Chapter 44
CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR
WILDE
I glower at the shiplap houses as I pull to a stop to let Hudson out.
He stayed over in my space again for the billionth time last night, and I’m starting to hate how much I love him in my bed.
Maybe billionth is an exaggeration when it’s barely been a month since I dragged him back here, but time doesn’t make sense when I’m with him.
“I’m going to spend the night with Kennedy and Hartwell, but I’ll see you tomorrow?” he checks as he pops the door.
“Sounds good.” My eyes stay locked to him as he climbs out, then jogs up to the house to get ready for a day of work.
We haven’t been able to figure out a solution to what happens next with the town, but we’ve thrown around enough ideas that we should be able to come up with something good enough for us both.
Ziggy will be coming down around lunchtime to help replace old wiring, so I’ll pick him up and maybe attempt to spend some time with the brothers. With Ziggy there, he’s a buffer between me and Kennedy’s distrust since he takes up most of Kennedy’s attention.
Until I can grab Ziggy though, I have a visit to make.
I take the back way down to where Lynx’s place sits next to the crop fields.
It’s smaller than mine, all one room with a separate bathroom off the house, and when I pull to a stop on the grass beside it, Bob prowls through the open doorway.
His golden eyes settle on me, like a warning not to get too close.
Lynx slowly follows a moment later. “All healed up,” he says as I climb out of the truck. “What a relief. And you beat Foley over the weekend, so everything is back to normal.”
“It is.”
He folds both hands over the porch railing while I cross my arms and lean against the warm hood of my truck. “Didn’t think you did house visits,” he says.
“I don’t. I came to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“About watching yourself.”
Like he can understand us, Bob makes a low noise in his throat.
Lynx glances at the enormous cat and then back at me. “I’m minding my own business over here. Can’t imagine what you mean.”
“Hudson and I are together?—”
“Dating the enemy?”
“And it doesn’t matter what’s happening in Old End. You need to trust that whatever happens will be for the best of us all. He doesn’t want to screw anyone over, but there are goals he needs to meet as well. So we’re working on it.”
Lynx tilts his head back, studying me. “And you trust him?”
Trust has always been a hard one for me. It doesn’t come easily, and it’ll never be my default. I’ve trained myself to expect the worst, which is great for preventing injuries out here, but not so great for wanting a stable relationship. “I’ve decided to, yeah.”
“Then I guess city boy is a Wender now,” he says dryly. “Lucky us.”
“It also means he’s off-limits. Him and his brothers. So this time when I tell you to stay out of Old End, I mean it.”
Lynx looks back at Bob, and I swear the two of them exchange a long look between them. “Can’t make any promises.”
“I can. You go near him, threaten him, hurt him, and it will be the last thing you ever do in my town.”
His hazel eyes stare me down. “How savage of you.”
“Don’t test me.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Hear that, Bob? Don’t test him.”
Bob lets out another warning sound.
I stride forward, close enough they can reach me, but I’m not scared of either of them, and I never will be. “You touch so much as a hair on his head, and no animal or knife will save you.”
Bob gives me a feral hiss, but I ignore him.
“Noted.” The curl to Lynx’s lips makes it hard to believe him, but all we have out here is our word. He’s given me his, and for better or worse, I’ve given him mine.
I told Hudson that I’m not a murderer, and I stand by that, but I am a protector, and I am dangerous. If Lynx comes near him again, I’ll do whatever I have to in order to defend my man.
I force a smile that still doesn’t feel right on my face. “That last crop of carrots were delicious, by the way.”
“Always nice to be appreciated.”
I turn and leave them, then kill some time before swinging back to grab Ziggy. He slides into the car and places his toolbox at his feet, and then we’re off again .
It’s a quiet drive, but he’s humming with something I can’t place. Something that brightens all of his usually hidden features.
“Crush still going strong?” I guess.
He scowls and crosses his arms over his narrow chest.
“I’d put in a good word for you, but I’m pretty sure Kennedy still thinks I’m mistreating his brother.”
That earns me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“It’s fine. Bringing Hudson back earned me some points, and I still have a long time to win him all the way over.
” I could probably try harder to convince Kennedy that I’m not another Sutton, but I’m still working on convincing myself.
I’d never treat Hudson like he did, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to treat him right all the time either.
Just like Kennedy, I still need time to trust myself that I can do it right.
We pull up in Old End, and I follow Ziggy out of the car. We walk straight into house two, and I trail after him, still not sure if I should stay or go. Hudson’s brothers … well, they intimidate. There’s no real reason for it other than this deep-seated want for them to like me.
“Ziggy!” Kennedy’s voice echoes through the old framework. “Wasn’t sure if you’d be here today.”
He holds up his toolbox.
“Awesome, let’s start over here.” Kennedy lightly sets his hand on Ziggy’s back and steers him away as Hudson notices me.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you.” He greets me with a long kiss, hand gripping my ass and long body pressed tightly against mine.
“I can go.”
“I never want that,” he says against my mouth. “But you never stop in. Everything okay?”
The question catches me off guard as I look into his trusting eyes, feeling the same emotion from him that’s been rattling around in my chest for so long now. “Yeah. It’s all sort of perfect.”
“Perfect is taking it a bit far.” He steps back, but his amusement is obvious as he gestures to the house. “Still lots of work to go.”
I tug him back against me. “I’m not romantic, so let me have this for a second. I can’t remember being happy like I am with you, so yeah. I’m allowed to think things are perfect because that’s exactly how I feel.”
“I’ve been scarily happy too,” he says, reaching up to play with my beard. “But every time I focus on being happy, I worry it will go away, and then it makes me sad again.”
“We’ve got issues.”
“Lots of issues. Lots and lots of perfect issues.”
I let out a small laugh and press my forehead to his. “Just taking this day by day, city boy.”
“Day by fucking day.” He kisses me again. “I’m glad you came by.”
“Me too.” I pull away a little, looking at all the work they have ahead of them. “Can I help?”
Hudson’s eyebrows almost shoot off his face. “Really? But?—”
“Yeah,” I cut him off because he doesn’t need to rehash my thoughts on this.
Like I told Lynx, I’ve chosen to trust him, and part of that comes from not having an answer to our problems and knowing that one day we will.
“But we’re doing this partner thing, and while I’ve never had one of those, I’m confident that one partner doesn’t leave the other to struggle through something alone. ”
“Well, I’ve had plenty of partner-type things, and in my experience, they do.” His smile is half sad, half hopeful. “So I’d love to try something different with you.”
“Let’s get started, then. ”
And like that, the cute moment between us passes, because neither of us likes to talk about emotions for too long. But the way we feel is still there in every look and every touch. We support each other, and we show up for each other.
That’s what’s important.
It doesn’t matter how many doubts I have that I can do this, because I want it. So bad. So I know we’ll make it work.
Me and my city boy.
’Til the end.