Page 51 of Wild Heart

I wasn’t finished. “Maybe there’d be a willingness to have some understanding if she’d made the effort to respond. She gave me nothing for weeks. Do you have any idea what I’ve gonethrough, hoping every time the phone rang that I’d see her name on the display? I think she needs to understand what that feels like—to have made a choice, to regret it, and to wish you could do something to change it but not have the chance.”

“What makes you believe she doesn’t already understand that? Damn, Tate, you’re a man set on vengeance. For a guy who’s brilliant at reading people and understanding them, that you think Ava had it in her to hurt you intentionally is mind blowing. You know that’s not who she is. But you? You’re setting out to hurt her in response, and that’s not who I know you to be.”

My jaw hurt from how badly I’d been clenching it. I wanted to get up and leave, to be alone and not have to face the fact that I had resorted to such measures. I’d been so caught up in the perceived slight against me, I couldn’t think straight.

A vision of Ava standing in front of me last night with tears in her eyes flashed in my mind. She’d felt an overwhelming desperation to resolve things between us, to clear the air, and I shot her down.

How disgraceful. As much as I wanted to leave, I owed it to my brothers to stay. To stick around and assure them that they’d gotten through.

But just as I was about to do that, Liam spoke for the first time.

“She came back.”

I was so caught off guard by his sudden interjection, I wasn’t quite sure I’d even heard him correctly. “What?”

My brother wore a stony expression. “Do you know how fucking lucky you are, Tate? She came back. Yeah, maybe she went about this the wrong way and ghosted you for a couple of months. Maybe there’s something to talk about and work out there, but she fucking came back. She’s giving the both of you the opportunity to do that. Do you know what I would give to have that chance?”

I winced again.

Liam continued. “I see two people who made some wrong decisions for a long time. You’re not blameless in this. And I’m not suggesting for even one second that Ava isn’t responsible for some of the turmoil between the two of you. But wake the fuck up, Tate. You have a chance to fix it. You have a chance to make things right. And don’t sit here pretending you don’t care if that happens, because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you love each other. If you let that go, if you walk away from that, you deserve to be miserable.”

Liam’s eyes cut away from mine as he stared off into the distance. The four of us sat there in silence, my gaze eventually dropping to the table in embarrassment.

I was such an idiot.

The tension was so thick around the table, not even Cooper or Wyatt were willing to speak. Liam had claimed so often that he was okay, but it was clear he was being eaten alive by what he’d been through.

I didn’t think there was a way I’d ever be able to fix things for him. But maybe, at the very least, I could not waste the opportunity I had to find something special.

When I lifted my gaze again, I said, “You’re right.” Liam focused his attention back on me. “With the way I’m acting right now, I deserve to be miserable.” There was an unmistakable feeling of heaviness in my chest, an ache at the back of my throat. “I’ve been consumed by bitterness for so long. I think back on the way I spoke to her last night, and I don’t even recognize the person I’ve become.”

“Fix it.” Liam’s eyes were pleading with mine. “Just fix it.”

My shoulders relaxed as I nodded my agreement. Then my eyes moved through my three brothers. Following a beat of silence, I asked, “Any suggestions on how to make that happen?”

With his chin held high and a knowing grin on his face, Cooper said, “Well, I guess I can help here, little brother. I’ll tell you everything you need to know about getting in your lady’s good graces. I should know.”

“You?” Wyatt scoffed. “I’m the one who’s married. I think I’m more of an expert on this subject.”

“Bullshit. Rhea hated your guts when you first met her,” Cooper fired back. Then he tipped his head to the side, his eyes narrowing slightly. “On that thought, maybe you should take the lead on this. I don’t know so much about dealing with a woman scorned. Skye loved me from the moment she laid her eyes on me.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

Cooper laughed.

I laughed.

Liam chuckled and shook his head.

That’s when I let out a deep sigh of relief, grateful to my older brothers for finding a way to ease the tension.

And then things turned serious again as Wyatt said, “Persistence is key.”

As he went on to share what he believed I needed to know to win over Ava’s heart again, I listened intently, feeling the best I had in a very long time.

14

AVA