Relief. Finally, we'd made it off the farm and were headed back to Chicago. I had watched my mother's heart shatter all over again as I backed my way down the drive. I'd forced myself to promise her I'd be back soon, knowing it was a promise only meant for breaking. This trip had been salvageable for one reason, and one reason only... Sloan. She was sitting beside me, flipping through a catalog of old CDs, attempting to pick the music for our drive home. She picked Shania Twain; I picked Garth Brooks. We settled on Jason Aldean. "You Make it Easy" had me singing along, with fingertips tapping the steering wheel as I drove. Meanwhile, Sloan shook her head with the cutest smile—one I hoped would last longer than just this trip.

"What?" I asked, unable to hold back my grin.

Sloan giggled. "That country boy look just got so much hotter." She tucked one foot beneath an outstretched leg, making herself more comfortable. "I see it now. The plaid, the food you cook when you're not trying to be trendy, the country music..."

"I'm a total farm boy. I tried telling you I was."

"I like it."

And I liked that she liked it. There were so many things I liked about her I wouldn't even know where to start. Her wit, her intelligence, her character—they were all things I thought I'd never enjoy in a woman again. Sloan was sexy without trying, and it wasn't just her body that made her that way. Although her body didn't hurt. Even the way she was currently yawning, curling herself up in the passenger seat, was something that I liked about Sloan. I did not like the way her yawning made me do the same, though. My exhaustion was catching up with me.

"I don't know how you're still awake," Sloan said, observing my own yawn. "How much sleep do you get per night?"

Even my sigh was tired. Not much. Less than usual as of late; that was for sure. Between the sex after the movie, and waking up ridiculously early to overthink my surroundings and to start breakfast, I figured about two hours. That number may have been typical, but usually I found time for a nap between classes and working at the restaurant. With it being Christmas and having to drive back tonight, there really wasn't time for it. The only time I could have used was taken by a shower that I still had on my mind. It was worth the lack of rest.

"Are you okay with driving?"

"I'm fine." I immediately followed my words with another drawn-out yawn. I shared a glance with Sloan, seeing her brows raised high on her head, calling the bluff. "There's a McDonalds on the way out of town. We'll get coffee."

She seemed to like that plan.

>>

"Two large coffees, black." As we sat in the drive-through, I had a horrible feeling this would not be the only stop for coffee on the way home.

Sloan cleared the trash we'd accumulated from our last trip from the cupholders while I progressed through the line of cars. At one point, her slim body was half-way between the two front seats, rummaging through her bags in the back with her sexy ass up in the air. It took everything in me not to smack it, but I thought better of it with the person at the drive-through window looking in on us. I smiled, thinking about it.

After Sloan had settled back into the seat, I was handed two steaming hot coffees by the drive-through attendant. When I went to set the first coffee into the open cupholder, the bottom of the cup bumped something I wasn't expecting. Lifting the arm that was obstructing my view, I saw a brown bottle was sitting in the cup's spot.

Sloan took the coffee from my hand, putting it up to her lips that could not control the smile she was trying to hide. There was no holding back her laughter that followed.

"You stole Worcestershire from my mother?" My own laugh boomed throughout the car.

"I so did!" Sloan giggled uncontrollably, using her finger to collect tears that were pooling at corners of her eyes. She had to pick up the condiment to set her coffee in its holder. "Your move, chef!"

"Oh, it's so on," I said, enjoying our game and impressed that she would go there.

After putting my coffee into place, I leaned over the center console and stole a kiss from the giggling girl. Her laughter halted just long enough for a moan to rumble against my lips. Every time I kissed her, everything around us was tuned out. That included the honking cars behind us who were waiting on their food.

Once back on the road, with coffees to keep us awake and Worcestershire now in the glove box, my hand was comfortably linked with Sloan's. On the way into town, this hold meant something entirely different. She held my hand to offset my anxiety. Now the hand meant more. This weekend was coming to a close, and I wasn't ready to let go of it yet.

We were due for a discussion. Sloan and I both knew it and were pushing it off. Before the trip, we'd agreed not to fool around again. We did, and now everything had changed. I was falling in love with Sloan and didn't even know if I could tell her out of fear she wasn't ready. Were we dating now? It felt like it at times. Other times, it felt more like I wanted something I couldn't have. What if Sloan was sexually available but emotionally unavailable? The last thing I wanted to do was to bring up Steve. It was just last week that I helped her end a panic attack that stemmed from him.

