Chapter 34
Blindside: A blindside tackle happens when someone gets hit from an angle they didn’t see coming. Figuratively, it’s used to describe
being caught off guard or surprised.
Translation: Birthday surprise incoming!
Everly
The smirk I’m smirking as I watch Wolf feed the animals at Mount Millie is honestly disgusting. But we’ve been like this for
the past two days. Unable to stop the smirking.
And it’s because we’re apparently both little freaks.
Stalking play. Primal play. Two phrases I’d never heard in my life until I did a little Google research after the most ridiculous
set of orgasms of my life. In the woods. Behind my cabin.
I pray that whatever insane noises I made that night sounded like wild animals because the idea of my family hearing me like
that is something that keeps me up at night if I think too much about it.
But damn, it was good.
Not something I need to do on a regular basis. But it was fun to experiment with.
To think I went from zero orgasms in my whole life to three orgasms in one sex scene with Wolf . . . that says a lot. That
man gets me. He gets every little dirty part of me. And apparently, I get him too.
When we laid in bed and discussed our endeavors of that evening, I felt so free and open. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. And I felt terrible knowing that Wolf was so worried sick about revealing his habit of following me home at Trinity.
But honestly, maybe it’s good he waited to tell me. Knowing his intense history with bullying and his strained friendship
with Finn, I can understand why he felt called to look out for me.
Deep down, Wolf is a protector. He cares so much about people, maybe even to a fault. And doing it silently meant he didn’t
have to be vulnerable and tell me he cared.
Call me crazy, but I felt touched. He’s the too-much, masculine version of me, and I’d be a hypocrite for not offering any
type of understanding of that.
I feel closer to him than ever. So close that I am bursting with anticipation to give him his gift today. I can’t wait to
see his reaction.
“It’s really sad to have to muck out pens on your birthday,” I say with a heavy sigh, leaning on the gate with my arms crossed
as I watch the hot, tall Irish boy I’m currently sleeping with work.
He shoots me a look over his shoulder, sweat beading at his temple. “You know, a good gift would be you coming in here and
helping me.”
I grin. “You said a birthday is just another day.”
He huffs out a laugh, straightening up and leaning on the pitchfork. “I take it back. I love my birthday and would love some
assistance, especially from you.”
His eyes move up and down my body, so I offer, “If you beg nicely enough, maybe I’ll see if Trista can give you the afternoon
off.”
He licks his lips, that dangerous little smirk tugging at his mouth. “If I’m begging on my knees, love, getting me time off
won’t be the first thing on your mind.”
My cheeks heat instantly as I picture him on his knees for me, but our little flirting session is interrupted by a phone call.
Wolf pulls his phone out of his pocket and gets a curious look on his face before he answers the call.
I walk over to where Stevie is positioned on her coloring table outside of the pen to give him some privacy.
He literally moves her coloring table from pen to pen so she can stay near him as he works. It’s fucking adorable.
“I don’t like how you talk to Nana,” Stevie says, wrinkling her nose at me.
“How do I talk to him?” I ask, squatting down to eye her curiously.
She scowls at me. “Like you love him. Yuck.”
I bark out a laugh and then hear Wolf say, “Are you serious, Coach?”
The tone of his voice snags my attention. It’s sharp. Awake. Hopeful. Curious, I turn my head to see him pacing the edge of
the pen, jaw tight, his massive frame wound with so much energy I can practically feel the air buzzing around him.
“No, I’m still training. Still fit. Denver’s been good for me,” he says into the phone, his accent thickening like it does
when he talks to his sister. “Leinster? They’re actually asking?”
My stomach dips.
Stevie holds up a drawing of a purple cow with four legs on one side of its body and none on the other, but I can’t even force
myself to smile. Because I already know, whatever’s being said on the other end of that phone—it’s not just a call. It’s the call. A door opening.
And Wolf looks ready to run through it.
Wolf’s pacing slows, but his voice doesn’t lose that edge of barely contained adrenaline. “No offer from the Grizzlies yet . . .
Okay . . . Yeah, I’ll send over fitness and strength testing data, no problem. Of course I can take a meeting. I appreciate
the call, Coach. Truly. Thank you. For everything.”
He hangs up, shoving his phone into his pocket, and for the first time since he arrived here earlier this summer, Wolf looks lighter. Like his shoulders aren’t carrying a mountain. Like he could run laps along the creek without breaking a sweat.
“What’s going on?” I ask, pitching my voice to be bright and cheery. It’s the voice I’ve perfected over the years of matchmaking
everyone but myself.
His eyes are gleaming when they land on me. “Leinster had an injury to their number eight. They’re lookin’ for cover. My old
coach thinks I might be in the running. It’s . . . Jaysus, Everly, it’s a chance I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually get.”
I clap my hands together, plastering on the biggest smile I can manage. “Wolf, that’s amazing. I’m so happy for you!”
And I mean it—I do. My chest is full of warmth for him, seeing him so alive, so hopeful. This is what he’s been working toward.
He and his sister. He deserves this.
And I deserve . . . to not be a factor in any of it.
This was the agreement. A summer fling. A no-label label. He’s obviously bursting with happiness, and I should be too.
But a sickness churns in my gut over the reality of it. Wolf going back to Dublin. Summer coming to an end. Of course he should
go back. That’s the goal. Not me. Not us. Not this bubble we’re living in here.
