Logan
That Miles guy was a real piece of work.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around what he’d done to Ellie last night. Couldn’t shake the image of his hand wrapped around her arm, fury in his eyes like she owed him something.
And I couldn’t stop thinking—what if I hadn’t been there?
What if that had happened in private instead of in front of everyone?
What would’ve happened then?
Rhodes texted me this morning that Miles nearly puked in his truck. Said the guy was completely out of it. The irony? He’d only had three drinks. Beer, no less. What grown man can’t hold his alcohol?
Pathetic.
I had the day off from the ranch, which usually meant working through my frustrations with hard labor and sunburn. But today I had nowhere to put the simmering anger that had been sitting just beneath my skin since last night.
So when Mac mentioned he needed a hand working on his truck, I jumped at the excuse. I needed something to keep my hands busy, something to focus on besides Ellie’s wide eyes and trembling hands.
I was laid out under the front end of Mac’s truck, tools in hand, trying to figure out what was wrong with the damn thing.
Mac leaned against the wheel well, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, moving away for me to climb under the truck.
“Last night got wild,” he said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
With a grunt, I twisted the wrench, trying to loosen a bolt so rusted it looked like it had been there longer than I’d been alive.
“Don’t even get me started,” I muttered.
“How was Ellie when you got her home? She looked… shocked, man.”
“She was,” I said quietly. “Didn’t say a word the whole ride. I walked her upstairs, but she went straight to her bed. Door shut. That was it.”
Mac scoffed. “That fucker’s lucky Boone was in the bathroom. You know Aspen probably told him everything by now.”
My arms were aching, and the wrench finally gave. I slid out from beneath the truck, brushing gravel and debris from my jeans as I stood.
“The moment I met that guy, I got a bad feeling,” I said.
Mac raised an eyebrow, arms crossing over his chest as the cigarette bobbed between his lips.
I hadn’t told anyone about that first run-in. I guess I would now.
“He showed up on Ellie’s move-in day,” I admitted. “I was helping carry boxes. He walked up, told me I wasn’t needed, then tried to size me up. Straight up told me he just wanted to sleep with her.”
Mac pulled the cigarette from his mouth and let out a slow whistle.
“He made his intentions crystal fucking clear,” he muttered.
I shifted my stance, shoving my hands into my front pockets, shoulders sinking with the weight of it all.
“I knew that guy was bad news.”
I had told Ellie if he ever pulled anything, she needed to come to me. Needed to trust me to handle it.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the first time something like that had happened. I sure as hell hoped it would be the last.
“That guy’s gonna learn real quick,” Mac said, flicking ash off his cigarette. “Boone will beat his ass if he keeps that shit up. Hell, by the look on your face right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if you marched down there and did it yourself.”
I scoffed. He wasn’t wrong. I’d spent half the night lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, fists clenched, fighting the urge to show up at that restaurant and make sure Miles never stepped foot in Faircloud again.
“I’ll chase him out of this town without a second thought.”
Mac took a long drag from his cigarette, then stubbed it out in the tin can beside the truck. He leaned back, eyes narrowing like he was turning something over in his head.
“What about your feelings for her?” he finally asked.
Hell if I knew.
I cared about Ellie. Still loved her—hopelessly, stupidly, quietly. That hadn’t changed. But making a move? That was the part I couldn’t seem to do.
Things felt complicated.
After last night, I knew Ellie was going to need a friend and support. I had a gut feeling Miles wasn’t done. Miles wasn’t the type. Not willing to give up and leave her alone. If I told Ellie now how I felt, I feared it would bring on more pressure.
Navigating what to do about Miles was stressful enough, and having her best friend confess how he felt wasn’t something she needed to deal with either. Because if she were to say no and turn me down, I don’t think I could continue on like everything was fine.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, folding my arms across my chest, mirroring Mac’s stance as he leaned against the side of his truck.
“Why not just tell her how you feel?” Mac asked. “Clearly, Miles is done. Now’s your chance.”
“What if now she’s just beating herself up over all of it?”
That was Ellie. Always had been. Even when we were kids, she carried guilt like it was her job. Took the blame for things that were never hers to hold.
“Then be there to show her she doesn’t have to,” Mac said. “Show her there’s a good guy waiting for her and he’s been there all along.”
He stepped forward, tapped a hand to my chest, then grabbed the wrench and slid back under his truck.
“I will,” I said, more to myself than to him. “I’ll meet up with her and just… tell her how I feel.”
From under the truck, Mac groaned with the effort. “Trust me, don’t lose your chance. I know what it’s like to almost miss out.”
“Yeah,” I said with a smirk. “Look at you now, giving someone else advice when not that long ago, you were making drink menus and putting rose petals into hearts.”
Mac peeked his head out from under the truck, grinning.
“It fucking worked, didn’t it?”
I crouched beside him, chuckling. “How are things going, anyway?”
“Fucking fantastic,” Mac said, just as a rusty bolt dropped onto his chest. I reached in, grabbed it, then looked at him.
“We’ve been doing a lot of talking about the future,” he added.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, raising a brow. “Like what?”
He put the wrench down, sent me a sidelong glance, and smirked.
“Penny’s pregnant.”
“No shit?” I said, and for the first time all day, I felt the weight in my chest lift, replaced by something warm and good. “You’re telling me there’s going to be another one of you running around?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, clearly proud. “It’s gonna be cool as hell.”
“Wait, we were all out last night. Does anyone else know?”
Mac shook his head, smiling. “Penny pulled a page from Theo’s book. Didn’t drink any real alcohol, just mocktails. So no, no one else knows.”
I blinked, stunned. I didn’t expect to be the first to know. Mac and I were close, but not that close. The fact he told me before Boone or Rhodes?
It meant something.
Made something bloom in my chest. Felt… damn good.
“I’m so happy for you both,” I said, and I meant it.
“It happened quicker than we thought,” he said, brushing grease from his hands. “We’ve only been official a few months, but… I can’t see myself with anyone else.”
Shit.
Now I was sitting here, staring off while Mac worked under the truck, lost in a tangle of thoughts.
What would it be like to have news like that? To be so over-the-moon in love and know it was returned with just as much certainty?
I craved it. Wanted it more now than ever.
A family.
Tradition.
The kind of love that didn’t falter, the kind that showed up again and again. I wanted to give that to someone. To my kid someday. To give them everything I never had growing up. A safe place. A foundation. A home that felt like more than walls.
“I didn’t think you’d be the first couple to get the ball rolling,” I said, smiling as I looked over at Mac.
“Right?” He laughed, shaking his head. “I figured by now Aspen and Boone would be engaged at least, maybe even popping out a kid themselves with the way those two are.”
“They haven’t even moved in together yet,” I pointed out.
It was strange, considering they were the first couple in our friend group—the ones who always seemed so sure of each other. The ones I’d have bet on to start a family first.
But then again, everyone has their own pace. Love doesn’t come with a timeline or a rulebook.
“Their time will come,” Mac said, tightening something beneath the hood. “Just like it will for you.”
I gave him a quiet nod, standing from my crouched position and dusting my hands off.
Mac dove back into the work. I stayed a while longer. We talked about when he planned to tell everyone, and I promised to keep my mouth shut. Then we slipped into that easy rhythm, reminiscing about old times, shaking our heads at how fast everything seemed to be changing.
But underneath the small talk, my thoughts were turning over.
All this talk of futures and families… it brought something into sharper focus.
If I wanted that life, if I wanted her, I had to stop waiting. Stop hoping from the sidelines.
If I wasn’t willing to go after it, then I didn’t get to complain when it passed me by.