

“I know he is.”

“Only you can answer what you want,” Leighton tells me. “I think, after everything that went down with Todd, you owe it to yourself to just breathe and not rush into anything.”

“Life’s too short. I say seize the day, or the penis, whatever.” Courtlynn smirks as she shrugs.

Before I can answer, there’s a knock at the door. Looking up, I freeze when I see Macklin standing there. He’s in a pair of faded jeans, cowboy boots, a thick fleece-lined flannel, and a cowboy hat resting on top of his head. And from the smile on his face, he heard our conversation.

“Hey, Mac,” Courtlynn greets him.

“Court.” He nods at my little sister, but his eyes never leave mine. “Baylor,” he purrs. Yes, it sounds like he purrs my damn name in that deep, sexy voice of his.

“Macklin.”

He grins. “I had to stop at the gas station and fill my truck up. I brought you a treat.” He tosses me a red wrapper, and I already know it’s a KitKat bar. “Your favorite, right?”

I nod, because I’ve apparently lost the ability to speak. His grin never wavers, but his eyes soften.

“You’ve been keeping tabs, I hear,” Courtlynn blurts, and Macklin chuckles.

“Only when it comes to my girl.” He winks at me, and my body heats from his attention.

“What are your intentions with our sister?” Courtlynn crosses her arms over her chest, as if she’s being a hard ass, but it’s easy to hear the humor in her tone.

“Didn’t she tell you?” Macklin counters, his green eyes still locked on mine. He heard us. He knows that I did.

“I want your version,” Courtlynn counters.

“Fair enough.” He grins. “Courtlynn, Ellison, Leighton,” he addresses each of them, “my intentions are simple.” He pauses, and the heated stare he gives me fills the room. “I want to make her fall in love with me.”

“That’s a pretty big confession,” Ellison speaks up.

Finally, he turns his gaze from me to my oldest sister. Macklin and Ellison have been friends for a long time, since high school, when she started dating Copeland, maybe even longer than that. Macklin, Bowen, and Dixon were there for Ellison in a way my sisters and I couldn’t be when Copeland left town.

“Ellie, I think you know me well enough to know I don’t say things I don’t mean.” He holds her stare as his words settle between them.

“She’s my little sister.” There’s a warning in her statement. A line drawn. A subtle reminder to a man who has been one of her closest friends for a long time.

Macklin nods, and the air seems to shift. “I know who she is. I’m just hoping that one day, I’ll also get to call her mine.” The statement is delivered in a calm, soothing voice.

“Wow,” Leighton breathes, as if she’s just witnessed something spectacular.

“All right, then.” Courtlynn claps her hands together, the sound slicing through the tension. “Looks like we might be planning another wedding.”

A wedding. The words slam into my head harder than they should. Todd and I talked about marriage a lot in the beginning, but the last couple of years, his excuses ranged from, it’s not the right time, or after I make partner. I thought he would be the one I’d walk down the aisle to.

“No one said anything about a wedding,” I cut in. My voice comes out sharper than intended, as if I’m trying to regain control of the conversation. It might also be a little bit about Todd, and the memory of what I thought my future might look like, and now, I’m just uncertain.

About everything.

Macklin’s head whips around so that he’s looking into my eyes. Suddenly, it’s as if we’re the only two people in the room. “Let’s hope so, Court,” he says, but he’s not looking at her. He’s looking at me.

Something is happening in my chest. Something fast, chaotic, and impossible to ignore. My heart is pounding so hard, I’m sure they can all hear it. My palms are damp, fingers curling against the cold metal of the filing cabinet I’m leaning against, just to stay upright. Because let’s be honest. My knees are not steady. Not even close.

This isn’t a joke to him. He means every word he’s saying. There’s a clear intent in his tone, just like there was last night. I didn’t imagine it all.

Macklin McBride wants me to be his.

The thought settles inside me, rooting somewhere deep where it shouldn’t belong. It’s too soon, and he doesn’t know the adult me, not as well as he should for those kinds of declarations. He’ll change his mind, just like Todd did.