Dalton and I laid out by the pool, soaking in some rays after he’d peeled my near lifeless body from my bed. Sleep never really came to me the night before, not after Alex pretty much ended us. How he couldn’t see that jumping into a marriage with everything we had stacked against us was a bad idea was the biggest mystery to me. Marriage was hard work anyway. Throw in an angry, unsupportive family, broken friendships, and monumental punishments for our misdeeds, and we were whipping up the perfect recipe for disaster.

How could he not see it?

Or was I missing something? Was our love supposed to conquer all? Were all of these just small nuances on the road to happiness?

I didn’t have the answers to those questions, and the more time I spent thinking about them, the sicker I became. How could I have been so blind to the fact that coming out of our proverbial closet would be harder than hiding in it? Maybe I was blinded by our lust, then quickly consumed by the depth of our love for one another.

Whatever the case, Alex’s words struck an unsettling blow that knocked me off my feet, gasping for air.

“Cassie, you’ve barely spoken two words since I pried you out of that room,” Dalton said, looking forlornly at me. I hated his overly sympathetic eyes staring down on me. Every time he looked at me that way, I felt like a small piece of me crumbled inside.

“You got me out of the room. That’s enough, right?”

“No, actually it isn’t. What’s the point of a best friend if you can’t confide in me?”

I looked up at him through my sunglasses, feeling the warmth and sincerity of his words, but wanting none of it. I hadn’t felt so low in quite a while. Not even Allen had brought me down so far.

“Cassie…”

“Okay, okay. If you absolutely must know, I’m going to court tomorrow on the outs with Alex.”

“So you guys had a fight?”

“I guess you can say that.”

Dalton sat up. “Cassie, I’m no dumbass. There was more than a fight, and this has nothing to do with your court case. If you can’t talk to me, who can you talk to?” He paused and stared at me for a second. “You have to talk. You have to get this out in the open because it’s eating you alive.”

“Alex broke up with me,” I blurted out, not wanting to feel the power in those words. Dalton looked on dumbfounded, like he hadn’t heard me correctly. “He broke up with me yesterday after I told him I couldn’t marry him.”

“What? Wait… why did you do that? How did this happen?”

I shook my head, feeling the burning sensation from the threatening tears welling up in my eyes. I was done with crying, and I didn’t want go back down that route. It had taken too much out of me, too much that I was never going to get back.

After a minute of gaining my composure, I was finally able to speak. I told him about our intimacy issues—about Nat and Riley, his family, and our explosive falling out at the beach. At the end of the tale, Dalton scooted over closer to me, taking me in his arms as I allowed my best friend to be my best friend. I allowed him hold me, to comfort me, to make me see that I wasn’t alone in all of this. It was needed, and I was done fighting it.

“I’m so sorry, Cassie. You should have called me. I would have gone to get you. I picked my car up yesterday, so I could have jetted right down there to go and get you.”

“I know, but you had plans.”

“They would have been dropped for you. No wonder you’re such a broken mess. How the hell did you make it home last night?”

“I’m not sure how I made it home. The first part of our drive, Alex stewed in silent anger. He didn’t say anything to me. He didn’t even look at me. But after that, he started talking, started asking questions, and shit just went from there.”

“What did he say? I’m so sorry for having you relive this, but I honestly want to know. I need to know if there is a way to fix any of this. And how I can help you?”

I smiled. Dalton was my right hand. He genuinely loved me and wanted what was best for me, but I saw no way that he could help. Alex and I were at a point where the only thing that could help us was a miracle and Dalton just didn’t possess those powers.

“He wanted to know how long I had been feeling this way, and why I hadn’t spoken up about it before everything came to a head. I told him it had been slowly building since I’d left the hospital. Alex not being able to look past the ugly that Allen had inflicted on me was tearing me up. How was I any good to him if he continued to allow that to be a road block for us?”

Dalton sat stoic, taking in every word. He pursed his lips a couple of times, and shook his head as he did.

“Then he went on to speak about his family. How he wanted to put distance there.” I paused and stared into Dalton’s icy blue eyes. “You know what kind of shitty home-life I came from. Family is all I’ve ever wanted. I couldn’t believe what happened in that living room, and I knew it was all my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Cassie. It sounds like his grandma had it out for you from the very beginning.”

