“I’ll love you forever, too, Layton. I can’t wait either. I want that more than anything.” She smiled as she gently kissed me.

I wasn’t sure how long I lay there, watching her sleep. No longer did I feel lost and alone. I didn’t feel angry or hurt. I was no longer broken. I had been healed by the love of this girl in my arms.

As I started to drift off to sleep, I dreamed of Whitley walking toward me, holding our child in her arms. I tried so hard to see if it was a boy or girl, but something caught my eye. I looked beyond Whitley and saw Mike and my parents walking behind her.

As they all drew closer to me, Mike smiled.

Well done, my brother. Well done.

Epilogue: Courtney

It wasn’t lost on me how Mitch had been talking to Karen during almost the whole reception. When I’d questioned him about why he was paying more attention to his ex-fiancée than me, he had gotten angry and said they were old friends just catching up. I wasn’t even sure why she was at the wedding. I didn’t remember seeing her name on the guest list.

I’d felt Reed’s eyes on me all night, and every time I looked at him, a shiver had run up and down my body. Walking down the aisle, I couldn’t help but look at him. The look in his eyes when he saw me had caused my whole body to start trembling. I closed my eyes and thought about the dance we’d shared.

Did I make a mistake by choosing Mitch over Reed? I love Mitch, but I don’t love him like I love Reed. If I were honest with myself, I’d say I love Mitch, but I’m not in love with him like I am with Reed.

But Reed will just end up hurting me.

I was beginning to think that Whitley had been right. I was looking for that fairy-tale love I’d read about in all my books. I truly believed Mitch was going to make my dreams come true. The first time we’d made love, he had even told me, I’m going to make it my life’s mission to bring all your dreams to life.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember that night. Reed’s smile kept invading my thoughts. I opened my eyes and shook my head.

Stop this, Courtney! Stop this now.

I looked around to see how many people were still here. Almost everyone had already left, including Mitch. He’d said he had a headache, and when I’d begged him to stay with me, he’d said there was no way he could sleep with me in one of Layton’s beds or even in Layton’s house. I had rolled my eyes and told him he was being ridiculous, but he’d said he was heading home and would be getting up early to take care of some cows he thought would be calving soon. He’d told me he wouldn’t be by the house until around noon. I’d also noticed that things had not been the same between him and Layton at all.

I let out a deep breath as I watched Anna arguing with Reed. All they ever did was fight. Reed glanced over my way, and I quickly turned away.

I walked up to Stacey, who was sitting down on top of one of the tables. She was half-drunk out of her mind.

I bumped my shoulder against hers. “Hey, you doing okay?”

She nodded. “Do you know how close I came to going home with Richard? God, I just want to be f**ked by a Texas cowboy. That pretty much makes me a slut, doesn’t it?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Richard? I thought you had your eye on Kevin.”

“Oh, I did until I saw him sucking face with some girl on the dance floor. I think I’m really drunk and ready to go to sleep.”

I helped her off the table. “Do you need help, sweetie, making it up to your room?”

She shook her head and started off toward the house. I watched her stumble around until Whitley’s dad took her by the arm and helped her into the house. Stacey, Jen, Kate, and Whitley’s parents were all staying at the house tonight, and then Stacey and Whit’s parents were heading home tomorrow.

When Layton had told me to take the master bedroom, I didn’t argue. They were going to be gone for three weeks, and they had asked me to house-sit and watch the dogs.

I heard shouting and turned to see what was going on.

Anna pushed Reed. She started shouting, “I gave you all these months for nothing! I hate you, Reed Moore. Don’t. Ever. Call. Me. Again.”

As she turned and started walking off, she made her way over toward me with nothing but pure hate on her face.

Ah hell. This isn’t going to be good.

She walked up to me and stopped as she looked me up and down. “I can’t believe this.”

I just stared at her. “Is everything okay, Anna?” I asked.

She threw her head back and laughed. “No, Courtney, everything is not okay. I hope you’re happy now.” She shook her head. “What a waste.” She turned and walked away.

I glanced back over to where Reed had been standing, but he was gone. For one brief second, my heart dropped. I wanted so badly to talk to him to find out what had just happened between him and Anna.

Once everyone was gone, I slowly started making my way into the house.

Everything can be cleaned up later because I certainly don’t have the energy to do another thing.

I walked into the master bedroom and saw my notification light blinking on my phone. I picked up my phone to see I had a voice mail from Mitch. I was guessing it was probably him telling me he had made it home okay.

Ugh, I need out of this dress like right now.

I peeled off the dress and stood there, looking at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a white bustier that really pushed my br**sts up and had made the dress look even better. I smiled at how I looked, but then I frowned.

Too bad Mitch isn’t here to appreciate it. I bet Reed would have.

