Page 65 of Love Fast

“She’s not looking to get into a relationship. And neither am I. We don’t see… whatever it is we’re doing as… It’s just not like that.”

Words are coming out of my mouth, but I’m not really saying anything.

They all stay silent. Waiting.

“I like her, okay? I’m not denying it.” Rosey has a way of making everything feel like it’s going to work out. I don’t know how she does it. “She’s got a lot of shit to work out.”

“Have you got shit to work out?” Worth asks. “Where was your family’s ranch in relation to this building?”

I sigh. “It was a farm. An apple farm. It was down in the valley. It was demolished a long time before I came back.”

“And building this is healing?” Fisher asks.

“A members-only resort is a really good business idea,” I say, my voice a little guarded.

“Right,” Worth says. “And you could have done it anywhere in the US. But you bought back the land your father gambled away and have built your kingdom in exactly the same spot.”

I let his words settle.

“So sue me,” I say. I don’t understand why this is a problem for any of them.

“I’m asking whether or not it’s helped. I’m your friend, Byron. It’s not a criticism. I want to know if you feel better. If you’ve laid ghosts to rest. If you’re ready for your future.”

I lower my defenses. Worth isn’t trying to hurt me. I know he isn’t. But he’s telling me truths I’ve been avoiding. I could have built the Colorado Club anywhere. But I settled on Star Falls.

“I think it’s only now that I’m righting some of the wrongs in my brain,” I say. “I avoided going into town for a long time. Last time I was here, my father’s gambling habit was the center of all the gossip, and I hated the place for it. Now I see it a little differently.”

“Differently how?” Jack asks.

“I think the people of Star Falls care about each other. I think they must have been horrified when the farm was repossessed. They weren’t being malicious. Not most of them anyway. I labelled myself as Mack Miller’s son as much as they did. I was running from something I couldn’t get away from. I’m always going to be his son.”

Fisher pats me on the back in a silent show of support. “So a place you’ve been running from has welcomed you back with open arms.”

“And I’m back older and wiser.”

“Are you back for good?” Jack asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I confess. All I can think about is what Rosey’s plans are. Where does she see herself this time next year? Is she going to want to spend her life at the Colorado Club? We’ve never talked about her future. Only about her past. But I want to know. I want to know everything about her. At first I thought I had to resist her, but now I’m craving more and more of her. She’s not a woman Iwantto resist anymore.

Since I’m not ready to get into all of that with the guys—at least not yet—I tell them, “I’ll always need to spend chunks of the year here unless I sell the place.”

The guys exchange looks.

“It’s a damn good job we submitted our membership applications, then, isn’t it?” Jack says.

“What?” I ask. “You guys didn’t need to do that.”

“We absolutely did,” Worth says.

“You had me atprivate powder,” Jack says. “Even if it’s not Courchevel.”

“My sisters will probably want to come, so it’s a place we can spend time together. I’m looking forward to it,” Worth says.

I don’t know what I did to deserve friends like this, but I know I’ll never take these guys for granted.

“After I gave all that input into the recording studio here, there’s no way I’m not bringing artists out here,” Fisher says. “This is going to be the new Abbey Road. Except the view is better. I have an artist lined up, actually. She wants guaranteed privacy. This is the perfect spot.”

“As long as she resists the call of the chicken wings at Grizzly’s,” Worth reminds him.

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