Page 81

I haven’t seen him since. By the time we rolled onto my family’s ranch last night, Dusty was already unloaded, fed, brushed, and put up for the night. The guys had plans in town and were gone too. I tried my best to enjoy the evening with Hazel and stay present, but all I could think about was how different the night felt without Chace. Normally, we’d be sitting beside a fire somewhere, showering together before bed, or making love until we passed out tangled around each other.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never been this kind of girl, the one who pines over a guy, who thinks about him every waking moment, whose entire existence somehow starts revolving around him. Yet here I am, dressed up in a baby-pink dress with thin straps and a soft, flowing skirt, smoothing my hands over the fabric every few minutes while I watch the door like a hawk and wait for him to arrive.

I try to focus on the event hall instead. It really does look fantastic. We worked late into the night transforming the place into something almost as beautiful as the love my brother and Hazel share.

None of this would even bother me if I’d actually heard from Chace since yesterday. I know they went out, and I know he’s been busy with my brother, but a simple response to one of my texts would have been nice. At first, I didn’t care. Really. But then my goodnight text went unanswered. So did my good morning text. And now the one I sent twenty minutes ago asking where the hell he is. I can’t help the knot forming in my stomach.

What if something happened last night? I would have found out by now, right? I look over at Eli, who’s currently dancing with Hazel’s Aunt Mae, calm, easy, and completely unbothered. If something had happened to Chace, or if Eli had found out about everything Chace has been keeping from him, there’s no way he’d be casually swirling Mae across the dance floor.

But what if Chace left? What if everything that happened this summer became too much, and he took off up some mountain and pitched a tent? He told me himself that he disappears into the middle of nowhere when life gets messy. What if whatever is going on between us suddenly became too much for him?

I pull my phone out again even though I already know there won’t be anything there. Nothing. I glance toward the door for what has to be the hundredth time.

Get it the fuck together, Addie. You’re acting like a lovesick teenager.

“You look beautiful.”

I turn at Hazel’s voice and smile as she comes up beside me, trying my best to hide whatever feelings are threatening to spill out of me. “Pretty sure I should be saying that to you.”

“We can both look pretty.” She smiles, reaching over to fix a twisted strap of my dress.

“Go be engaged somewhere,” I tease, rolling my eyes.

“Someone is as bossy as ever.” She starts to turn away, then stops. “Oh! We picked a date.”

That gets my attention off the door. “You did?”

Her whole face lights up. “December twelfth.”

“This December?” I stare at her. “Hazel, that’s like three months away.”

“I know.” Her smile somehow gets even bigger. “We didn’t want to wait.”

I can’t help smiling back as I pull her into a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you.” When she pulls away, her eyes follow mine toward the door, and a small smile tugs at her lips, but if she’s thinking anything, she doesn’t say it.

“Now go be grossly happy somewhere else,” I tell her. “It’s your party. People are waiting to tell you how disgustingly happy they are for you. I’m going to get a drink and hide in a corner until the chaos calms down.”

She rolls her eyes, but someone calls her name from across the room, and she goes without another word. I’m still smiling at her retreating form when the door opens.

And there he is.

The stupid rush of happiness that hits me at the sight of him takes my breath away. It lasts about two seconds before the anger rushes back. How fucking dare he ignore me for twenty-four hours and then show up looking like that?

He steps inside, talking to someone beside him, a brown paper bag clutched in one hand. Dark jeans, boots, and a button-down with the sleeves pushed up his forearms, which is just rude considering how annoyed I am with him. He looks so casual, so completely at ease talking to the guy beside him, like he got a perfectly good night’s sleep and didn’t spend the last twenty-four hours ignoring me.

Insufferable ass.

I don’t take my eyes off him as he scans the room. The second he spots me, a smile lights up his face that almost has the power to douse every ounce of annoyance I’m feeling toward him.

Almost.

His gaze slowly drops all the way from my face to my feet before dragging back up again. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling back. Heat moves through me under the weight of his stare. I know that look. I’ve seen it far too many times over the last month while spread bare beneath him not to know exactly what he’s feeling right now.

When his eyes move back to mine, he starts towards me, finally. Except before he can take more than a step, Eli catches him by the arm. Chace glances at me once over his shoulder before turning and following my brother back out the door.

You have got to be fucking kidding me.