I was too young to know what love was, but when I first saw Shiloh I knew she’d be in my life forever. I knew I couldn’t give her up.
She’d been the little girl wearing pigtails who’d just moved in next door. And as the years passed and we became the best of friends, how I felt for her changed.
I fell in love with her.
I should have been man enough to admit my feelings, to tell her that I wanted her as mine, but time ran out. She was leaving me, and the very thought of not having Shiloh in my life was akin to my heart being ripped from my chest.
Possessive and protective. Those two things ran deep within me where she was concerned. Without her I was only half a man.
Be with the girl I loved or stay back and help run the family business? Those two decisions weighed heavily on me.
But telling her I loved her could have Shiloh distancing herself even more. It could ruin everything we had. My decision would end up hurting someone in the end.
That was a risk I had to take.
That was the only way I’d know if we would get our happily ever after.