Chapter 15
Duke
“There isn’t much to do in this small town, but can I take you to my favorite tree?”
Brielle’s eyebrows raise. “You have a favorite tree?”
I nod, trying not to smile with her. “Live around here long enough, and you’ll find a favorite tree.”
“Hmm. I doubt that. Nothing about nature really calls to me,” she says, wrinkling her nose a bit.
Now it’s my turn to raise my eyebrows, waiting a second for her eyes to snap back up to me and narrow.
She points a finger at me. “Doesn’t make me a princess.”
“Of course not,” I reply with a chuckle. I nod toward where I’m parked.
She sighs. “Fine, tell me about this tree.”
I walk close enough next to her that our hands brush with each step. My eyes drift to the night sky with a serene grin. “It’s one of the best spots to see the stars.”
Brielle follows my gaze before looking back at me, and our stares lock. I clear my throat, and then lead her to the passenger side of the truck. When I open the door, she stops short at the bouquet on the seat.
“You were so sure I’d go out with you?” She reaches over, the paper crinkling under her hand as she picks it up gently.
“No, I would have just left them for you inside.”
Her cheeks blush, as if embarrassed by her accusation.
“Sunflowers are my favorite,” she says.
“I know.” Now I sound like a conceited asshole, and a smile pulls at my lips.
Brielle looks up at me. “You know?”
I nod. “Kinsey told me.”
She frowns. “When did Kinsey tell you?”
Her redhead friend wasn’t working tonight, so she’s probably trying to remember when our paths crossed before then.
I smirk at her. “That day at the gas station.”
Brielle’s attention falls back on the flowers, her pillowy lips mouthing at the gas station under her breath. What I wouldn’t give to know what’s running through her mind. Her throat bobs with a harsh swallow before she blows out a sigh and climbs into my truck without another word.
I shut the door gently and climb in on the driver's side. Her hands are wrapped tight around the flowers, and there’s a thick tension in the air that I can’t quite put my finger on.
We’re halfway down the main road before the silence is too much for me.
“Did you not like the flowers?” I ask.
Brielle’s head snaps to me, her blonde hair flying everywhere as she shakes her head vehemently. “No, I mean yes. I love them. Thank you, I’m sorry I didn’t say that earlier. I was just…”
She trails off, and I glance over before returning back to the road. Her face is scrunched, clearly not thinking about anything good.
“Just?” I ask to encourage her.
Brielle sighs, settling back into the seat. “Just no one has ever gotten me them. Back home, I was—god, this going to make me sound pretentious. But my family, they’re well off, okay? An omega daughter on top of that? What wealthy alpha pack wouldn’t want that?”
My knuckles grip my steering wheel and gear stick tighter. I don’t like the way she’s describing herself. As if her only value to her parents is her designation, but I keep my mouth shut, not wanting to interrupt her as she gives me a piece of herself.
“And they always brought the same thing. Fucking roses. White or red, it was always roses. No one thought to ask me what kind of flowers I wanted. They assumed I’d be okay, that I’d be grateful for more fucking roses.”
Shame curls inside me. Not because I’d thought about stopping to get her roses, but because I hadn’t thought about roses at all.
Kinsey told me her favorite, and on the way here, I thought to grab them.
But I hadn’t thought to ask Kinsey before that.
I’m not sure I would have thought to bring anything, and that kills me more.
I’ve never had a girlfriend before, but everything inside me says that Brielle is different.
That we’re meant to be so much more. It has since the first moment I saw her.
Brielle sighs. “Sorry to whine about something as dumb as flowers—”
“It’s not dumb. If it upsets you, then it’s not dumb. I remember when I was little my mom used to tell our father that she didn’t just get upset for nothing.”
She snorts. “I mean, she’s not wrong. I just know that sometimes it can seem silly.”
I nod, keeping my focus on the road as I watch for the dirt turn in that leads to the back of the ranch property.
“Yeah, I kind of thought so too. But that night I saw her, you know? After she had yelled and cried at my dad over something as silly as the dishes, I watched her go back to the kitchen and unload whatever he’d thrown in there, fix it, and then I saw that she was able to fit the rest of the dishes that had been left in the sink.
” I swallow down the emotion aching in my throat.
“It kind of clicked. That she wasn’t mad at the dishes, she was mad that he didn’t bother to do it the right way, so now it took her even more time to fix and finish it.
When it was supposed to be something he did to help while she patched up Dallas.
The road is a bit bumpy, just watch your head doesn’t hit the ceiling. ”
I turn onto the unmarked trail and switch on my brights. There are no lights on this part of the field, not when most of the animals should be locked up on the other side.
“How old were you?”
I glance at her. “When I noticed that with my mom? Fourteen.”
She raises her eyebrows. “That’s pretty young. Most teenage boys are wrapped up doing their own thing.”
My hands grip the steering wheel tight again, and my heart aches a little. Uneasy feelings churn in my stomach, but I know that if I’m going to get anywhere with Brielle, I have to bare my soul to her unlike any way I’ve bared it to anyone. Not even my twin.
“Yeah, well…I was the failure son, so I was left alone a lot. I had plenty of time to just watch.”