It was something new to dwell on during nights of little sleep.

As I overanalyzed Sloan's last relationship, I looked to my left, seeing my own was now passing us on the highway. Mikah and Shelby were now on the road, making their own way back to Chicago. I met Shelby's glance for only a moment, and it was enough to make my blood boil. Her blue eyes softened while mine rolled back to the road ahead. Sloan hadn't seen it, but she noticed that my grip of her hand tightened, giving mine a quick squeeze back to let up.

"Sorry," I said, muttering.

I let go completely to grip the steering wheel instead. Sloan turned her body to look at me, now spotting Mikah's truck passing and seeming to understand my change in demeanor.

"It's really okay to be upset that they're engaged," Sloan said, careful to not allow her lips to curve downwards. "I know you love her, Ollie."

That hurt to hear. Not that I hurt over Shelby, but that Sloan sounded hurt thinking I loved someone else. I didn't need her believing that. After this weekend, it was not a worry she needed to have. There would never be another attempt at rekindling that relationship. Especially after her accepting that proposal.

"I don't love her anymore, Sloan. That's not what's bothering me."

Her hand rested on my forearm. "Tell me what is."

"She said yes."

"If you don't love her anymore, why does that matter? Why should she say no?"

Another—louder—exhale ensued. I pressed on my tired eyes to get them to focus on the road while overthinking the night prior. This would not be easy to explain, because this was a new emotion for me. Or at least, it was an emotion I hadn't felt in years.

"I told you I learned of the proposal last night."

She nodded.

"When I left the room to get water, I found Shelby awake in the kitchen. She wasn't wearing the ring yet, but she told me that Mikah proposed."

"Okay?" Sloan continued to appear confused. It only took a few moments of silence before she registered what I'd said. "Oh."

For almost two years, I wanted just that to happen, and now I was hating myself for it. I wanted so badly for Shelby to come back to me; I didn't care if Mikah was hurt, because Mikah hurt me first. I shouldn't have been surprised when he made his move. Everyone knew of Mikah's crush on Shelby—including Shelby.

"She used him." My head shook in disgust. "She is using him. She believed that by leaving, I would change overnight. I didn't, because I'm stubborn. And when that didn't work, she thought she would make me jealous. Last night, I told her to say yes or let him go when I should have said to tell him the truth. Now, I don't know what to do."

"You should tell him." Sloan motioned with her head to the truck that was now in front of us for the next three hours. "He's about to make a huge mistake."

"I can't."

"He's still your brother, Ollie."

"Exactly. And I know better than anyone else, after all these years of fighting, that he won't believe me. He will think I'm trying to break them up, and he will hate me even more than he does now."

For the first time in a few years, I felt extremely protective of my little brother. There was still a rift between us that wasn't going away, especially for the restaurant. But now both Sloan and I understood there was nothing I could do but to let Mikah figure Shelby out for himself.

>>

It was almost ten at night when I pulled up to Sloan's duplex. The roads only got worse as we hit another snow storm coming home. We had to add another hour onto an already long three-hour drive back, and I still had a good hour back to my apartment in the city. Still, my mind hated the countdown of minutes that landed us here, when our holiday together would officially end.

Even though the car had come to a complete stop in the driveway, Sloan remained seated in the passenger seat. Our eyes were locked, keeping one hell of a hold on each other, knowing there was so much we needed to discuss and not wanting to. We met again over that stubborn center console and hungrily collided with our mouths instead.

"You're spoiling me with these," Sloan said between kisses, struggling for air the same way I was. I wanted her in my arms, and she was struggling to get herself there with the limited space.

The no kissing rule was out the damn window now. We were never going back. In fact, all the rules went up in smoke this weekend. She's a student and an employee. We had fucked more than once, and that also wasn't about to stop. My biggest rule was to not fall for another girl just to have my heart smashed again. But I forgot how good this felt.

"I don't think this holiday is over yet," I said with a growl, moving those kisses to her neck and sucking the skin to leave my mark. "Come home with me tonight. Stay through the holiday break with me."

"It has to be." Sloan giggled, pushing on my chest to halt me. "I'm out of clean clothes. I can't make it to tonight, let alone New Year's Day."

I shifted the car back into drive, pulling away from her home. "I can do laundry in the morning. You're sleeping naked tonight."

She didn't argue that time.