Page 140 of Only With Me

“How’d you react?”

“Well, I knew since the beginning that he was someone I was supposed to hate. Everyone kept tellin’ me, ‘you can’t stand him, Ellie’…and Landen tried hard not to let me get too close. He knew as soon as my memory returned, I’d hate him even more. He was constantly waiting for the moment it came back and it felt like an evil trick. No one knew why I didn’t like him, so no one could tell me why.”

“Yikes, that’d be so frustrating.”

“It was! But even after I remembered, there were moments it felt like our relationship wasn’t real because of the four years prior, but me losing my memory gave us a real chance to explore our feelings. If I hadn’t, there’s no way we woulda ended up together.”

I nod, understanding her position.

“So what I’m sayin’ is, if it hadn’t happened exactly how it was meant to, everything would be different, and that makes me sad because I can’t imagine a life without him. So even if your relationship started out with deceptions, it brought you two together now. If you wanna make it work, you’re gonna need to hear him out. Listen to why he did what he did and then decide if you can forgive him and move forward.”

She parks next to my truck, then turns toward me.

“For what it’s worth, none of us have seen him this happy before. Wilder spilled his big fat mouth about y’all and then I started noticin’ the signs when I’d see him at The Lodge or during family dinner nights. His eyes are brighter. He laughs and smiles more than I’ve ever seen. And although I dunno him super well, I know he’d never hurt anyone on purpose.”

“I know…he’s been very patient and open with me.” I wave out a hand. “Minus this one thing.”

“And you have every right to be upset about it. In fact, make that man grovel like he’s never groveled before.” She smirks. “But don’t punish yourself by not being with him outta fear if he’s who you wanna be with in the end.”

“I do want him but I can’t help questionin’ everything I told him when I didn’t know it washim.It’d be one thing if we never had contact again, but then I found him on CowboyMatch and sent him a message to tease him about his prompt. We started casually chattin’ about how awful the guys on there were and that I had no datin’ experience. He had so many opportunities to tell me before he confessed his feelings to me.”

“If I know anything about the Hollis boys, they fall hard and get scared easily that they’ll lose it.”

“Yeah.” I release my belt. “Appreciate you drivin’ me.”

“No problem. Good luck, Harlow.”

I jump out. “Thanks, Ellie.”

When I get into my truck, I pull out my phone and find a message waiting for me.

Waylon: Harlow, I am so sorry you found out this way. I’ll explain everything whenever you’re ready to see me again. But please know I never wanted to hurt you or make you second-guess my feelings for you.

Because I don’t want to have this conversation over text, I type out a quick reply.

Harlow: Give me a few days. I’ll text you when I’m ready to talk.

Waylon: I can do that.

Dropping my phone, I let the tears welling in the corner of my eyes fall down my face.

When we started texting in a separate thread, I opened up and shared so much with him that didn’t involve my past and it made me feel seen for the first time in my life. I wasn’t the girl with the trauma. I was justme.

Realization hits when I think back to the day we were supposed to meet. He saw the pink ribbon in my hair before he saw my face and that’s when he acted like he was only there to grab coffee. While I sat and waited forhimto show up, he let me think I’d been stood up.

But why?

Why would he pretend he wasn’t the person I was there to meet?

I guess that’s the answer I need from him.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Waylon

It’s only been seventy-two hours since my last message to Harlow and I’m going crazy not hearing from her.

I know this is my fault, and I need to deal with the consequences of not telling her sooner, but fuck, I’m more miserable than I’ve ever been before.