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Dad sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face before his gaze settles on mine. “You get those assholes?”
“At least three of ’em.” If they hadn’t shot Gray, I damn sure would’ve taken out more.
Dad nods. “That’s guaranteed to piss ’em off.”
“Good. It’s what I do best.” Right now, my hands itch to go fuck up some shit, specifically a few more Skull Crushers, but the look on my father’s face says that he won’t authorize it. Not tonight.
“Soon,” he promises before having a quick word with Gray.
I stay with Gray, lost in my thoughts as he drifts in and out of sleep. I wait for Ivy to come. Sooner or later, she’ll show up here at his side.
It’s where she belongs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ivy
Gray or Stone. Stone or Gray. Those two men. Those two names. They bounce around in my brain on a fucking loop. I can’t quiet it, no matter what I do.
So, I do everything I can to stop obsessing over my two closest friends in the world. I run around the ranch, even though I’m not a runner. I help muck out stalls, feed animals, unload booze, and even wash bikes. Anything and everything that occupies my mind that will allow me to do something other than think about Gray and Stone.
The fucked up thing of it is that I know what I want. I think I’ve always known, but I never let myself think it or believe it. For the past few years, it’s been easy to forget about Stone. But now that the option is staring me right in the face, I can’t stop thinking about him. “Fuck.”
Maggie laughs loudly, the sound pulling me from my exhausting thoughts. “That bad, huh?”
I blink to clear the fogginess in my mind. It’s late afternoon, and we’re in Maggie’s kitchen, indulging in a bottle—okay, two bottles—of wine to drink away my problems.
“What’s that bad?” I ask innocently.
Maggie laughs again and pulls a fresh bottle of red from the fridge. “We’re upgrading to red at three in the afternoon, and I know there’s a reason. A big, sexy, blond reason. Spill.”
My lips tingle just thinking about Stone, but I keep that to myself. Gray’s been nothing but good to me. Supportive and loving. I’d be an asshole to fantasize about someone else, to think about leaving him. Wouldn’t I?
“Honestly, there’s nothing to spill. At least, I don’t think there is.”
Maggie scoffs. “Well, that’s a big load of bullshit.” She sets the bottle on the table between us before retrieving fresh glasses. She spares a quick smile for Freya before turning back to me. Her adorable little girl is sleeping in her playpen.
Maggie searches the counter for the corkscrew. “My ex. The guy I was with before I met Nova. Well, actually, he’s the reason I met Nova, or rather his death is.”
My eyes grow wide as she tells me all about her childhood best friend turned boyfriend. His name was Demon, and her story unwinds like a fucking daytime soap. “So you’re wifed up by one of the guys who killed your ex? That’s wild.”
Her lips tug into a grin. “I’m pretty sure Nova wasn’t there when Demon was taken out, but he did it to himself. He was so fucking stubborn, and he refused to listen. Because of that, I almost died, too. At least twice.”
“If this is supposed to convince me to choose my best friend, you’re doing a really shitty job.” I shake my head while she fills our glasses. “Okay, seriously. What’s the point of that story? Because I’m not getting it.”
“My point,” she begins but stops to take a long, slow sip of the hearty red wine, “is that you know what you want. Stop all the overthinking because you think there’s a right answer or one that’s more socially acceptable. There’s not.”
Is that what I’m doing? Trying to figure out the response that doesn’t make me the bad guy? Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m doing. “Shit. You’re right.”
“I know.” She sighs, grabbing her glass as she sits back in the chair. “I knew who Demon was even when I got with him. He was my best friend for a long fucking time. Yet, I saw the way he was changing, and I still dove in headfirst anyway.”
“No offense, but it doesn’t sound like it was all that great.” It sounds like it was a dangerous and toxic relationship.
“It wasn’t. But it was familiar, and when you don’t have anyone else in the world, you hang on to what and who you have.” Maggie’s gaze shifts, and she looks like she’s gone somewhere else for a moment before she turns a sad smile my way. “There was never a fucking chance that I wasn’t gonna shoot my shot with Demon. It was inevitable. He was different, even though he hardly resembled the guy I grew up with. It was fucking inevitable.”
Inevitable. That sounds like the perfect word to describe what I’m feeling, the pull I have—have always had—to Stone. “Dammit.”
“Yeah.” Maggie nods, and a knowing smile spreads slowly. “That shit hits hard, doesn’t it?”
