Page 59 of Wildest Forever

“What drink do you want?”

“I'll have the milkshake,” Pops pipes up and I laugh.

“Hey, that's what I was going to go for.”

“You can't deny a dying man...” he smirks, his eyes flitting between mine as playfulness dances around in them.

“He has a point,” Pacey says as he stands and grabs the shake from the cup holder and pops the straw in.

“What flavor?” he asks as Pacey puts it into his hand.

“Strawberry,” I hear the hesitance to Pacey's answer.

“My favorite,” he takes a sip, and I see how happy a little milkshake has made him.

“What do you want babe?” Pacey says then freezes, his eyes widening at the name that just left his mouth, and I stare at him.

Babe.

“Soda,” I squeak, suddenly my throat is dry.

Pacey walks over to the other side of the room and reaches for the soda and pinches a straw up before he is back beside me, handing it to me.

“Thank you...” I trail off, looking up at him, “babe,” and he smirks, eyeing the floor as he laughs softly and joins us back on the bed with a coffee and we fall into an easy conversation with pops.

We spent most of our afternoon in there and by the time he had fallen asleep, the nurses are back and it is just us two.

“You all set for work tomorrow?” I find myself asking as Pacey ties the trash bag up and pulls it from the bin.

“I am never set for work tomorrow,” he grumbles as he walks past me and out of the front door, but within what feels like seconds he is back in the house.

“Did you always want to be sheriff?” I find myself asking as I put a new trash bag into the bin.

“Nope,” he sticks his hand under the warm faucet and washes them with soap.

“What did you want to do?” he shakes his hands off then reaches for the hand towel, patting his hands dry.

“No idea. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cowboy,” he scoffs a laugh and his eyes trail to me. “But then I grew up, I finished school, worked on the ranch for a bit, then went into being livestock agent... and well, Tripp stepped down and gave me the badge.”

“You must have felt proud.”

He shakes his head.

“I wouldn't say proud...” he sighs, “it's more a burden... I'm not sure how long I will do it for. But at the minute, I have no other option but be the sheriff of Lovelock Bay,” he shrugs a shoulder up.

“You must have a dream?” I ask him, pushing for more and I know I should probably back down, but I don't.

“Never had a dream, Sunflower. I've always been one of those that just go with the flow...”

“And look where that got you,” I snort a laugh.

He looks at me as if I have said something wrong, his hands fisted into his pockets as he steps towards me slowly.

“It got me married to a sunshine cowgirl... wouldn't say that was a bad thing.”

My cheeks pinch a rose pink and I cast my eyes down.

“How about you... dream?” he asks, and my fingers find my hair as I twirl it around.

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