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“You’ve always made me happy, Ro. When you kissed me all those years ago, it felt so right. So perfect.” His eyes darkened a little. “So hot. But then worries and voices came crashing into my head, telling me I had to be smart. Stay focused. So many people pinned their dreams on me, too. Mum, Dad, my coach. And then there was Coop. I knew how protective he was of you. All your brothers. Your gran. And I’d never want them to think I’d taken advantage of you.”

Brody shifted a little beside me and dipped his head. “And then I got your note. You called the kiss a mistake. Something never to be repeated. Talked about our lives and the different paths we’d follow. Gave all the reasons we shouldn’t be anything more than friends. I’ll admit, your words hurt.”

My heart skipped, and a bitter taste rushed into my mouth. “I’m sorry.” If only he knew how much. In one hasty note, I’d never given the two of us a chance. But I hadn’t known how much my heart would rip when he left.

Brody brought his head back up. “Don’t be. On some levels, you were right. I had to leave town. I had people’s hopes riding on me. My own dreams to shoot for. And say we’d taken things further, dated even. College and hockey consumed me. I spent all my time training. We’d hardly have seen each other. It wouldn’t have been fair to you, and I never wanted you to feel you played second fiddle to my career.” Brody ran his fingers over the back of my hand. “I never wanted you to feel that you weren’t enough. That I didn’t care enough to be around.”

“But that’s just what you did. You never replied to my note. Even if you’d said you agreed with me, it would have been better than me not knowing how you felt.”

“Fuck.” Brody’s voice tottered, like there was a crease that needed ironing out. “I replied. I just never sent it. Call me a coward, but I was too scared to tell you how much I cared. Howmuch you meant to me.” He turned, his blue eyes boring into what felt like my soul. “And I’ll always regret it.”

His brow creased, and he let go of my hand, searching his pocket. After a long beat, he brought out his wallet. He opened it and pulled out a small folded piece of paper. It looked like it’d been there since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. He handed it to me. “I kept the note I wrote you. I’ve carried it around with me. I want you to take it and read it when you’re alone. And if you ever doubt how much I care, just remember the words inside.” He pressed the square of paper into my palm and closed my hand around it.

I nodded and, with a tiny smile, slipped the note into my pocket. It would burn a hole in my shorts until I opened it.

“Have you said everything you want to?” I asked, my heart thumping like a kettledrum in my chest.

He huffed a breath and nudged his giant shoulder gently into mine. “I’ve only just started. I’m in awe of you, Ro. You bring the sunshine into the day. Please give me another chance. I’ll be whatever you need me to be. Do whatever you want me to do. Just say we can try. Even if I had my contract back tomorrow, I’d ask for the same thing.”

I looked up at Brody, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The tenderness, the soft glow in his eyes, made my chest contract.

“This feels like home.” He nodded to the lake and the roofs of the town that peeped over the treetops. “You’re my home, and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.”

As I drowned in his eyes, I chewed at my lip. It would be so easy to tuck my fears away, ask no questions, and kiss the living crap out of him right here on the jetty. But Mom had said that I should get the answers I needed before I fully opened my heart to Brody. “Now it’s my turn.”

Brody gave the smallest of nods before intertwining his fingers through mine. With blood screaming in my ears, I began. “I’m sorry for not trusting you yesterday. For assuming the worst. I think deep down, you’d never knowingly hurt me.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Still. I had no right to question who you saw and what you were doing. Even if it was with that unspeakably gorgeous supermodel journalist friend of yours.”

The corners of his mouth ticked up a little. Thank goodness he’d seen the humor in my words. I’d thought long and hard about what I’d seen them do together, and it was nothing more than having a coffee and a hug. Things I’d do with my close friends, male or female. Hell, I’d even hugged a goat in the town square. That his friend had pore-free skin and perfect brows didn’t mean he’d automatically succumb to any of her other charms.

Brody brushed his thumb over my knuckles. “Nobody is as beautiful as you. You’re perfect.”

At those words, my heart almost exploded into a giant confetti ball on the spot. It was all I’d ever wanted to hear, but Mom sat on my shoulder, being all wise and practical. Not wanting me to fall for pretty words. She wanted me to finish the speech we’d prepared together. As I steeled myself, a gentle breeze kissed my cheeks from across the lake.

“And with Millan and the Scalpers. I’m guessing you didn’t make a deal.”

He shook his head. “Honestly, I hadn’t. I called and told him about you, but only because I was so proud of what you could do. Any offer Millan made to you had nothing to do with me. You’re incredible, Ro. Everything you do. I wish you’d see that.”

“Incredible? With my cheer team? My silly Etsy store?”

“It’s not silly.”

“I’m sure that’s what you called it back in the diner when you first arrived.”

“That was unfair of me. I’m sorry. I was trying to make you laugh.”

I tutted, “Well, even if my store isn’t silly, there’s someone out there in the world waiting for four sets of owls that still look like mutated Christmas puddings.”

Brody chuckled. “They won’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Customers can be demanding! Someone’s paid for those owls.”

“I promise, they won’t mind.”

I tightened my brows. Who was he to be giving business advice? “You can’t possibly know that.”