Page 45 of Stay With Me

Magnolia

Oh look, Ellie’s coming for some coffee. Hope I don’t accidentally let any of your secrets spill out…

Landen

Woman. I am begging you…

Goddammit, who is Thor?

Her mentioning Ellie must be why he was so quick to call her when she didn’t respond.

But what does she know about Landen that I don’t know? I was under the impression we told each other everything.

Then again, there’s a lot I haven’t told him recently.

Ellie’s a professional barrel racer that our sister’s been training for the past couple of years. She’s even younger than Noah, so this is aninterestingdiscovery.

But I still can’t get my mind off who the fuck this Thor guy is and why Landen wouldn’t tell me who he was when I asked him the first time.

“Hey, Skippy!” I shout, grabbing his attention as I hold up his phone and shake it.

He pats himself down, realizing he dropped it. “Shit. Thanks.”

“I’m gonna ask you one more time…who’s Thor?”

His face splits into a shit-eating grin and it pisses me off. “Again, it’s nobody.”

When he reaches for the cell in my palm, I grip it tighter and pull away. “Then why don’t you tell me about Ellie? Or should I ask her for myself…”

“Dude, what the fuck? What’d I do to you?” He quickly yanks it from my grip, and I let him keep it this time.

“I wanna know. She talks about him with you, so he must be important.”

Landen gives me a look that resembles pity, and I hate it.

“Yeah, he is important to her,” he clarifies.

My heart stops. “Oh.”

“Why don’t you finally tell her you like her instead of being a little bitch?” Landen crosses his arms, pinning me with a stare I don’t like.

“Sounds like I’m too late.”

“For fuck’s sake.” He rolls his eyes, then shoves me back. “Go ask her out. She’s parked at the retreat until three. Tell her you’re doing guest services this weekend and managin’ the Halloween party. And don’t forget to wear a costume.”

It’s Landen’s weekend, so I guess that means we’re swapping. All of us siblings and some of the ranch hands rotate karaoke and square-dancing nights for the guests at The Lodge, but since Halloween is Friday, we’re doing a special themed dance party for the kids with lots of candy surprises. At first, I was relieved it wasn’t my turn, but I’ll take any opportunity to spend time with Magnolia.

“And what if she laughs and says no? Or goes back to Travis? She already saw me freak out in the tux shop. Why would she wanna be involved with someone like that?”

And what if I’m no good at dating? Hell, I’ve never really done it.

Or worse, I fuck it up and ruin everything.

Landen pulls me in for a hug, something I hadn’t anticipated, and my shoulders tense before they relax against him. “Anxiety attacks aren’t a freak-out, Tripp. She’d never think less of you for them. You gotta know that. She’s liked you for a long-ass time. She told me after our date. That’s why we agreed to be just friends.”

“She did?” Their date was over three years ago.

“You’re the one who’s been pushin’ her away and giving her mixed signals. Not the other way around.”