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dani

Bottle Grounds is calmer tonight, given that it’s a Tuesday, but this is just how I like family dinner nights.

Mom used to try to cook for these, but after rushing home from the store after a long day at work, she became so frazzled and exhausted that we’d end up eating at nine at night.

Eventually, Dad took the initiative to take us out for dinner instead, and we’ve been doing it ever since, though this was the first time we’d come to Bottle Grounds.

Stetson nudges me in the arm. “Do you see Annmarie?”

I bite back a smirk and look around thoughtfully. My cousins make fun of Stetson, but I found his crush adorable. Although he is twenty-five and probably didn’t appreciate me thinking of him that way, so I am careful to keep that to myself.

“I don’t see her.” I finally learned her name after the last time I was here, and Stetson talked my ear off about how wonderful she is. Then again, all he said was she had a mane of gold, and her shy smile could light up outer space, so I still don’t know much about her. I suppose I would get better information if he was talking about her while sober.

“Damn,” he says, slumping slightly before he looks over and nods at someone at a table. “I was hoping to talk to her.”

I smile at him as my parents chat with Thea. Though I was starving, I didn’t rush them through their conversation with the hostess.

Even though I’m pretty sure talking about what they had for breakfast is unnecessary.

“Dang it, I’m starving,” a voice says beside me, and I turn, smiling at my little cousin Luella. Logan’s daughter was tall for thirteen and just as beautiful as she was smart. With long brown hair and bright-green eyes, I was sure that my cousin would be in for a fun ride once she reached dating age.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and hug her. “How come you don’t come see me anymore?”

She turns, giving me a smile and shrug. “How come you don’t come kidnap me for a sleepover?”

I raise a brow at her smart reply. “Touché. ”

She grins and looks at her uncle, who is scanning the restaurant, she grabs his hand with hers, and he turns, giving his niece a broad smile. I’ve never seen a girl so doted on by family, but this girl has three uncles who would kill for her.

“You finally going to ask her out?” she asks him, giving him an ornery look.

“Ask who out?” a deep voice asks me from behind, and I spin around to see Cade standing behind me.

I open my mouth in surprise and confusion, not allowing my brain to process his presence. “Uh, what?” I shake my head, and he smiles at me. Damn it, it isn’t fair that his smile did that to my insides. “What are you doing here?”

I haven’t seen Cade in a couple of days, not since I turned him down for dinner. Every time I went to the barn to work, he was out somewhere. I didn’t ask anyone because there was never anyone to ask, and I didn’t want to seem needy or like I needed him for anything. Because I don’t.

Cade just widens his legs and stands casually. “Dinner with the fam,” he says, nodding his head slightly to his left, and I see what I missed before. Cal, Graham, Quinn, and Alex are all there, now talking to my folks. Quinn waves happily at me, and I return it .

“Oh, that’s great,” I say, trying my best to come up with something smart to say, but I’m at a loss.

Being around Cade makes me feel fluttering inside, and I’m terrified of letting that show. He could hurt me again; he could ruin what little grasp of friendship we’ve rekindled—though we’re far from where we once were.

“That sounds nice!” Cal exclaims in a loud voice and pats my dad on his shoulder. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but it’s nice to see Cal and my folks talking and laughing. They used to be the best of friends, and now that I think about it, I wonder if they still are.

I never asked them to, but my parents tended to not bring up the Trevors much around me. They were very clearly trying to spare my feelings, as parents do.

Finally, Thea leads us to a table, and Luella presses her hands together, mouthing something to the ceiling, and I laugh as I follow behind her. My little cousin was a spitfire, but I loved her to death.

“Lue,” my aunt Didi says. “Come sit by me. I wanna talk.”

She obeys, and I pick a seat at random. It’s not until after I sit that I see the table is larger than we need and notice that the entire Trevors clan is sitting with us .

A chair scrapes next to me, and I know before I look who is gonna be seated next to me. After several meal invitations from him, I’m not surprised to find that he took the first opportunity he had to sit beside me, with our entire families here or not.

As if that’s not bad enough, he reaches over, grasps the seat of my chair, and slides me over to him in one quick movement. I yelp, and everyone looks over at us.

My mom gives me a knowing look, shooting me a wink, before turning her attention back to Quinn.

“CT,” I hiss under my breath, and he leans closer, his right arm swinging around the back of my chair, his left forearm resting on the table. He’s facing me completely, and his nearness makes it hard to breathe. “What are you doing?”

“I’m just sitting down for dinner,” he replies, that spark in his eye so telling.

I sigh and pick up a menu, trying my best to ignore him, but then his finger rubs over the skin at the back of my neck, and I feel a shiver race down my spine. I regret wearing the open-backed tank now as I try to suppress the chill that’s spreading over my body. I turn to him, and the look in his eyes—that hungry yet tender look—has me quaking in my boots .

