Only With Me (Sugarland Creek #4)

Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

Waylon

SIX WEEKS LATER

H arlow’s turning twenty-one, and since she’s not interested in spending it at a bar, I’ve decided to give her the best birthday celebration I can. But first, I need Wilder’s help with part of it.

“Wilder? You here?” I call into his apartment.

Unlike him, I know how to knock and not walk into someone’s home unannounced.

When he doesn’t answer, I step inside. “Hello? You better not be naked.”

After no response and not seeing him in his room or the kitchen, I check his location and see he’s two minutes away, so I go outside and wait for him next to my truck.

He pulls in and I’m ready to give him a hard time about being late, but I notice the look on his face—a mixture of emotions I’m not used to seeing from him.

“Hey, you okay?” I push off my door and walk toward him.

“Yeah, just had an appointment and it ran a little longer than usual.”

“What kinda appointment?”

He goes to walk past me, but I quickly grab his arm.

“What’s going on? Are you sick?”

“No…well, depends how you look at it.” He shrugs.

I stare at him, waiting for him to explain what he means by that.

“What kinda appointment was it?” I ask again.

He blows out a defeated breath like he knows he’s not gonna get away from this conversation. “I started seein’ a therapist a few weeks ago.”

My eyes widen in shock and relief. “Really? That’s…great. Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”

He lifts his shoulders again, avoiding eye contact with me. He’s embarrassed, and I get it, but he has no reason to be.

“Because I knew you’d be all… Wilder, I’m so proud of you . You’re doing the right thing. Good job workin’ through your issues …” His mocking tone has me snorting.

“Oh God, how dare I care about my own twin brother? What an asshole, am I?”

“Yeah, you are. Glad you finally admitted it.”

I roll my eyes. “Well, I am proud of you. What made you finally decide to go?”

I’ve only been begging him for fifteen years.

He leans against the truck, folding his arms, and staring at the dirt. “It was after Mr. Fanning died and I realized how many people were impacted from his death. Worst of all, I saw how much pain his family was in, even you. He lived with chronic pain for years before he decided he couldn’t live with it anymore. I guess it made me realize that could be me someday if I continued ignorin’ my mental health. Granted it’s not physical pain, but there’s some shit I need to work through so I don’t get to the point where I can’t do it anymore. Seein’ how sad and upset y’all were got to me. I’d never wanna be the reason y’all feel that way, and if I can do somethin’ about it now before I lose the ability to reason with myself than I owe it to my family to try. Just because I’m not there now doesn’t mean someday I couldn’t be and that thought scared the shit outta me.”

“Wow…I’m so impressed. And damn proud you came to that realization.” I pull him into a hug even though he resists at first.

“I hate that it took something like this to happen.”

“Either way, this is a huge step. You deserve to be happy, too. Workin’ through your issues in a healthy way will help you see there’s so much more to life than drinkin’ and random hookups.”

“Yeah, being sober and abstinent is fuckin’ hard,” he grumbles, and I crack up, but I’m glad he’s trying. “And I was so close to makin’ it eight seconds on the mechanical bull.”

I snort. Sure he was.

“If you ever want me to join you for a session, just lemme know.”

“Yeah, my therapist and I have talked about it, but I’d like to spend a bit more time with him on my own first. He’s gonna refer me to a psychiatrist so we can discuss medication options, too.”

I nod, patting his back although he looks less than thrilled about it, I’m glad he’s doing it. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be here.”

“Thanks. Appreciate it.”

“Well, are you ready to help me now with Harlow’s birthday surprise?”

“You mean, so you can reap the rewards and get laid?”

I smirk, shrugging unapologetically.

We’ve messed around some once she started feeling better, and I even surprised her with a toy so she could start getting used to the size and feeling of having it inside her. But we’ve been waiting for her ribs and body to heal post-surgery. She just got the okay from her doctor to ride Piper again, so now she can start getting back into her practice routine.

“Alright, whaddya need me to do?” he asks, and then I give him a list of instructions.

One of the items on Harlow's romance wishlist is something I've been waiting to do until the weather warms up, but with it being her birthday, I wanted to do it tonight.

I also want to do something extra to cheer her up. As much as she’s been acting fine about what happened to her and Mr. Fanning passing, I can tell she’s struggling. Fortunately, she started therapy last week and is still going to grief counseling with her family.

But the other one I’ve planned includes my family.

Even though it’s not a Sunday, I have Wilder helping me get things ready for a special occasion at our parent’s house that Harlow’s been begging to be included in.

Once I’m ready, I text her that I’m on my way.

When I was in town earlier, I bought two rose arrangements so I could give one to Mrs. Fanning. I’ve been trying to make sure Harlow and I spend equal time between our places so her mom isn’t left alone too often. Delilah goes over on the nights she doesn’t work and we’ve even had a game night in Mr. Fanning’s honor.

The three of them started going to a grief support group, and I think it’s been helpful being around others going through the same thing.

I know nothing will take away their pain completely but it’s still good to see Mrs. Fanning smile from time to time.

When I knock, she answers the door. “Waylon, sweetheart. C’mon in. She’s almost ready.”

“These are for you.” I walk through the threshold and hand her one of the bouquets.

“Oh my goodness, after everythin’ you’ve already done today.” She holds the pink roses up to her nose. “They’re breathtaking.”

“Just like you.” I wink.

“Stop it,” she says, getting all flustered.

“Are you hittin’ on my mama right in front of me?” Harlow waltz into the living room, taking my breath away.

She’s in a gorgeous white dress with lace trim that hits her knees, a blue jacket, and cowboy boots.

“You look incredible…” I lower my gaze down her body and then press my lips to hers. Then I reveal the other bouquet from behind my back. “And these are for you.”

