“I said I’ve got you, and I meant it. We’ll pick up the pieces together. You’re not alone.”
She sniffled, voice shaking as she said, “I don’t deserve you. As a friend, as more…”
“We’re not talking about me, darlin’. This is all about you.” I ran my hand up, smoothing down her hair. Josie leaned deeper into my touch. “I just wanna helpyou.”
Hot tears fell against my skin within moments, her shoulders shaking with heart-crushing sobs. I pulled her closer, tightening my grip around her waist. Her body fit perfectly against my own.
We didn’t talk, but I let her cry.
I let her cry until my shirt was soaked, until I felt her muscles relax when she slumped against my chest. I let her cry until her breathing returned to normal, and she softly ran her fingers against my neck.
When I loosened my grip, Josie sat back on her haunches. Her palms slid over my shoulders to my chest, lips parted. My hands fell to her hips, lingering there even though I knew they shouldn’t.
The stars in the sky had nothing on her. She was a mess—a beautiful fucking mess I wanted to get lost in.
“You’re a good man, Lincoln Carter.” I couldn’t shake thestupid grin that spread across my lips, and she tilted her head. “What?”
“It’s nothing,” I said.”
“Tell me anyway.”
My fingers hooked into her belt loops, and I gave a little tug. “I like it when you say my name.”
Her storm-colored eyes dropped to my lips. “I think I like it, too.” It was a soft admission, one she purposely kept low, as though she was scared of what would happen if she didn’t.
Tonight wasn’t about me or my feelings. It wasn’t about showing Josie I was better than all the other fuckers she’d tangled with over the years. But damn, if it didn’t make my hope soar to new heights, even if I knew it’d be gone by morning.
And then I was stupid. Utterly reckless.
I leaned in, brushing my lips across her forehead in a ghost of a kiss—a promise of the future and the haunting of our past crossing paths right before us.
Josie closed her eyes, letting loose a soft sigh that nearly broke my resolve. I wanted to blaze a path down her cheeks and wipe away every mascara stain with my tongue. I wanted to erase every tear she’d ever shed with promises of a future worth living.
But I didn’t get the chance, not as we heard her father call her name and the sound of crunching gravel under footfall.
Josie jumped up, distancing herself as Doug walked around the corner. “Everything okay, here?” he asked.
She smiled, and it was almost convincing. I wondered how long she’d had to practice that, how long she’d been hiding her feelings from those around her. “Yeah, I saw Lincoln out here chopping wood, so I thought I’d see if he needed anything.” She looked down at me. “You good?”
I dropped my head, knowing whatever we shared had already shattered. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll finish up here in just a minute.”
Doug said something, but I couldn’t hear him. Or maybe Ididn’t care to. I wasn’t able to put up my mask the way Josie could.
It wasn’t until she stepped beside me, letting her hand linger on my shoulder, that I knew we were alone again. “Thank you, Lincoln. For everything.”
And then she walked away, leaving me kneeling in the dirt and wondering what the hell I was doing in Texas.
josie
. . .
It’d beena long time since I’d let myself be as vulnerable as I was with Lincoln. I didn’t know what it was about him that let my guard drop. He had thisthingabout him that made me want to divulge every secret and truth I’d ever held near my heart.
And last night, beneath the flickering yellow glow of our barn, I’d laid a few bare for him to see.
I wasn’t sure when I’d decided to trust him. Letting him see that messy, anxiety-addled part of me that I’d learned to keep close from an early age. There weren’t many people around here who understood it.
My parents, though, had always been my biggest support system. They listened to me without judgment or guilt, never tried to convince me that whatever I was experiencing was all in my head. It’d only taken one appointment with my local doctor before they elected to drive to the city in search of a psychiatrist who understood mental health.
