Chapter 5
TREY
M otherfucker.
That was my thought as I pulled into the Wildwood Valley Inn and found it packed with familiar vehicles.
Trucks I saw on the job site every single day.
I would soon be leaving behind that logging crew to head up the remodeling project at this inn, but these guys were my buddies, and now they were at my family inn for some sort of emergency.
I instantly knew what this was.
“Lauryn—” I began, ready to spill everything.
But she’d already opened the door and, before I knew it, she was standing in front of the truck, waiting for me. I took a deep breath and hopped out just in time to see Blade’s truck pulling in, sliding into a spot two over from mine.
“Motherfucker.” I said the word out loud this time. Then to Lauryn, I said, “Let’s go.”
I led the way across the parking lot toward the entrance. I needed to get inside before Blade could say anything that would give me away.
“Listen, Lauryn,” I said as we walked. “I really have to tell you something. I’m not who you thought?—”
The door burst open before I could get the remaining words out. I spotted the all-too-familiar pair of bright green eyeglasses and that silver bob. It was my aunt.
My goose was cooked.
“Trey Lessing, did you steal Blade’s girl?”
Her arms were crossed over her chest as she stepped out onto the sidewalk.
The door behind her swung hard, nearly slapping her in the butt.
Out stepped Logan, Collin, and Jareth—three of my closest friends.
They didn’t look mad. If anything, they looked like they were ready to grab a bucket of popcorn and watch the show.
“She ain’t my girl.”
That came from Blade, who was behind us.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lauryn turn and look.
I hoped with everything in me that she wouldn’t decide that was the face of the man she’d fallen in love with.
Not my face, but Blade’s. Blade was supposed to be her happily ever after. ‘Till death do them part.
Over my dead body.
“It was your idea,” I said to my aunt. “Don’t be throwing me under the bus.”
Then I looked over at Lauryn. She was the only one I cared about. Maybe I owed the others an explanation, but first, I had to make sure things were right with my girl.
“It was fun at first,” I told her. “A prank I was playing on my coworkers. I was helping my aunt. She was setting these guys up without them knowing it, and I was pretending to be them while chatting with the mail order brides.”
Yes, it was wrong, but I was honest. I gave all the information I knew about each of them. If they were falling in love with someone, it was the guy I was pretending to be, not me. But all that changed when I started chatting with Lauryn.
“Which explains why you’d occasionally ask weird questions,” Jareth said. “Like where we grew up.”
“Or what my mother did for a living,” Logan added.
“Yeah, it was a little weird,” Collin said.
“It all makes sense now, though,” Logan said. “Can’t be mad at him.”
Collin clapped my aunt on the back. “I wouldn’t have met Paget without the two of them meddling.”
The three of them seemed to agree. But my eyes didn’t leave Lauryn’s face. I could only see the guys out of the corner of my eye as they stood in a line, watching this unfold.
“But then…” I swallowed, glancing at Blade, who had stopped several feet away from all of this, arms crossed, watching like he wasn’t sure if he should come closer.
Like falling in love might be contagious.
“I knew Blade would be the hardest one to fix up. He loves his solitary life near the top of the mountain.”
I turned back to Lauryn. She still looked confused, but she was staring at me like she was open to whatever I had to say. I had to convince her. Failing at that wasn’t an option.
“There was something about you from the start,” I said. “I couldn’t stop talking to you. And I found myself opening up about my own background. You thought you were chatting with someone named Blade, but you were really getting to know me. Everything but the name and the picture was me.”
Her lips parted slightly. I couldn’t tell if she was going to cry or hit me.
“You were pretending to be me to pick up this chick?” Blade asked, his voice flat.
I bit back the urge to correct him. Lauryn wasn’t a chick. She was a lady. But that wasn’t the point.
Lauryn hadn’t said a word. Not since I’d blurted out my explanation.
And not since she realized Blade was the face behind the profile, not the man behind the messages.
Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, her expression still unreadable.
Her eyes weren’t angry—not exactly—but they weren’t soft either.
And that scared me more than if she’d yelled.
“I know I should’ve told you sooner,” I said, stepping closer. “Before we kissed. Before…everything. But I didn’t know how.”
She didn’t respond.
“I just kept telling myself I’d say something tomorrow. Or after one more conversation. And then you were here, and I panicked, and I was so damn scared that if you knew the truth, I’d lose you before I ever really had a chance.”
“Trey.” Her voice was quiet, but steady. My name on her lips hit me square in the chest. She took a slow breath. “You lied to me.”
“I know. And I hate that I did. I was a dumbass. But every single word I said to you—every message, every feeling—that was me. Not Blade. Me.”
“I fell in love with someone I didn’t even know,” she whispered. “Or I thought I didn’t.”
I stepped even closer, heart in my throat. “You do know me. You do. I’m the guy who memorized your favorite childhood book. The one who knows you eat the cherry out of your milkshake first, not last. The guy who saved every picture you sent because I couldn’t believe someone like you was real.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. She blinked fast, but they didn’t fall.
“Lauryn.” I took her hands gently in mine. “Give me a chance to earn you. For real. No more lies. Just me and you.”
For a long moment, she didn’t speak. Then, finally—mercifully—she gave the smallest nod. “Okay.”
I didn’t let out the breath I was holding. I sank into it.
“Thank you,” I whispered, bringing her hand to my lips.
Behind us, Bobbi clapped her hands once. “Well, that’s enough drama for one day.”
I turned, still holding Lauryn’s hand.
“Don’t worry,” my aunt added, throwing her arms up. “I’m officially retiring from matchmaking. Not a single mountain man will be roped into romance under my watch again. Scout’s honor.”
The guys chuckled. Jareth crossed the distance between us to give me a slap on the back.
“You’re an idiot,” he said, grinning. “But I guess it worked out.”
Collin nodded. “Still can’t believe you pulled it off.”
Logan looked over at Lauryn and smiled. “He’s a good one. Dumb, but good.”
Lauryn let out a soft laugh, and the tension in my chest eased. It was over. The truth was out. And somehow, I still had the girl.
But as everyone chatted around us, I realized someone was missing. Blade. I turned and scanned the parking lot. Gone. I hadn’t seen him leave, and clearly no one else had either.
I rubbed the back of my neck, unsure what to make of it. Blade wasn’t the kind of guy to make a scene—or say much at all. He could be impossible to read. Maybe he was pissed. Maybe he was relieved. Maybe he just didn’t care.
Or maybe he cared more than he’d ever let on.
I sighed and turned back toward the others, slipping my arm around Lauryn’s waist. “For the record,” I said, meeting her eyes, “I’m done talking to any woman who isn’t you.”
Her eyes softened again. “Good. Because I’m the only one who knows the difference between you and Blade.”
I leaned down and kissed her—slow, grateful, and full of everything I didn’t know how to say out loud. She kissed me back like we had all the time in the world.
And I guessed maybe we did.