“Red roses…my favorite.” She grins sweetly, smelling them. “You’ve already spoiled me all day.”

I brush a piece of golden-brown hair behind her ear. “I wanted today to be extra special for you.”

“Thank you. I appreciate everything. The cupcakes were delicious!”

“They really were! “Mrs. Fanning adds, then grabs the red roses from Harlow. “I’ll put these in a vase for you.”

When we’re alone, I cup Harlow’s face and kiss her again. “Happy birthday, love.”

“Thank you. I’m finally allowed to buy alcohol. Look out, world. Me and a strawberry margarita are gonna tear it up.”

Chuckling, I take her hand and intertwine it with mine. “Are you ready to go? I have a lot for us to do tonight.”

“Yep, just gotta grab my stuff and give Mama a hug first.”

Since we made plans for her to sleepover, she packed an overnight bag. She’s stayed over a few times already but since I always have to get up early for work, she ends up waking up too.

However, tomorrow I’m going in late.

“I’ve remembered somethin’ I wanted to ask you,” she says during the drive.

“Okay?”

“When we were textin’ under the group chat, what’d you have my number saved as?”

“Um…why do you wanna know?”

“Because I was scrollin’ through my old texts and saw the contact name I had you listed under.”

I hadn’t even considered she put a name in for me.

“What was it?” I look over and ask.

“You first!”

I sigh. “You can’t get mad.”

She arches a brow. “No promises.”

“It was Poison Ivy Girl.”

Her mouth falls open and her eyes widen. “That’s horrible! Out of all the options you had, you picked that?”

“Shoulda seen what I labeled the others.” I chuckle, remembering Scrawny Perverted Asshole. “So what did you label me?”

“Mystery Guy, but now I’m thinkin’ I shoulda done something like Liar Liar Pants On Fire.”

I glance at her trying to fight back a smile and act angry.

“It’s not as catchy as Mystery Guy, though.” I wink and she finally laughs.

Once we arrive at the ranch, I take her to my parent’s house instead of mine.

“What’re we doin’ here?” she asks when I open her door.

“This is your first surprise.” I smile, taking her hand and helping her out of the truck.

I guide her into the house and as soon as we walk into the kitchen, her jaw drops at seeing everyone inside waiting for her.

“Happy birthday!” they scream, and I beam at Harlow’s shocked reaction.

“Oh my gosh, what is this?” She turns and looks at me.

“It’s your scrapbookin’ birthday party.”

“Shut up!” She jumps into my arms, laughing in disbelief. “You said you had to be married to a Hollis to be invited.”

“Well…” I shrug. “I spoke to upper management about it and made an executive decision to get you an early access pass.”

“We have all the craft supplies you could possibly need and new books for you to make your own scrapbook,” my mom says, coming over to give her a hug.

“Y’all are too freakin’ sweet. I can’t believe this. You dunno how much this means to me.” Tears well in her eyes, and I feel guilty for making her cry. “I promise, these are happy tears.”

“Gramma Grace baked you a cake, so we can eat and scrapbook for a couple hours. That sound okay?” I ask, pulling out a chair for her to sit.

“That sounds perfect.” She gives me a quick kiss before taking a seat.

There’s snacks and appetizer finger foods spread out on the kitchen island, so I put some of her favorites on a plate and then sit next to her.

“How’d you get these?” She opens a box of her family pictures and starts flipping through them. Lots of her and Delilah, their parents, and some of her at show horse jumping events.

“I asked your mom for some a few days ago and snuck over when you were at work.” I grin. “I figured if we were gonna scrapbook, you’d wanna make one with your own photos.”

She sticks out her bottom lip and fights back more tears. “This is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.”

I press a soft kiss to her lips, wiping her cheeks with my thumbs.

She continues looking through them, stopping at the ones with her dad, and silently crying. I figured it might be hard for her to see them, but I also knew she wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to make a scrapbook that she can cherish forever.

With thirty minutes before sunset, I tell her we have to go so we don’t miss her next surprise. She got half the book pages done, but I promised she’d be invited again to keep working on it.

“Where’re we goin’?”

“You’ll see…it’s close.”

I drive us further into the ranch property near a wooded area.

“Okay, we’re here…” I say, parking on a pathway between the trees so we can see the sun set.

“Is this some serial killer fantasy where I’m supposed to run and you chase me with a knife and then catch me and?—”

She pauses when she sees the horror on my face. “I’m startin’ to get a little concerned about Natalie’s tastes in books.”

She cackles. “Remind me to tell you about the one with the priest plot.”

“Anyway…we’re doing something from your romance wishlist. So, pick a song.”

I hand her my phone with my music and she scrolls through until she lands on Creek Will Rise by Conner Smith.

“Perfect choice.” I grin, then blast it through my truck speakers and lower all the windows. “Let’s go, love.”

I leave the lights on and meet her in front of the truck.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get it to rain, but I’d still love to dance with you.” I hold out my hand and she takes it with a huge smile on her face.

“I can’t believe you remembered this after all these months.”

Pulling her closer, I spin her around before tilting up her face for a kiss.

“I remember everythin’ you tell or ask me.” I wink. “Especially the weird stuff.”

“What weird stuff?” she asks, offended.

Spinning her around again, I laugh at her faux scowl.

“I can think about a dozen or more questions revolving around orgasms, penises and cum, if it hurts the balls to be squeezed?—”

“Those are genuine questions!”

Beaming, I pull her into my chest and wrap an arm around. “And I love every single one you ask me.”

I kiss her forehead and then spin her around a few more times. We continue dancing until the sun sets and then we drive to my house so I can finally give her my gift.