Page 75 of Never Started
Via takes a step back from me, as if I physically slapped her. Regret fills me instantly. I hate that I snapped at her like that. I'm overwhelmed by everything flooding in and struggling to process it all.
She's the one person who's capable of seeing through my exterior armor, but I don't need her breaking through it on thisone. Not now. I need to get it together, stay composed, and get through this week.
She gives me a soft smile. "I'm here if you need to talk, always." And with that, she turns to walk away.
Fuck.
"V, I'm sorry. It's just... There... are…"
"Hey, Iz, you coming?" Mav calls after me out of the cabin's front door, and I see Ander heading back toward the ATV out of the corner of my eye.
"I love you, Izzy," Via whispers.
I nod and turn toward the cabin to head to Maverick. Via and Ander pull out, and making my way onto the porch, Maverick wraps me into him.
"You okay?" he asks softly into my ear, placing a kiss on my neck.
"I would be if everyone would stop asking me that." My tone is dry and clipped. I shrug out of his embrace and enter the cabin.
Chapter thirty-three
Jett
November 2023
She's here.
Not only did I know she was here, but I could feel her presence since the second they stepped onto the property. It consumes me, as it always has.
I've watched her from afar for six years, and now she's here. With another guy, at that.
The anger coursing through me at that fact is unmatched.
I was taken aback last month when Ander announced that he had found his way back to Via. I had always hoped that would be the case for Izzy and me, but that was cut short when I learned she was exclusive with someone else.
I had a hunch she was with the guy from his multitude of social media posts that included her. However, not one single post of hers has ever included him. I had made the assumption that he was into her, but in typical Izzy fashion, she didn't entertain anything more.
That is, until I learned otherwise.
A relationship.
The one thing she could never seem to do with me.
Why was I not good enough? Why was I not the one? Did I not show my love the way I was supposed to? Did she not feel the same way about me? Obviously, she didn't. But, again, why? I felt it. I know it was real. She could say otherwise all she wanted. We were real. For some reason, I wasn't enough; apparently, he is.
The thoughts race, attempting to consume me as they usually do, where she's concerned, and I attempt to bury them with work. It's what I've become good at over the past six years.
"Henry," I call out.
"Yeah, boss?"
"Would you stop calling me that?" I growl, scowling, which pulls a laugh out of the elderly man who refuses to quit working for the ranch. He says the day he stops working is the day he's dead. Cowboying is all he knows. In all honesty, he may be older, but he's my right hand and helps me keep this place afloat.
"You go home, enjoy your family,” I say, patting him on his shoulder. “I'll take it from here."
"Jett, you have company. Go visit, it's my—"
"Go, Henry," I demand, leaving no room for arguing. "You're getting paid either way. Don't worry about the money. Now, go."
