Page 31 of Trig
“I guess you’ll take online classes to finish up your degree then?” she asked, pulling me away from the photos. I followed her into the kitchen and leaned a hip against the counter as she measured out the coffee grounds.
“Why do you say that?”
“If you’re staying here in Devil’s Ditch, then you’d have to.”
“Lainey, I’m not staying here. I can’t.”
She finished the scooping and turned to me, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m going back to Seattle.”
Her forehead crinkled. “Why would you want to do that?”
“Because that’s where I belong.” Because that’s where I could hide from my father and Mr. Trout. Where the entire Wilder family wasn’t which meant they’d stay safe.
“You belong with Trig.”
“You’re just as obstinate sounding as your brothers,” I pointed out.
She set her hand on her chest. “Me?”
“What would you do if a guy you’ve just met tells you you belong to him?”
She sighed. “I’d probably melt into a puddle right then and there, then throat punch him.”
I laughed, because I definitely had melted into a puddle. “Exactly!”
“But Trig wouldn’t have said you belonged to him if he didn’t mean it.”
“He had no basis to make that decision.”
“Did you see him? He’s gorgeous. All of my brothers are, the losers. He could have any woman he wanted. In Devil’s Ditch. In Montana. Heck, with his work, all the buckle bunnies in North America.”
I frowned.
The coffee pot began to percolate and the scent of brewing beans filled the air.
“Gee, that’s helpful.”
“He has, never once, had a woman in his house. Maybe he doesn’t tell me everything, but we’re a tight family and word would have gotten to me.”
“Okay. I almost died in a blizzard. I wouldn’t say he had much choice in bringing me into his house.”
“If he only wanted a fling, he’d have said, ‘I want a fling’ but he didn’t.”
I was going to counter, but she had a point. He was gorgeous. He could have any woman he wanted. Probably had plenty.
“He wantsyou,Ellie.” She went about steaming the milk and the noise of it cut off any more talk.
She reinforced what Trig had told me. Reassured me that what I felt when I was with Trig was real. That there had been an instant connection between us. That when we had sex last night, it had been more than a one–or two time–thing.
We hadn’t used condoms and I wasn’t on birth control.
We hadn’t even talked about it at the time, only me mentioning that I wanted a big family. I hadn’t exactly meant starting on that later that night.
It had been so amazing, but he only mentioned me being his. Not keeping me forever.
When she handed me a mug with a frothy foamy top, I stared at it. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t stay. For me, this is a fling. It can’t be more.”