“She was suspicious, yes, but that was before she got to know me.”

“She still doesn’t know you.”

“And she never will. She doesn’t want anything to do with him as long as I’m in the picture. You think she’ll magically warm up to me?”

“Cassie, I don’t have the answers to this problem. Hell, I’ve got my own issues. But I know you love him, and I know he loves you. I think after everything you two have been through, you guys deserve to work this out and be happy.”

Truer words were never spoken, but being happy came with a hefty price tag for us. At this point, I wasn’t even sure if Alex was willing to try.

“Dalton, you have to listen to me and promise not to fly off the hinges.”

“Do I ever?”

“Just promise.”

“Shoot.”

I blew out a gallon sized ball of air, clearing the way for what was the most heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and devastating thing that Alex had ever said to me. “He told me, and I quote, Cassie, if I can’t have you, all of you, then I can’t have any of you. I’ve never loved anyone more than the way I love you, and it’s that love that won’t allow me to be with you. It hurts looking at you, it hurts touching you, its hurts smelling you. It just hurts. And for my own sanity, I can’t live with this hurt.”

Tears slowly trickled from my eyes again, prompting Dalton to take me in his arms. He rubbed the back of my head as we sat at the edge of the pool, and I cried as he shushed me, making me feel something besides hurt, anger and despair.

“Cassie, he loves you. He’s hurting, and he’s a prideful son of a bitch. His pride is in the way. Give him time.”

“I don’t know if I can, Dalton.”

“How did he leave you last night?”

“He walked me up to my room…” I paused for a second, reliving the kiss that made me feel alive and distraught at the same time. “He kissed me as if it were the last air he would ever breathe.”

A smile took over Dalton’s face. His pearly whites were on full display, shining brighter than the scorching desert sun.

“What are you smiling for?”

“Because you’re so blind to the fact that this isn’t over. You two mules love one another so much that it’s blinding your better judgment. First you deal with court, then you work on putting your fragile relationship back together.”

The smile that crept across my face was the first that had appeared in what felt like days. I hugged Dalton with everything I had, finally feeling as if a bit of life had sparked inside of me. I wasn’t sure how I had gotten so lucky to have him in my life, but right now, I was beyond thankful.

“Let’s go. We’re going to be red as lobsters if we stay out here too much longer.”

Nodding my head, I stood and walked over to the lounge chair to grab my towel, only there was a male sitting there, hindering my ability to pull it away. He had a devilish grin on his face, his eyes full of deceit as he sat there and staring at me as if he were a wolf ready to eat its unsuspecting prey. I tried to ignore him and go for my towel, but he held it down, biting onto his bottom lip before finally speaking.

“Pfc. Bennett, I presume?”

I took a deeper look, trying to figure out if I knew him or not. Nothing was ringing a bell, and if we weren’t at a public pool, I would have feared for my safety.

“That’s my towel you’re sitting on,” I casually responded, not trying to confirm anything for him. I looked around, but it seemed Dalton had ducked into the men’s room. I was on my own.

“Oh is this your towel? I’m sorry about that, here you go,” he said, raising it up for me. When I grabbed for it, he pulled it back, smiling again. “Seems like you’re having a rough day. It’s not every day a pretty girl cries in her boyfriend’s arms at the base pool. You’re much too cute for that…need me to kick his ass?.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, and I don’t know you, so I don’t need you to do anything for me besides let go of my towel.”

I went to grab for it again, and he let it go, allowing it to fall to the ground.

“I know who you are, and I know who your boyfriend is. Alex should probably watch out because it doesn’t seem as if you’re keeping up your end of the bargain in this relationship, and all of this fraternizing would have been for nothing.”

I glowered at him. Then it finally hit me, this was that asshole, Vernon.

“Good luck in court tomorrow, Pfc. Bennett. You’ll need it.” He stood and walked away.

Dalton came out of the bathroom freshly showered with a smile on his face. The myriad of emotions coursing through me at the moment were just too much to take. I plastered on a fake smile and walked out with him, wanting this weekend to be over with finally.