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CHAPTER SIX
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It was the last place I wanted to be, but tonight was Delaney’s show at Willow’s Tavern. As a hometown star, Dee always pulled a massive crowd. Nash brought out Jules’ whiskey sour in a tumbler. He made a point to confirm with her that he personally made it and put the lid on it.
I pulled her into me as Delaney’s smokey voice filled the tavern. “Princess, what’s the lidded drink about?”
“I just get paranoid in big crowds.” She dropped her head to me and swayed to the music taking me along with her.
“Paranoid—why?” I tipped her head back with a finger under her chin.
“Ummm… spilling… I guess.”
Liar, but it was one I’d let her have—temporarily.
“I wanted to thank y’all for coming out!” The crowd howled and hooted when Dee addressed them.
“As y’all know, I do a lot of songwriting on the tour bus, and before I left to play in Denver, one of my besties left my heart inspired. This song goes out to my Jewel!”
The crowd screamed, and when I looked at Jules, I saw the emotion in her eyes. She was Dee’s Jewel. I didn’t get to say a word before the bluesy notes started.
“She’s going to break my heart.” Jules turned her head into my chest. I tucked her into an embrace and swayed with her to the new song.
I’ve always spent my nights thinking of you.
It passed the time and chased away the blues.
Until I awoke encased in the darkness.
What’s a life chained to an unknowing muse?
Ooooh addiction, my sweet affliction, you’re as sublime as the Heaven and the Moon. But love has left the room.
You’ve become my one true obsession.
But losing my love, left you brokenhearted.
Without the honor of speakin’ why I parted,
For fear of being unwanted.
You refused to let me waste it;
Now I’m back for one last hit.
I have nothing but my admiration,
and I beg for my salvation.
Ooooh addiction, my sweet affliction, you’re as sublime as the Heaven and the Moon. But love has left the room.
Wetness soaked into my shirt as Dee continued crooning the chorus over and over until the song faded out.
The lyrics were a reflection of whatever they talked about at their last girls’ night, the night I had Jules in my bed for the first time, and with the way Jules squeezed me, the song was about us.
“I hope y’all loved being the first to hear the newest Delaney Doyle gem! We’ll be back in ten!” Dee hopped down from the stage with her security, clearing a path to us.
“Hey, babe, c’mere.” Dee pulled her from my arms and started whispering into her ear.
I wanted to fix it, to make whatever haunted Jules better.
“Dean.” I turned to find Jett and the twins demanding my presence. Our paths hadn’t crossed during our dates.
“Fuck,” I grumbled. “Jules, I’ll be right back.” Dee nodded at me. Jace stayed behind and whispered something to Jules before joining us.
By the back bar there wasn’t a crowd, and I could hear myself think.
“What are you doing?” Jett growled in my face.
“In what regard?” I bit back. Best friend or not, this was Jules.
“Jett, back up.” Jace got between us.
“I want to know what’s going on with you and my sister.”
“We’re together. I told you.”
“That was more than dating. Jules was clinging to you like you were the center of her universe… and that fucking song—Delaney wrote that about you two. This isn’t something new!” he roared.
“You’re right. I’ve been in love with her for eight years. I plan to marry her,” I snapped, stepping closer.
“The fuck you say?” Jett lunged at me, but Jace had always been faster. He was between us, shoving Jett back.
“Am I still not good enough for your sister? Is that what you’re saying?” I yelled over Jace.
“It’s not about you, you selfish prick. Jules doesn’t want to get married or have kids, but you do. I won’t let you stay with her only to resent her. It’ll never work. If you keep this up, I’ll end up hating you, or maybe burying you six feet under because I’ll choose her, fucker.”
I was about to break my best friend’s face when Jonah stoically spoke. “You’re wrong, Jett.”
Jonah and Jace shared a look. They knew something Jett didn’t.
“I’m not. She’s told me and everyone else for years.” Jett didn’t sound so sure because it was Jonah speaking.
“Because it’s easier to lie than deal with your rage.” Jonah’s calm fa?ade was slipping.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Not our story to tell.” Jonah’s our meant him and Jace. His glare at their eldest brother spoke volumes, that rage—right there, asshole. That’s why she didn’t tell you.
I worked to unclench my hands. Stay calm and let Jules come to me. It was the only way forward.
“But there is a story?” I asked. One that left her guarded—I thought about the tumbler Nash brought her personally. “And not about getting married or having kids?” I looked between the twins, forgetting Jett. Jonah wouldn’t waste words.
“There is, but don’t pressure her. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”
“Understood.”
I spent the rest of the night with her in my arms, watching her enjoy her friend’s success.
She laughed with Quinn, Moira, and Finley as they danced.
Every time she needed a drink, she’d go to Nash, and within moments, he’d return with her tumbler refilled.
Whatever had happened to my Princess, Nash knew enough to protect her.
I ached to know, but Jonah was right—it had to be at her pace and when she was ready.
I’d wait for eternity if that’s what she needed.
JULES
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun, but Delaney’s song.
Talk about shattering a heart and putting it back together.
When she came and whispered in my ear, I almost collapsed.
She knew. Dean was it—he was my endgame.
All these years obsessing over him from afar, and he’d never stopped loving me.