Her frown is evident, even in the low light. “How were you the failure son? Aren’t you guys twins?”
I laugh, a little humorlessly. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’re the same.
Dallas… I love my brother, but he’s too good at everything without even trying.
Everything comes a little harder to me. Fourteen…
freshman year. I got kicked out of football because of my grades.
At the time I just thought I was stupid. ”
Brielle cocks an eyebrow. “There’s a but there…”
I nod. “Yeah. Didn’t figure it out until I was out of high school. I guess it’s not normal to have your letters and numbers get all jumbled up.”
“You had dyslexia and no one knew?”
“Have. It ain’t going away, baby. And dyscalculia, which is the numbers side.
I don’t know why they picked two difficult names for those with learning disabilities,” I say with a laugh.
When I look at Brielle, my smile falls off at her somber expression.
I let go of my gear stick briefly, reaching over to squeeze her thigh.
“Hey. It’s okay. I’ve had years to settle with the information.
And help to overcome it for the most part. ”
She swallows. “I was just thinking about all the adults that failed you.”
I shrug. “It wasn’t hard when I never told anyone my struggles. I’m not the easiest person to get to know.”
“And your twin doesn’t have any of that?”
“Not that I know of. Dallas never told me if he did.”
“But he knows you have it?”
My lips pinch shut, and I work my jaw back and forth.
She gasps. “Oh my god. He doesn’t? Why? Wait, but you told me.”
I want to say some corny shit like because you’re special, but I hold it in.
I finally convinced her for a single date; I’m not going to scare her off.
The whole rodeo trip with Cooper, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
And I realized he was right, she was something special, and if I let myself really hope, I feel like she’s our omega.
Shrugging, I park near the fence of the back field of the ranch. “Maybe I felt like you wouldn’t judge me.”
Brielle swallows. “I think that’s the nicest thing someone has ever told me. Most assume I’m like Head Bitch Barbie.”
My eyes track over her golden hair, and then her gorgeous face. “Yeah, I can see that too.” I wink at her and then climb out. Brielle follows me, wrapping her arms around herself from the chilly night. I grab a sweater from the backseat and hand it to her.
She presses it to her nose, inhaling deeply. Butterflies flutter in my stomach at the gesture, especially when she shudders and puts it on. When she finds me staring, she blushes.
“Sorry, sometimes I can’t help it. Omega thing.”
I grin, holding out my hand for her to take. “Don’t mind at all.”
Everything in my body lights up when her hand slips into mine, as if this was always meant to be.
I’ve never felt this way about anyone, but it all feels a little too real.
Like I’m going to wake up, and it will all be ripped away from me.
Brielle lets me lead her along the fence with a flashlight until we come upon a single pecan tree.
I let go of her hand to open the bag I placed there earlier.
I didn’t want to carry it out from the truck and give off axe murderer vibes.
Shaking out the blankets, I lie down and pat the spot next to me. I can see the slight frown on her face with the moon’s light, but she does it anyway.
“Look,” I tell her gently, pointing up at the sky. There’s a huge break in the tree’s canopy where you can see the endless stars, and it looks like something out of a movie.
“Okay, I can see why this is your favorite tree.”
I chuckle. “Only at night. During the day, especially when it’s blooming, it’s a pain in the ass.”
She turns to me. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a pecan tree. Gotta make sure to clean them up so the horses don’t overindulge.”
“Is it bad for them?”
I shrug. “Only in large quantities. Gives them the runs and whatnot.”
“Why not just cut down the tree?” She laughs, a little perplexed.
I’d asked the same thing when I was younger, and Levi had given me a stern look. A smile flits on my lips when I remember what he said. “If you removed every bothersome thing, you’d be left with nothing. Sometimes you just gotta work twice as hard to maintain it.”
Brielle turns on her side, facing me more fully. “I like that.”
I tuck a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. My breathing shallows a little as nerves make my heart pound. Her eyes dip to my lips, and I take it as a sign. I lean forward…and then our foreheads slam together when an ear-piercing scream echoes through the night.
Grimacing, I rub the spot we’d hit, but Brielle is alert, jumping to her feet.
“Wait—” I try to stop her, knowing exactly who is the source of the noise. But she’s off, running as another scream is let out.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, taking off after her with the flashlight. I catch up with her, and wrap my arms around her. “It’s Delilah. It’s Delilah,” I tell Brielle, whispering in her hair. “She’s sleepwalking.”
Brielle shakes her head. “No, she’s—that doesn’t sound like sleeping.”
I swallow. “It’s a recurring nightmare.”
She stops struggling and looks up at me. “I know the pain of that type of scream.”
Releasing her slowly, I don’t push to ask her more at the moment, though I promise myself to ask her what she means later. I run my hand through my hair. “I gotta get her, and guide her back to her cabin. Take the flashlight, and meet me back at my truck.”
“I want to go with you.”
I study her face, seeing her determination, and nod. “Okay, okay. She might do better with a woman’s voice anyway.” Delilah usually fights me harder when I speak to her. I’ve learned to just not say anything and guide her home silently.