I sniffled and wiped at the lone tear that broke free and made its way down my cheek. “Stop being so smart. It’s giving me a complex.”

Her laughter rang through the line. “Then stop being so damn hard-headed.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, honey. And I’ll be here no matter what.”

“You promise?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay.” We hung up and I sat up on a loud inhale to find Carson standing at my bedroom door, shoulder resting against the frame, a concerned smile on his face. “Hey,” I offered with a weak smile of my own.

“Hey, yourself.”

“How long have you been standing there?”

Pushing from the door, he walked into the room and sat beside me. “Long enough. You ready to join the land of the living again?”

Toying with a loose thread on the hem of my shirt, I shrugged. “I guess.”

He blew out a deep breath and stared at the wall ahead of him. I had just begun to wonder if we were going to sit in uncomfortable silence when he spoke. “You know, if there’s one guarantee in life, it’s that all guys are stupid assholes.”

“O-kay…?” I dragged out, my brows tipping in confusion at his random statement.

“I mean, seeing as I am a guy, I know that to be a fact. And because we’re stupid assholes, we have a tendency to do stupid shit. Take me for instance.” He turned to face me, his grassy green eyes holding a sincere grin. “I almost lost Cassidy once because I was a stubborn jackass. But lucky for me, I have this little sister who wanted nothing but the best for me. So when she saw how badly I was fuckin’ up, she called me out on my shit. She told me how much I’d changed when Cass came into my life, how much she wanted nothing more than to see me happy. She understood what it felt like to be beaten down over and over again, but she made me promise not to let my past dictate my future.”

“She sounds brilliant.” I giggled through my tears.

“Oh, she is. Smartest girl I’ve ever met. She’s the best sister I never had.”

Brushing the wet from my cheeks I smiled brightly up at him. “And you’re the best brother she’s never had.”

Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, Carson pulled me in for a hug and placed a kiss on the top of my head. “I’m not gonna like him,” he spoke. I laughed into his chest, knowing he was talking about Rowan. “I’d never like any guy you ended up with. But even though I hardly know the guy, and his first impression was shit, I can honestly say you had a glow when we visited that I’d never seen before. Cass saw it, too. So all I’m gonna say is if you can work out your issues, and he’s the guy who can make you that happy for the rest of your life, well, I’ll try really, really hard not to kill him.”

“I love you.” I laughed loudly before placing a kiss on his scruffy cheek.

“Love you, too, little bit. Now, let’s go eat. Anymore of this lovey-dovey shit and my balls are gonna shrivel up into raisins.”

I was running on fumes by the time I saw the sign for Willow Ranch. I was functioning on maybe six hours of sleep combined over the past four days. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d eaten anything. And I was pretty sure that rank odor I was smelling was myself.

But I refused to stop. The moment I’d gotten what I needed out of Harlow, I was on the first flight from New York to Texas. I hadn’t bathed or changed clothes since the last night I slept out on their goddamned stoop. I was fucking miserable, but if I didn’t get to Navie within the next five minutes, what was left of my sanity was likely to evaporate.

The minute a large white house with a wide wraparound porch came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was exactly how Harlow had described. I threw the car into park and jumped out, running up the steps like an Olympic hurdler.

“Navie!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as I beat on the rickety screen door. “Navie! I know you’re in there! Open the goddamned do—”

The front door shot open. Carson pushed through the screen door and stepped onto the porch, letting it slam closed behind him with a loud bang. “Have you lost your fuckin’ mind? You can’t just run up on someone’s house, beating on their door like a crazy person. This is Texas, man. You know we shoot people for that shit, right?”

His thinly veiled threat and the murderous glare in his eyes didn’t even register. “I don’t care. I need to see her.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared me down. “What makes you think she’s got any desire to see you?”

“I don’t know!” I raked my hands through my tangled hair. “She probably never wants to see me again, but I don’t give a shit. I’m in love with her! I’ve been going out of my fucking mind for four goddamned days, and I’m not leaving here until I see her.”

Something about everything I’d just said loosened Carson’s stance and made him smile. The adrenaline I’d been running on finally started to fade, and fear that he was actually going to shoot me took hold. Slapping me on the back, he pulled me to his side with a boisterous, “Well, why didn’t you say that? Come on in, we’re just about to have dinner.”

Yep, I was about to die. I had no doubt he was leading me to some sort of kill room with floor drains and plastic-covered walls, but if I got at least a glimpse of Navie before the end came, I could die a happy man.

Fortunately, to my surprise, he actually led me into a dining room filled with people. I recognized Cassidy right away. Next to her was a little girl who was her spitting image. I recalled Navie talking about her family a few times and if memory served, that was her daughter, Willow. There was an older man and woman I could only assume were Milly and Kal, Cassidy’s aunt and uncle, and another man and woman, who looked to be in their mid-twenties. I tried to remember if Navie had ever mentioned them, but everything around me suddenly faded away when the door from the kitchen pushed open and the woman I’d been going crazy over walked into the room holding a large bowl of green beans.

She came to a sudden halt when she saw me, those beautiful, dark blue eyes widening, her jaw dropping slightly in surprise. I was so focused on her, soaking in every single thing I could, trying to memorize her beauty in that moment, that I hadn’t noticed the room had grown eerily quiet.

“H-hi,” she stuttered uncomfortably, her gaze darting around my face like she was trying to memorize me, as well.

“Hi.”

We didn’t say anything else. Carson, however, took that as an opportunity to break up the silence. “Guys, this is Rowan Locklaine, Navie’s boss. He’s here to grovel and beg for forgiveness. Rowan, you know Cassidy. This is our daughter, Willow.” He pointed at the little girl. “That’s Kal and Milly,” he said, indicating the older couple. “And these are our friends, Lana and Zeke.” He waved a hand at the last two people at the table.

Like it wasn’t the most awkward introduction in the history of existence, Carson pulled out a chair on the other side of his wife and took a seat. Looking around uncomfortably, I noticed the only available chair was one directly across from where Navie was standing. Not wanting to risk losing sight of her, I ignored the stares from everyone and sat down, watching as she nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and lowered into her own chair, placing the bowl on the table without lifting her eyes.

“Hi,” I repeated, like a fucking moron. I just needed her to lift those eyes back up to me. The instant she did, my heart flipped in my chest.

She blushed red as she gazed at me through her lashes. “Hi.”