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“I know, I know. But just hear me out, okay?” she said. “I’ve heard everything from Wade’s side. He wants to make things right. He wants you, Ray, I can promise you that. I’ve never known this man to want anything or anyone specifically, but he definitely wants you.”
“And I’m just supposed to believe him?”
“I’m not saying that” she sighed. “I just want you to hear him out. And I think, in a neutral zone with other people around, you’re both less likely to go for each other's throats and more likely to actually listen to one another.”
Hunter watched me like a hawk. “I’m… I don’t know, Mands.”
“Wade wants to take you on a date?” Hunter asked, his voice quiet. I nodded. “Say yes.”
“What?” I snapped, confusion wrapping tightly around my mind.
Why is everyone pressuring me to see him?
“What?” Mandy echoed.
“Not you, sorry.”
“Say yes, Ray,” Hunter pushed. “You said it yourself, or you almost did. You love him. At least try to figure it out. It’s worth it.”
“Who’s that?” Mandy asked.
“Fuck this is getting confusing,” I groaned. “Hunter is here. Give me a second.”
“You owe it to yourself to figure out where this leads if you’re having his kid,” Hunter whispered. “If there’s a chance you guys can work it out and be happy, surely that’s the best possible outcome.”
My thoughts spiraled as I watched him. He seemed sincere, trustworthy, but was that enough to convince me to put myself on the line again? I wasn’t sure. But his words held truth in them. If there was a possibility for Wade and I to work out, I’d want that for my future child.
I pressed a hand against my stomach and spoke directly into the phone. “Okay,” I sighed. “I’ll do it, Mandy.”
Chapter 38
Wade
Tugging at the tie around my neck to give me room to breathe, I stepped across the threshold into the winery. Normally, events such as this—a fundraiser supporting various charities filled to the brim with Boulder’s elite—were easy for me to handle. I’d give a speech or two, donate a large sum, and drink to my heart’s content with people I couldn’t care less about.
But tonight was different in more ways than one. Jackson and Mandy had tagged along and left Cassie at home with Gianna, Mandy’s mother. The fundraiser itself was one specifically for Alzheimer's and Dementia patients, funding care for further research. And the cherry on top, the reason I was so fucking stressed out was because Ray would be in attendance thanks to my two scheming best friends.
“I don’t know why you’re so annoyed about this,” Mandy said, her eyes rolling as she clocked my nervousness in physical form. Her unruly hair was tied up neatly in a bun, little ringlets falling around her cheeks. “If I would have warned you in advance, you wouldn’t have agreed to it.”
“That’s not true,” I shot back. I fiddled with my cufflinks before mindlessly pulling at the neck of my shirt. Fuck, why did it feel so tight?
“You know it is.” Jack spun around, walking backward into the main room of the winery. “I’m sorry we dropped the news on you so late. But Mandy’s right. If we’d have told you, you would have gone to her house or accosted her at work to get a word in privately.”
“How is that worse?” I snapped, narrowing my eyes at Jack. “Surely talking to her in private is better than the two of us blowing up at each other in front of at least a hundred people.”
That was easily an underestimation. There had to be at least two hundred, maybe three. Music poured from the speakers and glasses clinked. Far too much merriment for what would inevitably turn into another bad night for me and Ray, based on our recent history.
“That’s the thing, Wade,” Mandy piped up. “I don’t think either of you want the press taking photos and videos of you two screaming at each other and interrupting a charity event. Plus, Jack and I are here to keep you two in check.”
Biting my upper lip to calm my rising irritation, I glanced around the room, not wanting to give either of them the satisfaction. I hated when they were right. “Is she here?”
Mandy’s smile grew. “She’s outside.”
The only thing that seemed to calm my nerves in the slightest was knowing that Ray was likely as nervous as I was. Jackson and Mandy led me through the sea of people, each of us stopping to pick up a glass of wine along the way. Streamers and vines of wisteria hung from the wooden beams in the ceiling, contrasting the cheapness of the tacky banner tied up to the bar that read Fighting Dementia: One Drink At A Time.
Out the back door of the winery, marquees lined the property under the tree line and the crystal clear night above. The music was softer out there, muffled from the speakers inside, and the crisp, early spring air kept most people indoors.
I spotted an uncomfortable-looking Ray and instantly my breath caught in my throat. She looked far more beautiful than the image I’d painted of her in my mind. She stood with her arms crossed, her back to me. Her curls fell down her back in glistening ringlets, the deep brown locks catching in the flickering light of a chiminea heater. And her dress… it was the same one she’d worn the first night at the resort. The dark green one that hugged every inch of her, with the plunging V-neckline and that slit up the thigh, the one that had driven me insane all evening.