I slipped off my shoes and made my way back over to my phone. I opened it up and hit play to start the voice mail. I was just about to sit down and take off my stockings when I heard Mitch talking.

“Karen, she’s not going to be coming here tonight. She is staying at Layton and Whitley’s house, baby. We have all night and all morning. I told her I had things to do in the morning. Besides, that f**ker Reed has been pining after her all night. Let him go take care of her tonight since they both want each other so much. She’s done nothing but want him from the beginning. Baby, it’s just us now. She was just a rebound fuck.”

I threw my hands up to mouth as I sat down on the bed and heard Karen moaning.

Oh God. No. He was supposed to love me forever. He promised to make all my dreams come true. He was different…he was…safe.

The message kept playing, and I foolishly kept listening until I heard her calling out Mitch’s name. I reached over and stopped it.

I feel sick.

Just then, the door to the bedroom started opening. I jumped up, and Reed came walking in. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. His eyes traveled up and down my body before he looked into my eyes.

“Holy shit, Court. I didn’t know you were staying in this room!”

I couldn’t say a word. I couldn’t even move. All I wanted to do was run into his arms while I begged him for his forgiveness. I needed to ask him to just hold me and make the pain and hurt go away.

“I just came in to grab some of Layton’s sweatpants for in the morning when I go for a…” He stopped talking.

He must have just noticed I’d been crying. As he walked toward me, I began backing up until I hit the wall.

“Courtney, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

He walked up to me and lifted my chin and looked into my eyes. “You’ve been crying. Baby, tell me what’s wrong.”

Oh God.

The sound of him calling me baby about had me drop to my knees.

How stupid am I.

Here, I had pushed the only man I ever truly loved away because I thought he was going to hurt me. And the man I thought would make all my dreams come true had totally destroyed my whole world tonight.

“What happened before the wedding?” I asked.

“What? What do you mean?”

I put my hand on his chest to keep him from coming any closer to me. If he stood any closer, I was afraid I’d walk right into his arms.

“When I went upstairs and saw you. Why did Mitch hit you?”

Reed took a step back. “It doesn’t matter, Court. It’s over and done with.”

“It matters to me. Please don’t lie to me. Please not tonight, Reed. I need the truth.”

He shook his head and turned away before looking back into my eyes. “Mitch started talking all this shit about you to Kevin. I’d never heard him talk about you at all, let alone the shit he was saying. He was only doing it to rile me up. I really tried to just ignore him since it was Layton’s wedding day, but Mitch had already been drinking. Then, he said…he said—”

“He said, what?”

“He said you were the best f**k he’s ever had, and he looked right into my eyes as he said it. I lost it, Courtney. I’m so sorry. I went up, pushed him, and told him to shut the f**k up. That was when he jumped on me and started punching the shit out of me. Layton jumped in and tried to pull Mitch off of me, and Mitch hit Layton. He says it was a mistake, but I’m pretty damn sure it was done on purpose. Things haven’t been the same between them since Layton found out Mitch had been in contact with Layton’s dad all those years.”

I stood there, stunned. Everything was slowly starting to make sense.

Was Mitch trying to get Reed to tell me what he’d said? Was he hoping I’d leave him, so he could be with Karen?

I looked back at Reed. His green eyes caught mine, and they were filled with so much hurt that it actually made my heart ache. Then, it hit me.

Why did Reed get so upset? I need to hear it from him, not Whitley or Layton.

“Why would he want to rile you up? And how did he know talking about me would upset you, Reed?”

He stood there, staring at me. A part of me wanted him to touch me so badly. His eyes traveled up and down my body, and I instantly felt the wetness between my legs.

I’m so confused. I’m so upset and so hurt about Mitch, but I want Reed so badly. But…I can’t be hurt again. All men ever do is hurt me.

“You looked beautiful tonight, Courtney.” Reed looked back into my eyes.

I felt my whole body shaking.

If I hadn’t heard that message and Reed walked in, would I be standing here like this with him? Or would I have made him leave?

He took a step closer to me, and I sucked in a breath of air. I willed him to move closer, and when he did, I closed my eyes. I could feel the heat coming from his body.

When he started to talk again, I jumped and opened my eyes, startled by the gentleness in his voice.

“Do you really want to know why he was egging me on, Court?”

I slowly nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

I could see my chest heaving up and down as he looked deeper into my eyes.

“Because he knows I love you and that I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you.”

I sucked in a breath of air as he leaned in closer and put his lips up to my neck.

I closed my eyes and whispered, “Yes,”

“As much as I want to make love to you right now…I’d never let you be unfaithful to Mitch. I love you too much, Courtney, to let you do something you’d ever regret. Besides, you made your choice long ago.”