Page 12 of The Other Side of Wild
“Hey now,” holding up my hands in surrender, “I don’t need to try; my charm is effortless.” She rolls her eyes; her face betrays her faux annoyance.
She stops walking and watches me with a mix of curiosity and hesitation dancing in her eyes. The wind picks the perfect moment to blow a strand of hair across her face. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. “You’re something else, Greyson Wilder.”
“Good or bad, something else?” I ask with genuine interest. She doesn’t answer right away. A small, borderline mischievous smile plays on her lips as she starts walking again.
“Let’s call it interesting ‘something else.’” I can’t help but smile; I’ll take it because the last thing I want is for her to think I’m boring. Harley picks that moment to dart back over to us, placing a stick at my feet like it’s a precious gem. Her brown eyes lock on mine in anticipation.
“Okay, girl. I got you.” I say, dropping down to pick up the stick. While I straighten up, she’s already backing up in the direction she thinks I’m going to throw it. I toss the stick in the opposite direction, and she runs after it with the vigor of a police K9.
“You’re good with her.” She says, a hint of awe in her voice.
“Nah, she just knows what she wants, and she goes and gets it,” I reply as I brush the dirt off my hand onto my jeans.
She glances at me, her smile softer than it was before. Full of something different, longing, maybe? “Must be nice.”
“I’m sure it is.” My tone dips as our eyes meet again; I hold her gaze for a beat longer than I should. “You know, Harley and I have a lot in common.”
“Oh really?” she asks, arching an eyebrow in my direction. “How’s that?”
“Well, for starters, we’re both incredibly loyal, we love being outside, and we may have a thing for chasing after what we want.” She keeps her pace, chewing on her bottom lip, eyes trained on the ground in front of us.
“And what is it you’re chasing after Mr. Wilder?”
I stop walking, turning so I can look her in the eye, hoping she can see I’m speaking from the heart. “Right now? This moment, getting to know you better.” Her hand moves to the back of her neck as her eyes dart back and forth between mine. Panic sets in when I’m met with silence. I’m left wondering if I just ruined the entire afternoon. She gives me a small smile before dropping her gaze to the ground. We continue to walk in silence as Harley happily sniffs and walks ahead until she stops at the gate of the dog park with not a care in the world.
“Okay, let’s start small. What’s your favorite flower?” She smiles, her eyes trained on Harley as she runs around with a golden retriever.
“White roses.”
“Ohh, untraditional. I like it. Why are those your favorite?”
Her eyes look unfocused as if she’s reliving part of her life. Finally, she looks at me, “There’s a single white rose bush in my mom’s backyard.” Her smile is soft, and her eyes are now glassy. “I used to sit by it when I was sad. They were so pretty and pure, I’d talk to God out there. I wasn’t brave enough to venture into the forest yet, so that rose bush and I became besties. The smell brought me unexplainable levels of comfort. Plus, the horses loved to lay by it too; we didn’t have a dog back then, so I’d pet them instead.”
Buy her white roses and horses when she’s sad. Got it. “Mine are tiger lilies; they remind me of the trippy talking flowers from Alice in Wonderland.” Her eyes widen as her jaw drops, but there’s a smile trying to come out to play. “It’s okay to laugh. You won’t hurt my feelings.”
She does, and it warms the darkest parts of my soul. “I’m sorry, that was just so random.” She shakes her head a little and returns her eyes to Harley.
“Favorite candy?”
“Reece’s peanut buttercups. Specifically frozen ones.” My eyebrow cocks at the frozen admission. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who freezes their chocolate. “What? It’s better that way. Gives you a little extra crunch.” She shrugs like I’m the weird one. “I’d guess yours are gummy bears, but I could be wrong.”
I smile because I get why she’d think that, but she is indeed wrong. “Whoppers.” Her head snaps in my direction.
“Whoppers?That’syour favorite candy?” She laughs again; this time, her eyes don’t leave mine. “Just when I think I have you figured out.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, Kitten.” I send a wink her way as I pull a GQ move and flex my bicep as I push my sunglasses up higher on my nose. She blushes—point one for Wilder.
“Okay, okay, you said you like to read. What’s your favorite kind of book?” She plays with her hands in front of her, looking a bit embarrassed.
“Romance, it doesn’t matter the kind. Just not the darker stuff; some of it gives me PTSD. But there’s this book coming out in November calledHell or High Water.It's a cowboy romance; I can’t wait for it!”
“What’s it about?”
“Well, I can give you the gist of it. I don’t know all the details, obviously, because it isn’t out yet.”
“Well, obviously.” I wave my hands dramatically through the air, earning me a soft giggle.
“They’re childhood friends that fell in love, then the girl whose name is Addison, her dad was physically abusive, so her mom split in the middle of the night, taking Addison with her. She gets separated from her best friend and guy she loves, AKA Hunt, and somehow, years later, she ends up on his ranch three states over from where they last saw each other. He’s determined not to let her get away this time. I can’t wait to see how that plays out.”