Page 155 of Stay Wild Darlin’

I looked up.

“It’s not fair. Using her as a pawn for money . . . I knew it was wrong the second I said it. I knew it before I ever came here. But when I go back—” She paused, like she hated what came next. “It won’t be good.”

Beau stepped forward. “You don’t have to go back. You can get help.”

Brooke shook her head, her voice breaking. “I need to go back. For my fix.”

Damn if that didn’t rip something straight out of me.

Because I’d known Brooke for forever. She wasn’t some girl who came and went, she was Brooke. My birthday buddy. The girl who used to bring cupcakes to school when we were kids and said we should always celebrate our day together. We’d grown up side by side. We were friends before we were anything else. Before we ever crossed that line.

Yeah, at one point, I did love her.

Not the kind of love that carves itself into your soul like my love for Poppy does. Not the kind that makes you see your whole future in someone’s laugh. But I cared. I tried. I wanted to believe maybe we could make it work, because she was familiar, and I didn’t know what real love looked like yet.

No matter how messy it got, no matter how far gone she was, some part of me remembered the girl who used to fall asleep in my truck while I drove her home from late bar shifts. The one who told me once that life was supposed to be simple.

This wasn’t simple. This was tragic.

I hated that this—this—was how it all ended between us. Not with a door slammed or a screaming match, but with a whisper. A paper. A baby she didn’t know how to love the way Cora deserved.

Harleigh was holding Cora against her chest. The baby was half asleep, her cheek pressed to Harleigh’s shoulder, one arm dangling lazily.

When she saw me, she blinked and reached for me.

I took her into my arms, holding her close, pressing my lips to her soft curls.

Brooke stood slowly, and for the first time all night, she didn’t look angry.

She looked hollow.

“Just once. Please.”

I nodded stiffly. “One hug. While I hold her.”

She stepped forward, reaching with shaking hands, and Cora—God, sweet, trusting Cora—let her. Let her biological mother press a palm against her back and whisper, “Hi, baby. I hope you grow up knowing how good you have it. I hope you stay this loved forever.”

But she didn’t let go.

Her hand lingered, fingers twitching like she was trying to memorize her own child’s shape.

“Let me take her,” Brooke whispered. “Just for a little while. You can come too if you want. I’ll bring her back. I swear.”

I stiffened, my arms tightening protectively around Cora’s little body.

Brooke’s eyes darted, lips trembling, and then the truth slipped out like venom.

“If I have her, if I show up with her, I can get the money from you. You’ll pay.”

The air left my lungs in a single, burning exhale.

She flinched at my silence, guilt crashing into her desperation. She stumbled back a step, rubbing her face like she could scrub the shame off her skin. “Fuck. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry. I-I have to go.”

Her steps were slow, unsteady, less from the high, more from the moment. She reached the door and hesitated before turning her head a little, not quite facing me, but in my direction.

“He’s my fix. My boyfriend.” Her lips parted, then pressed together again like the words burned. “I don’t even know what happened, Dalton, but I’m in deep.”

She sighed.