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They parked the truck, got out and walked over to the hidden spot that Sawyer had shown her, all without talking. The only contact they had was when Josie brushed her fingers against Sawyer’s as she held his hand with a feather-light touch. As if that fragile frozen bubble might shatter if they moved too quickly or spoke too loudly.
It had been a long, long time since Sawyer had been to the creek at night. It was beautiful in an eerie sort of way, the water reflecting the silver in the sky, the sound of the current trickling past somehow louder than it was during the day. He took a deep breath, taking in the scent of grass and fresh water, the air still hot around them despite the dark. Only now, secluded away in this private part of the world, did it seem safe enough to speak without ruining it all.
“So I’ll hazard a guess that you like it here?” Sawyer asked, and Josie smiled up at him with a shrug.
“Maybe just a little bit.”
“Have you been back here on your own?”
She made a face as if he’d suggested eating tree bark. “No,” she said, vehemently shaking her head. He laughed at the intense reaction.
“Why not?”
“Because you need to be here for the place to exist. Otherwise, it’s…” She paused, searching for the right word. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t be right without you.”
Sawyer gripped her hand harder, feeling his heart squeeze at the same time.
“Well,” he said. “This timeIwant to go swimming.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Do you? Now?”
“Yep.” He started stripping off to his boxers, all of the awkwardness gone from the action, and waded into the shallow creek until he was standing at the deepest part, which only came up to his knees. Josie followed, stepping into the water, holding onto Sawyer’s offered hand for balance, the water much deeper on her much smaller body. They sat down, letting the creek run past them, with Josie nestled against Sawyer’s leg.
The blanket of silence had returned. There was plenty they could talk about. Sawyer wanted nothing more than to hear Josie’s voice, to hear her laughing like the most colorful of birds. But not tonight, not right now. Right now they just sat together in the creek, the water just a touch away from being truly cold, somehow comfortable sitting against the stones, and they watched the sky.
Sawyer hadn’t realized how much he had needed this in his life. The stillness. The quiet and the dark, like every one of his senses was resting and winding down, his heartbeat slowing in his chest until it matched the dawdling pace of the creek, until the chirp of the crickets seemed fast by comparison. Maybe that was why he’d been drawn to sitting out on the porch lately. Maybe that was why Josie had known — however it was that she’d known — to bring him here tonight. Maybe it was all just a little bit magic.
CHAPTER 12
JOSIE
Josie stared out her kitchen window into the scrap of grass that was too small to really call a backyard, wondering if it was possible to get some chickens. It was definitely too small for a dog, but chickens didn’t need all that much space, not if she only had a couple, though a couple would still be stretching things. She just wanted fresh eggs mainly, but also some sort of animal to take care of once the ranch sold so that she wouldn’t go insane… Mostly, she was thinking about stupid stuff like backyard chicken coops because she was trying toavoidthoughts of the ranch being up for sale, but she always ended up back there anyways.
A knock at the front door disrupted her train of thought. Who knocked on doors anymore? Luke and Sandy hadn’t knocked on her door in at least a decade, just texting that they’d be there soon and barging on in, much like she did at their house. Suspecting either a serial killer or maybe someone door-knocking for charity, she peeked out the living room window.
Sawyer stood out there, larger than life on her front step, eyes hidden by sunglasses as he peered around him. Josie felt herselfimmediately relax like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She opened up the door, and Sawyer grinned like he was the cat that got the cream.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, though she honestly didn’t care what the reason was.
“I wanted to see you,” he said, putting his sunglasses up on top of his head, and Josie could see the honesty in his face.
“Well, then,” she said and opened the door wider, sweeping a hand out. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
Sawyer almost had to duck his head to walk into the entryway, seeming to take up all of the space around him like a black hole. As soon as Josie closed the door behind her, he scooped her up into his arms. This time she didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing them and she let out a happy squeal as he showered her neck and shoulders with kisses. She always forgot how fasthe could move.
“What is it with you and my shoulders?” she asked as his rough stubble tickled the base of her throat.
“I just like them. Is that a crime?”
He kept kissing her shoulders and down the lengths of her arms until they ended up on her sofa, which was barely big enough to fit his large frame, so Josie ended up sitting in his lap. Which wasn’t really a problem either.
“So…” Sawyer said, one hand on her waist and the other on her thigh. “This is your place.”
“This is my place, yeah.”
The living and kitchen area was all one room with a stove and a small countertop in one corner, her sofa and TV opposite, and a tiny bar fridge vibrating against one wall where there was space enough to fit it. Through one door was a bathroom and the other was her bedroom, her washing machine and dryer sitting outside on the back deck on the edge of her strip of grass.
“It’s small…” she said, feeling embarrassed, thinking of how fancy Sawyer’s place in Houston must be. Meanwhile, she had three different types of wallpaper on the walls of her bedroom because the landlord had given up halfway through renovations.