I’d wasted so much of our lives over the terror he wouldn’t see me the same.
I’d pushed him away out of fear. Still, I was frightened, but the last month had shown me a protective and accepting man.
The sunrise lit my room. Dean slept on his side, facing me.
I watched his bare chest rhythmically rise and fall.
It was soothing until the truth inked on his flesh clicked.
The Milky Way galaxy was tatted over his heart with hints of blues and purples.
The galaxy bled into a river that wrapped under his arm.
I carefully sat up. The river flowed over his ribs and to his back where it ended at the base of a tree.
Floating atop the water was the Andromeda constellation—the chained princess who’d been sacrificed until she was freed by the man who married her.
It can’t be. Aster flowers drifted through the water. My middle name.
My heart thumped—a deafening war drum. I couldn’t breathe—a silent panic attack.
Run, Jules. I gingerly got up because I couldn’t wake him.
With the doorknob in hand, I peered back.
Dean always slept between me and the door.
It gave me a clear view of the massive tree spanning across his back.
A gorgeous live oak with its iconic sprawling branches draped with moss.
It was a tree that shouldn’t survive the harsh Inverness Valley winters and yet it did.
It was my tree—my hiding spot—the safe place I ran to when life got hard, and there it was on him.
One summer, at sixteen, I twisted wrong and fell out of the tree.
I landed hard, spraining my ankle. I couldn’t walk.
Dean found me in the dark, alone and scared.
He’d scooped me up, holding me close atop his horse all the way back to the ranch.
That night with the sound of his soothing heartbeat against my bruised cheek, his warmth seeped bone-deep and never left.
Air. I needed air. He was as obsessed with me as I was with him. Every tattoo told a tale about me—us. A love story forever written upon his skin.
I can’t.
The door didn’t make a sound when I headed downstairs.
I started coffee and put the kettle on as the memories flooded back.
The night of my mother’s celebration of life. I couldn’t take another ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’ I snuck out and rode to my spot by the river with a blanket. There was solace in the sound of the current washing each emotion away, in the stars overhead, making me feel small and insignificant.
The night was cool, but I was numb… until he showed up.
Without speaking, Dean lay next to me on the blanket.
He didn’t tell me he was sorry. Instead, we talked about the stars, the Milky Way, and how there was a symmetry between Andromeda, the princess, and me since Mama died.
I was chained to the ranch. A prisoner of sorts as the last girl standing.
Dean corrected me, telling me I was the woman of the ranch, but he understood the chains.
Being the matriarch of Ardis Ranch was a big throne to fill, and I wasn’t meant to fill it so young.
His understanding, freed me to cry. Something I hadn’t done since she died.
He held me, and when the tears dried, I took a leap of faith.
I confessed; I’d had a crush on him since I knew what it meant to like boys.
I didn’t stop there. I admitted to falling in love with him during our time together in California.
I hadn’t expected for him to feel the same. Dean loved me back.
The kettle whistled and took the memories with it.
I mumbled and prepared a chai. “We’d made promises under the stars and next to the river. Dean has those promises etched on his flesh. Truly obsessed—both of us.”
With the milk steamed, I finished my chai latte with honey and cinnamon.
The warm spices soothed my aching heart.
I curled up on the window seat in my shirt and socks, then pulled a blanket over me to watch the sun light the day on fire.
I yearned for Dean. Could I move forward and leave the past behind me?
“Good morning, Princess.”
I startled slightly, but managed to hide it. “The coffee should be ready for you.”
Dean kissed me instead, tangling his hands in my hair and taking what he wanted—me.
I was terrified, but the taste of his lips and the brush of his stubble made me momentarily fearless.
I opened to him. The heat of his breath invaded me, leaving courage in its wake.
The past vanished with every slow, lingering sweep of his tongue.
My panties grew wet as he made love to my mouth.
I moaned and dug my fingers into his T-shirt.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be consumed or do the consuming.
With a chuckle, Dean pulled back and licked his lips. “You taste like… cinnamon, honey, and… cardamom. Chai? Wait… when did you stop drinking coffee? And how did I not know this?” His brows knitted in concern.
I smiled. “I never really cared for it, but drank it because everyone on the ranch has like a pot before the sun comes up. I hate it.”
Dean dropped a kiss to my forehead. “Fair enough, but chai in the summer?”
I took a sip and shared another piece of myself.
“Fall’s my favorite season. And chai lets me close my eyes and smell the turning of the leaves, to feel the chilly breeze that invites the fires in the hearth and the coziness of sweater weather because that’s the best weather.
You have to admit there’s nothing like a horse ride at sunrise in the fall…
yellows, oranges, and reds dusting the treetops with snow already capping the mountainous peaks.
Just you, a brilliant, friendly beast, and the embrace of nature to make all the wrongs in the world… right.”
I watched him over the rim of my cup as I took a sip.
Damn, that smirk was wickedly divine and everything perfect in my world. “Fall’s my favorite too. But Princess, I’m drinking the wrong fucking chai if that’s what you experience in every sip.”
I cracked up. “Maybe you’re just lacking imagination.”
“You think? I can put my imagination to use right now.”
Dean took the cup out of my hand and did exactly that. On the kitchen counter. The table. Over the back of the sofa. In the shower. I was so fucked—literally and figuratively.