Page 111 of Fool for You
“Where are you going with this?” I raised a brow, cutting her off.
“You’re different than you were one year ago, and I think a lot of that was due to Quinn.”
“All of it was.”
“Well, notallof it, but eighty-nine percent of it. The other eleven percent was you trying to prove to her the kind of guy you really are.”
“And see how well that turned out?”
“Uncle Wyatt.” Stetson leaned forward. “She loves you.”
“She does. She’s just…” Abi sighed, her hand giving my knee another squeeze.
“Pissed.”
“Very,” Abi said, her voice to the fact. “She saw someone so different than who she thought she was getting, and she fell in love. But now, she thinks she’s been fooled; she thinks she’s been lied to this entire time. She thinks she lost her best friend. She gets that the entire fight was blown out of proportion, she gets she went down a rabbit hole, but to her—it's valid. I see where she’s coming from. After seeing who she thought you were—going after girls, rumors flying around about you, useless and lazy—”
“Yup, I get it.” I ran my hand down my face.
“—and then having you do everything the exact opposite of what she thought was true, things you said hurt. They proved to her that she was right about you all along.”
“I can’t even tell you what was said. I don’t remember.”
That was a half lie. The entire fight played over and over in my head. All I could hear was her telling meit’s over, it’s over…
“Well, she does, and it’s gonna take her some time, but I think”—she nudged me—“if you give her that time and don’t run away for a month…you’ll find your way back to each other.”
“Did she tell you about Kelly?” I asked solemnly, my eyes focusing on anything but Abi.
“She…” She dragged out the word. “Did.”
“I didn’t—”
“I know. I know. You wouldn’t. You may have been a player, Wyatt, but you were never one to cheat or break a girl’s heart. Quinn doesn’t know you like that. She saw you with an old flame, one who her mother tried to manipulate you with, one who, if I remember correctly, you said could have been something—”
“That was before—” I started to interrupt her, but she raised her hand to stop me.
“She doesn’t know that. All she knows is that you never really committed to anyone. She’s wondering why she’s different.”
“She’s different in every way. I love her. I’ve never felt this before.” I licked my lips and inhaled through my nose, my chest rising. I held it one…two…three…then let it out. “I just need to give her space,” I said, hating the way those words tasted as I uttered them. “I can’t see myself falling in love with anyone else, but”—I squeezed Abi’s shoulder, and hoisted myself off the couch—“I need to get back on my feet.”
“There’s no way to convince you to stay, huh?”
I shook my head. “No. Not unless you can promise that if I show up at Quinn’s house, she won’t slam the door in my face.”
Abi bit her lip, but stayed silent.
“She would. I know because I tried. She’s not answering my texts, she’s not looking at me when we’re in the stables, she’s ignoring me completely when she stays for dinner—she has probably fallen out of love with me.”
“She hasn’t.”
Ignoring Abi, I shook my head and looked at my boots. “I just need to go on this trip. I need to announce, and I need to figure it all out.”
“What about the meetings that you and Lach have been having? What’s that all about?”
“My two hundred and fifty acres.”
“And?”
