Page 64 of An Uphill Battle

“Only you,” I promise him. “Always—” My words fall away as I fall apart beneath him, and I swear, as he follows behind me, I hear him murmur, “Happy New Year, LittleBit.”

35

Drake

We’refour weeks into the new year and things are fucking amazing. If I’m not working on the farm, I’m with Azalea. We split our time between friends, families, and alone time—my favorite. Even better, Azalea and her girls breezed past the drama with Kelly and Kasey and easily accepted them into their fold, claiming the more themerrier.

And I’m not gonna lie, it’s awesome getting to hang with all of my friends at the same time, not having to pick and choose. Hell, sometimes, when the girls get together at an event and they get to talking, I’ll catch them all looking over at me, looking guilty as hell, like they’re all sharing secrets aboutme.

I. Love.It.

Life is good, and come Valentine’s Day, it’s only gonna getbetter.

* * *

“Y’all doing anything for the fourteenth?”I ask Cash, laid back in Simon’srecliner.

“Think we’re gonna stay at the house with Brody and chill. He’s been extra clingy lately.” He twists toward me from his spot on the couch. “What abouty’all?”

“We’ve got plans. Azalea doesn’t know it yet, but wedefinitelyhaveplans.”

“Oh, yeah? What?” Cash asks as he pops a cocktail weenie into hismouth.

“You let me worry about that,brother.”

Cash goes to respond, but Simon walks in, two beers in his right hand and a Coke in his left. “Y’all gonna sit around and gossip all day, or are we gonna watch somefootball?”

Cash rolls his eyes, because he couldn’t give two shits that it’s Super Bowl Sunday. He’s just here to chill, and probably for the food. “Yeah, yeah, shutit.”

“I’m for real, though. Y’all’re sitting around like a bunch of girls yappin’ about your V-Day plans. Hell, listening to you two, you’d think the girls were herealready.”

Smirking, I cut my eyes to him. “Just you wait. One day, you’ll be just as damn sappy. You know what they say, ‘The bigger they are, the harder theyfall.’”

He snorts out a laugh, not taking my words to heart. But I mean every single one. I know Simon keeps his feelings under lock and key, but I also know he feels ten times bigger than the rest ofus.

We’re thirty minutes from kick-off when Myla Rose and Brody arrive, Azalea in tow. Cash stands and heads straight for his wife and son while I let Azzy come tome.

“Where’s Magnolia?” Simon asks just as the sickening sound of metal crushing metal ricochets through the house. “The hell was that?” Simon jumps up from the couch, rushing toward the front porch, all of us hot on hisheels.

Flinging open the front door, he finds Seraphine on the other side, her eyes frantic. “Simon!” Her voice is high and panicked. “Oh–oh my God. Help! I called 9-1-1, but I need... She’s stuck. It was an accident...” Seraphine’s words are barely coherent through all of herdistress.

“What? What was an accident?” Simon steps around Seraphine, pausing at the top step of his porch before taking off at a full run toward the side of the yard where he parks histruck.

“Stay here!” I tell the rest of our group as I take off after him, shocked as shit when I find Magnolia’s rusty little Honda crushed up like a soda can, the tailgate of Simon’s truck wrapped around it like a bow. “What the hell? Is sheokay?”

“I don’t know! I can’t get her door open,” Simon yells, yanking on the crippled metal with all hismight.

Seraphine approaches us cautiously. “I followed her here, since she’s not the best driver. I’m not sure what happened. It’s almost like she missed the brake and hit the gas instead and lost control. Is sheokay?”

“I–I don’t know.” Simon sounds utterlydefeated.

Two seconds later, the sound of sirens fills the air and Simon’s yard is littered with emergencyvehicles.

I stand helplessly with Seraphine and Simon while the emergency workers cut away the door to Magnolia’s car. We look on with bated breath as they help her from the car, loading her directly onto a backboard. “I–I’m fine,” she croaksout.

At the sound of her voice, it’s like an invisible thread snaps, and Simon rushes to her side. “Bet you wish you’d taken me up on those driving lessons, huh,Goldilocks?”

Magnolia tries to smile at him, but it comes out as more of a grimace. “A–are you m–mad at me?” she asks, tears streaking down herface.

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