“CT, what are you thinking?” I ask, my tone breathy and exasperated.

“I’m thinking that I fucked up.” His hushed response filled with honesty makes me stop and I wait with bated breath.

“Is now a good time to talk about this?” I ask in a whisper, diverting his attention.

“It’s as good of a time as any,” he replies, looking around the busy table. No one is watching us, which is surprising, considering how damn nosy every single person at this table is. “I’ve been trying to work out in my head what to say to you.”

I pause, not looking at him, keeping my gaze fixed on a menu I’m not even coming close to reading.

“I fucked up, Dani.” He leans his head closer, and I can smell the mint gum he always favored on his breath. “I know it as well as anyone, but I’ll be damned if I fuck it up a second time.”

“Second time?” I’m embarrassed by how breathless I seem at his words, combined with the continuous touches on my neck.

“Yes,” he tells me. “I’m not trying to force anything on you. We’ll take our time, but…” He pauses, and I turn my head to the left, putting our faces close together. So. Fucking. Close. Together .

I lose my breath all over again. “We’ve been handed a second chance—I,” he corrects, his hand moving more boldly on the back of my neck, gripping it tightly and tenderly. “I have been handed a second chance, and if you let me, I’ll do everything I can to show you I’m a man worth loving again.”

The man literally wants to make me cry at a table full of family in the middle of a restaurant, but I don’t. I manage to keep it together.

“You don’t have to say anything. You can think this through. Take as much time as you need. I’m not going anywhere.” He finishes his statement, and his eyes are honest, letting me know this isn’t some silly joke, not a prank, but really, truly, how he feels.

I crack a smile and sigh, mulling over how to respond before finally landing on. “You trying to make me cry in front of people, CT?” Not really what I’d planned to say, but…

Cade cracks a smile, but his eyes are sad, filled with the pain of our past. “I’m trying to never make you cry again.”

Well.

Just…well.

Laughter erupts from our table as everyone chats and reminisces. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen my parents this happy, but it was this family. Not just the West and Cash family, but the Trevors added an immense amount.

I relax in my chair. A finger brushes along my shoulder and instead of lifting away from the hand, I allow it to happen.

For a moment, I allowed myself to pretend all was well and normal and right because it felt so good. It was a rare thing to have such close friends, but we’d all been tighter than family.

Donna may have been the glue that held us all together back then, which I’d never really thought about, but if she was watching now, I knew there would be a smile on her face at the sight.

“Or.” Logan chuckles. “Remember when CT decided he was going to be a master roper?”

Cade rolls his eyes in jest. “I was damn good. You just like to bring up the one instance where I racked myself with the hondo. ”

The memory brings laughter to my chest. Cade looks at me with a smile on his face. “You just had to practice in shorts.”

“It was like midnight!” he defends, laughing with the rest of us and pointing at Logan. “And you were just mad ’cause Melody was fascinated by me and not you.”

“I was definitely pissed. I bought her a Coke, and all I got was to watch her fawn over you.” He pretends to be offended, and I chuckle, rolling my eyes. Logan catches my eye. “You hated Melody.”

Quinn glances up and smiles deviously. “Ooh, why did we hate Melody?”

My chest warms at the way she says we, like no matter what I say next, she would be on my side. “Melody was interested in any boy who looked remotely interesting.” I glance at Cade, who is trying to hide a smug smile beneath his beard. “CT was interesting because he was winning.”

“And I was beneath her because I rode broncs,” Logan comments. “She thought it wasn’t prestigious enough.”

Cade shakes his head. “She was a pain in the ass. One of many.” Graham, Logan and Stetson lift their beers to him, and Quinn and I roll our eyes.

Thea comes up behind Logan then, holding a very full tray of food. Jason delivers more to the other end, where our folks are all sitting with Luella and Alex. Logan glances up, giving her a smile that I track only because it’s been a long time since my cousin has shown blatant interest in a woman.

She sets the food down in a hurry, mixing up a couple of orders before she rushes away. Logan watches her as she leaves, his grinning lips never falling before he turns back to the rest of us. I’m not the only one who notices, but the chatter picks up as everyone settles in to eat.

I pick up my fork as Cade leans into me. My shoulder tenses as his scent wraps around me. “How’s your meat?”

I take a small bite of the steak in front of me, letting myself savor its flavor. “Mm,” I hum, and feeling ornery, I give him a wink and say, “Nice and juicy.”

I hear a groan come from the seat beside me as he moves and adjusts. I feel victorious for a moment. I may not be ready to accept that Cade wants to be with me again, but it couldn’t hurt to flirt…just a little.