I lean down to admire Stevie’s lopsided cow, forcing a little laugh. “Look at this masterpiece,” I croon, like my insides
aren’t twisting.
But I can still feel Wolf’s eyes on me, can feel the pulse of his happiness echoing in my bones. And it hurts so much worse
knowing how much I’m faking this.
“I need to call Cliona,” Wolf says, shoving a trembling hand through his hair.
“That’s going to need to wait, I’m afraid,” Trista says, interrupting our moment as she strides down the aisle of the barn. “I know it’s your birthday today, but we have a new rescue coming in right now, and I’m sorry to inform you that it’s another alpaca.”
“Fuck.” Wolf’s face falls, dread overtaking his joyous mood instantly. He looks like how I feel as he says, “I know this isn’t
a kind thing to say, but I’m starting to understand why so many people abandon their alpacas. Alpacas are arseholes.”
“Bad words,” Stevie says from her coloring table near the pen Wolf is working at.
“Wyatt is bringing it up now, so if you could help him out when he gets here, that would be great,” Trista says, turning to
head back toward the feed room.
Wolf’s brows furrow. “Why is Wyatt bringing the alpaca?”
I shrug and steel myself to shake off my mood as I casually reply, “No clue.”
When my uncle’s truck pulls up with his construction trailer, Wolf frowns curiously as he walks out to greet Wyatt, Calder,
and Luke, who all pile out of the four-door truck.
“This one is a fucking wild one,” Calder says, grabbing the handle on the trailer.
“You guys put it in your nice work rig? It’s probably shitting all over in there,” Wolf says, bracing himself outside the
door.
“It’s definitely full of shit,” I murmur as I walk outside to join them, along with Trista and Stevie. Trista and Luke both
wink knowingly at me.
Calder grunts, the door creaking open slowly, and when nothing moves inside, Wolf grows serious as he takes a step closer
to peer inside.
“Surprise!” Cliona’s voice peals loudly as she leaps out of the trailer and tackles her brother with all the athleticism of
a professional rugby player.
Because she is.
“What the fuck?” Wolf exclaims, his voice hitting a high pitch I’ve never heard before. “Cliona?” he asks, scrubbing his hand over his face as he rolls over to jump back up on his feet.
“Happy birthday, Moon!” she says, giving him a hard shove.
“Cliona . . . you’re here. My sister is here,” he says, his voice sounding almost childlike with shock, similar to his phone
voice with his coach moments ago. He embraces her in a hard, bruising hug, and I watch the bond between them practically glow
before my very eyes.
He buries his face in her shoulder, hiding his emotions, and when I spot the tears streaming down Cliona’s face, I can’t help
but follow suit.
My throat burns as I press the back of my hand to my mouth, watching the two of them cling to each other like lifelines.
Seeing them reunited is beautiful and gutting.
Because this—this reunion—isn’t just a hug. It’s a reminder. A promise. A tether pulling him back across the ocean where he
belongs. With her. With his family. With the team that he deserves to play for.
And what am I in all of this? A summer temptation. A temporary distraction that happened to fit between the cracks of his
real life.
The ache grows sharper as I watch Cliona whisper something against his ear, his hand fisting in the back of her jacket like
he’ll never let go again. And I know—God, I know—he won’t. He’ll go back to Dublin. He’ll pick up the pieces of everything
he thinks he broke, everything he’s convinced he abandoned. And he should. He deserves that healing.
But where does that leave me?
The tears blur my vision until the mountain and even Wolf’s broad shoulders all blur into one hazy smear. I bite my lip hard
enough to taste blood, desperate to keep the sob building in my chest from clawing free.
Because the truth is, I’ve finally found the thing I’ve been chasing for everyone else my whole damn life—a love so big it terrifies me. And it’s already slipping through my fingers.
I sniff loudly, and Trista smiles and comes over to put her arm around me. “You did good, kid,” she whispers, giving me a
squeeze.
Wolf and Cliona break apart, marveling over each other. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice with this one,” Cliona says, pointing at me. “She was about ready to call my coach to request
a day off for me.”
Wolf turns to look at me, his eyes red-rimmed and tear-streaked. “You did this?” he asks softly, intimately, like we’re lying
in bed together and not standing in front of most of my family.
I shrug. “I couldn’t think of anything to give you, so I went with the obvious—”
My voice is cut off when Wolf eliminates the space between us and grabs my face, pressing his lips to mine in a shocking,
jaw-dropping, heart-exploding, mind-boggling, earth-shattering stunner of a kiss.
Holy shit, Wolf is kissing me in front of everyone.
And holy shit, I’m letting him.
Because I don’t know how many more of these I’m going to get.
Faintly, I hear a “yuck” from Stevie, and Wolf then finally pulls back, moving his hands from my face to my waist, holding
me close like a flower he’s not done smelling.
Cliona’s voice breaks our little bubble when she says, “Well, that’s one way to tell me you’re shagging my brother.”
I cover my mouth and turn to look at my friend. “Cliona, I’m so sorry, I—”
“Would you shut up and give me a hug?” she says, propping her hands on her hips. “I flew across a bleedin’ ocean for you too,
you know.”
My face crumples as I close the distance between us and hug my friend.
My dear friend who just months ago I spent every single day with and now haven’t seen for weeks.
My dear friend whose brother I’m now kissing in front of everyone, apparently.
My dear friend who I can’t tell that I’ve fallen in love with her brother . . .
Because that would ruin everything for everyone but me.
And that’s not what I do.