Touch by Touch (Riggins Brothers 4)

For the second time in a matter of minutes, I’m sending up a silent prayer. “Please let him be right,” I whisper.

Chapter 16

Conrad

I slept like shit last night. I got home from the cabin around five and texted Aspen, asking her to come over. She declined. Not that I expected her to actually accept the offer, but it still put me in a bad mood. I lie awake all night trying to think of ways to show her that what I feel for her isn’t just some random idea from the time we spent together. The best I can come up with is to just stay consistent. To let her see that I want her in my life. No, I need her in my life. Not as my brother’s sister-in-law but as my… everything. Whatever the two of us decide that looks like is okay with me.

She just needs to be mine.

It’s a little after 5:00 a.m., and going to sleep now would be a disaster considering I have to be at the office at eight. Instead, I drag my tired ass out of bed and text Marshall.

Me: Gym?

Marshall: You think you can keep up, old man?

Me: Probably not. No sleep. See you there.

I don’t wait for his reply. Instead, I dress in clothes for the gym, grab my phone and keys, and head out. I’ll come back here to shower and get ready for work, and maybe grab some breakfast. On second thought, stopping at Warm Delights for breakfast sounds like a better plan. I know my girl will be there. Suddenly, regardless of my lack of sleep, I’m looking forward to the day. At least the beginning of the day. If I’m lucky, she’ll agree to dinner, and I can look forward to the ending too.

“You look like hell,” Marshall greets me.

“Fuck off.”

He throws his head back in laughter. “Trouble in paradise?”

I glare at him. “Spot me,” I say, going to the weight bench.

“What are you going to do about it?” he asks, standing behind the bench to spot me.

“What am I going to do about what?” We both know that I know what he’s talking about. I choose to ignore the fact.

“How are you going to get the girl?”

“That is the million-dollar question. I’ve been up all night, and nothing I can come up with seems to be enough. How do you convince a woman you spent a few magical days with that you want her forever?”

“There you go using that magic shit. You can’t tell me that you buy into that.”

“I didn’t, no. Now, I absolutely do.”

“And forever? Really, Con? That’s a long-ass time.”

“Not long enough.”

He whistles. “Aspen has you by the balls.” I don’t confirm or deny. Not that he needs confirmation. He knows me well enough to read between the lines.

We work out in silence for maybe ten minutes when he blurts, “Flowers.”

“What?”

“Flowers. You win her over with flowers.”

“Come on, man, you have to know I need more than flowers to prove to her that I’m in this.”

“Women love flowers,” he defends.

“I’m not disputing that. However, flowers are not going to say, hey, this guy wants to be with me.”

“Have you ever tried it?”

“No.”

“Then, don’t shoot it down. I’m telling you. Flowers is where it’s at.” He taps his temple and grins.

“Fine, I’ll send her flowers, but you need to put that thinking cap of yours back on. It’s going to take more than that to convince her.”

“What did you do?” he asks accusingly.

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything. Unless you count falling for her.”

“So, why is she resisting so much?”

“She thinks I’m not the settling down type.”

“Well, yeah, but look at our brothers. They weren’t either. I mean Royce was, then he wasn’t, but now he is again.”

“Apparently, she feels as though I was wrapped up in our circumstances.”

“Were you?”

“No. Yes. Yes, I was wrapped up in our circumstances, but not the way she thinks. I was wrapped up in her. I only want to be wrapped up in her. It was our circumstances that gave me the time to see that she’s special, but it’s not only our circumstances that have me feeling this way.”

“I feel like we're talking in riddles.” He laughs.

“I feel like I’m living in one. Seriously, Marsh, I need something to wow her. To show her I’m in this. That she’s who I want.” It’s painfully obvious that she needs more than words. I’ve never regretted the way I lived my life. I’ve owned my nights out and the random hook-ups, but it’s finally catching up with me. I need her to understand that she’s the only one for me. She’s all I see.

“Maybe you should take some time to think about it. She thinks your feelings were circumstantial. Take some time to see if she was right.”