Page 106 of Huckleberry Hill
And I’m here, in a place I love with a man I have no business having feelings for.
“Okay, let’s continue,” Salem said. “Mama’s gotta get to sleep, but this is monumental. I want to know what you guys talked about that had you leaving his cabin instead of staying the night.”
“She already said,” Poet replied. “He called her out about having feelings for him.”
“Before that,” Salem said. “What led up to that? Because I know something did.”
“That damn twin thing,” Wyn remarked.
“Yep,” Poet agreed.
“Nico called this afternoon,” I blurted out. “Asking about what shifts I wanted when the restaurant reopened. It was awkward, and he said Gianni told the family we’d split up and I just kinda lost it. Not on him. But like, I didn’t realize that whole part of my life is really over. Done. Not just my engagement to Gianni, but my involvement with his family. And the idea of going back to work for them and seeing his cousins, and letting them all speculate about why we broke up . . . I told Nico that I quit. That I wouldn’t be coming back.”
“Thank God,” Salem muttered. “We wondered when you were going realize that you couldn’t go back there.”
“Yeah, well, like I said I haven’t been thinking clearly.” I rubbed my forehead. “Nico offered to call around and get me a job at another restaurant. And I said no.”
“You said no?” Wyn asked. “Why?”
“Because she doesn’t think she’s coming back to New York,” Salem said softly. “Right, Hadley?”
“Not coming back?” Poet asked, her voice sounding confused, broken. “You have to come back. We can’t be the four of us without you.”
“Oh, that’s why you’re worried about having feelings for Declan,” Wyn realized.
“Am I allowed to talk?” I intervened. “Or do you guys want to keep having a conversation like I’m not here?”
“But that’s just it. You’re there, not here,” Poet stated. “And it sucks. It sucks so bad.”
“I fully agree,” Salem said. “It sucks a big one.”
“I can’t live in New York for you guys,” I said. “As much as I love you all. I don’t even like New York; that’s not a shock. But I also can’t stay here because of a man I hardly know.”
“The Ridge is your home,” Wyn said. “Forget Declan for a second. If he wasn’t there, would that change the way you feel about coming back to New York?”
“No.”
“So why does Declan’s presence change it for you?” Wyn went on. “Unless . . . oh no.”
“What?” Poet asked.
“She more than likes him,” Wyn said. “Don’t you?”
When I didn’t reply, Salem asked, “Hadley, are you falling in love with Declan?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Bar
* * *
“The blonde,” I said, lifting a pint of cider to my lips.
“Yeah?” Wade asked, arching a brow. He rubbed his jaw and discreetly angled his head in the direction I’d rolled my eyes.
“This is why you needed me to help you get laid,” I quipped. “You’re completely unaware. She’s been eye-fucking you since the moment we sat down at the bar.”
He glanced at the woman and flashed a grin.
