Page 34 of My Wild Mountain Man

“Why?” he asked, completely dumbfounded.

“Because if I don’t, I know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

“Even if it means fucking up what we have? Our friendship? Our brotherhood? Our business?”

“Honestly? This is going to sound like a dick thing to say, but yeah.”

“What the hell,” he groaned dramatically. His head fell back.

“Austin, you know me. You know I wouldn’t do something like this if… if I genuinely could help it. But the idea of letting her go, seeing her with someone else?”

“What?” His attention slowly returned to me. I sighed.

“It fucking kills me.”

“What if you do try shit out? See where it goes, but it fucking blows up in your face and you still end up seeing her with someone else?”

“Then at least I can say that I tried.” I shrugged, answering so fucking honestly, it surprised myself. I wasn’t an emotional guy. Fuck, I wasn’t a relationship guy. But Raven changed that in me.

“Fine,” he muttered before he stood up, just as the door opened. “But you need to talk to him.”

“Talk to whom?” Onyx asked, showing up out of nowhere.

“The hops vendor. They keep doing their deliveries a day or two later than they say,” Austin quickly answered, and Onyx frowned.

“Why would Bash need to talk to him? Isn’t that your shit to deal with?”

“I get along with the guy.” I shrugged. Onyx shrugged and looked at us.

“You guys going to be back here all night, or what? It’s pretty busy with karaoke and shit.”

“We’ll be right there.”

“Yeah,” Austin muttered, patting Onyx on the back before hurrying the hell out to the bar.

“You good, man?” Onyx asked me. I nodded and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Yeah, man, just looking forward to a couple days off.”

“Right. I don’t blame you. I’m looking forward to my time off next week, too.”

“You finish the kitchen?” He shook his head. “Almost. The paint was off. I gotta redo it.”

“Really? Buddy usually doesn’t fuck up with paint.” Buddy was the old-timer who ran the hardware store in town.

“It wasn’t Buddy who mixed it,” he mumbled under his breath. “It’s not a big deal?—“

“What was wrong with it?”

“It had glitter.” My eyes widened.

“Glitter?” I repeated.

“It’s fine. The new paint should be in next week.” I wanted to ask if that was why he had been in such a hurry after finding me and Raven outside the diner, but I didn’t want to fuck shit up.

I wanted to talk to him.

To tell him that not only did I want to date his sister, but that I was fucking in love with her. I had no idea how the hell it was possible this crush, this infatuation, had grown the way it had, but there was no denying it.Monday, a little voice in my head muttered.

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