Page 134 of That Moment
I scrub a hand over my jaw. “I keep thinking if I worked for Slade like half the damn town, your dad would see me differently.”
“Maybe,” Aiden says. “But that wouldn’t be you. And he respects men who are who they are.” A small huff. “He also respects men who show up and say the hard things to his face.”
I let that land. “So I should talk to him.”
“You should,” he says. “And you should talk to Axel too. He loves her like hell. He just… leads with his mouth.” A short laugh. “I know he gets loud and messy. I’m not defending his antics. They can be harmful, even when he thinks he’s ‘protecting’ her.”
“Yeah, I know he means well.”
“For what it’s worth,” Aiden adds, “the other night at the anniversary party, I was trying to pull you aside before Axelbulldozed in with the L.A. thing. I was going to tell you to stop wasting time and just go after her. I wanted you to hear me say I was for it. For you two.”
“You were?”
“I am.” He doesn’t hesitate. “I’ve always hoped you’d end up together. You’re steady in the ways she needs. She’s a firecracker, we both know that. She and Axel are cut from the same cloth, whether she wants to admit that or not, and that cloth is Hudson Slade. I was blessed with my mom’s even temperament.” We both laugh. “You’re good together, Scotty.”
I breathe out, my shoulders relaxing. I knew Aiden would talk some sense into me. “I’m scared I’m going to cost her something she’ll miss later.”
“You won’t,” he says, firm. “Adrienne doesn’t make small choices. If she says she doesn’t want L.A., it’s because she doesn’t want L.A. Not because of you. And if someday she wants a case in New York for a month, you’ll figure it out together. That’s what this is.”
The simple truth of it clears a path in my head. It isn’t me standing in her way. It’s me standing with her.
“What if your dad still won’t stand for it? I can’t come between her and Hudson.”
“Then you look back and tell him exactly what you just told me.” His tone sharpens a hair. “Tell him you love his daughter, you want to marry her, and you’ll spend the rest of your life proving you’re the man she chose. If he can’t respect that on the first pass, he will on the second. Or the third. I can promise you, for as stubborn as my dad is, he will never make her choose between the two of you; he just wants to make you sweat a little.”
“You make it sound simple.”
“It’s not,” he says, amused. “I wish it was with this family but goddamn, someone will always find a way to complicate the shit out of it.”
We laugh, shoot the shit a little longer before I wrap up the call. “Thank you,” I say finally. It feels too small, but it’s all I’ve got.
“Anytime,” he says. “And Scotty?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let Axel bait you. He wants to help, he just doesn’t know how to keep that mouth shut.”
“Story of his life.”
Aiden laughs. “Text me after you talk to Dad. And… tell Adrienne you called me. She’ll like that.”
“I will.”
We hang up. I sit there for another minute with the cold bottle sweating against my palm and the phone heavy in my hand. The doubt doesn’t vanish, but it’s quieter. Like the noise has been turned down enough that I can hear my own voice again.
Tomorrow, I’m going to Hudson. I’m going to say the things I told Aiden and not flinch when I say them. I love Adrienne Slade. I want to marry her. I will spend my life being the man she chose.
I roll onto my side and finally let my eyes close. I’m not losing her.
Chapter 27
Adrienne
Iinhale the fresh cup of warm coffee I just brewed to savor during this grueling contract. I’m halfway through a clause when my door opens without a knock.
Of fucking course.
Axel leans against the frame, his usual smirk in place. “Hey sis. You look busy.”
