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He maneuvers around Addie so fast I hardly have time to react. His hand catches my shirt again, shoving me backward before he pulls his fist back.
Not fucking happening. I catch his wrist before the second punch lands. I can hear the room erupt around us as Hazel and Addie yell from somewhere behind us.
Eli jerks against my grip, coming at me with his other arm, but I stop that one too. We’re actually fucking wrestling on the dance floor. His shoulder slams into my chest, and I stagger backward, taking him with me. We crash into the edge of a table hard enough to tip glasses over.
“Would you fucking quit it?” I grit out as he tries to yank his arm free. I flip him over and wrench his arm behind his back. He’s strong as shit, though, and for a few more minutes we’re both fighting for leverage while Hazel and Addie are screaming at us to stop. I finally get him pinned against the floor, one arm trapped behind him, knee pressing in just enough to let him know I’m not fucking around. “Get the fuck off me,” he shouts.
“You can keep trying to fight me if that’s what you think you need to do,” I tell him, breathing hard. “But it’s not going to change a damn thing that’s going on. She’s my Hazel, man.”
For a moment, he still fights to get out of my grip. Then I start to feel the tension leaving his body in increments, and after a second, I release him and take a step back.
He turns slowly towards me. “What did you just say?” The anger is still there, but something in my words has finally made it through his thick fucking skull.
I swallow, suddenly a hell of a lot more nervous saying this to him than I was to Addie. “Do you really think I’m just fucking around with her?” I ask, still trying to catch my breath. “That I would risk our friendship, risk what your whole damn family means to me, just to get my dick wet?”
His face softens slightly at that, the anger not completely disappearing. For the first time since charging across the room, though, he doesn't look at me like he might kill me.
I take that as a good sign, and continue. “I’m in love with her,” I tell him. “Completely fucking in love with her.”
His eyes move to Addie, then back to me, and he just stares at us for a few seconds, like we’re finally speaking a language he understands.
Hazel touches his arm gently. “Eli. Let’s go in the kitchen for a bit. Get some air.”
He looks down at her, eyes softening, then he looks away, dragging both hands over his face. “Fuck this shit.” Then he turns and stalks towards the kitchen door.
Hazel is already following after him when Addie hollers out from beside me, “Hazel, I’m sorry.”
She pauses briefly, looking over her shoulder at us and smiles. “There is absolutely nothing to be sorry for.” She points between us. “Congratulations! It’s about damn time, and he’ll get over it once the shock wears off.” Then she hurries out the door after Eli.
The second they’re gone, Addie turns to me. Her hands come up around my face, carefully turning my head toward the light. “Let me see.”
“I’m fine.” It hurts like a son of a bitch, but I’m not telling her that.
Her thumb brushes carefully beneath my jaw, and I wince before I can stop myself. “Fine, my ass. You’re already bruising.”
“It was worth it.” I grin at her, pulling her back into my arms as the music starts back up.
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yeah.” I pull her closer. “But I’m your idiot now, apparently.”
Addie looks up at me, amusement dancing in her eyes. “You know, I thought you’d be a little more upset about pissing him off.”
“I am.” I pull her closer. “I’m just more concerned with the fact that I wasted so much time pretending I didn’t want this.”
Her expression softens, and there it is again. That look she gives me that makes all the noise in my head go quiet. I don’t care that Eli knows now. I don’t care that Shae knows, or Hazel, or every nosy bastard in Ashford Ridge.
Addie is mine.
More importantly, I’m hers. And for the first time in a long damn time, I know exactly where I belong. “Come here, Sunshine.” I pull her back into me and kiss her again, slower this time, smiling as she laughs against my mouth.
How the fuck did a guy like me get lucky enough to have a woman like Addie Dawson love him? I don’t know if I’m worthy of her, but I’m going to spend every damn day of the rest of my life trying to prove that I am.
Chace: One week Later
I’ve watched Addie run this pattern enough times over the last two months that I know exactly where she should be before she gets there. She drives Dusty hard toward the first barrel, waiting until the last possible second before sitting deep in the saddle. My entire body tenses as he drops into the turn, but they come around clean and tight, already lined up for the second before I finally remember to breathe.
“Come on, Sunshine,” I mutter under my breath.
