Maybe they were right about me. Maybe they saw something I’d been trying to ignore—something dark and unchangeable. Maybe Beth would be better off without someone like me dragging her down.
As my breath misted in front of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter how much I wanted to change, some things were just too broken to fix.
I started walking as the first flakes of snow drifted down from the dark sky. Each step crunched under my boots, the sound echoing in the quiet night. The cold air bit at my face, but it was nothing compared to the icy knot in my chest.
"Daryl?"
Beth's voice cut through the silence, stopping me in my tracks. I turned slowly, half-expecting it to be a figment of my imagination.
She stood there, her breath visible in the frigid air. "You weren't even going to say goodbye?" Her eyes searched mine, full of questions and hurt.
"You should go," I told her, trying to keep my voice steady.
She frowned, stepping closer. "Why did you come tonight?"
"Morrison," I muttered as a warning, avoiding her gaze.
"I'm being serious, Daryl Walker," she said, her voice firmer now. She closed the distance between us until she was only a step away. I should have moved back, put some space between us. But I couldn't. "Why did you come?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but the words wouldn't come. They were stuck somewhere deep inside, tangled up with all the things I couldn’t say.
"To see me?" she asked, her eyes searching mine.
"I—"
"Because I want to see you," she said, her voice softening as she looked up at me.
"Beth, you don't?—"
"You don't get to tell me what I do and don't want, Daryl," she whispered, her face inches from mine.
And then she kissed me. Right there in the falling snow, her lips warm and soft against mine. My mind went blank; every thought and doubt dissolved in that moment. All I could feel was her—her warmth, her courage, her stubbornness.
Because even though I knew I couldn't have her, even though I knew she deserved much better than me, I was a selfish man.
I kissed her back, letting myself get lost in her for just a moment longer than I should have.
Chapter13
Beth
The snowflakes danced around us, each one catching the glow of the Christmas lights strung across the shops. My heart hammered against my ribs as I stretched up on my tiptoes, my hands pressed against the rough canvas of Daryl's work jacket. The kiss happened before I could think twice about it.
His lips were warm despite the December chill, and for one terrifying moment, he froze. My stomach dropped. What was I thinking? I started to pull back, an apology already forming?—
But then his calloused hand cupped my cheek, and the world tilted. Daryl kissed me back with an intensity that made my knees weak. The scent of motor oil, smoke, and pine wrapped around me as he drew me closer. His other hand settled at the small of my back, steady and sure, like he'd been waiting to hold me just like this.
The snow melted against my flushed cheeks. My fingers curled into his jacket, holding on as if I might float away. His thumb brushed across my cheekbone, gentle in a way I never expected from those work-roughened hands.
"Beth," he breathed against my lips, my name carrying a weight I'd never heard before.
The kiss deepened, and the lights, the snow, the whole world disappeared. There was only the warmth of his embrace, the way his fingers tangled in my hair, and the soft sigh that escaped him when I traced his bottom lip.
When we finally broke apart, our breaths mingled in the cold air between us. Snowflakes caught in his dark eyelashes, and that permanent furrow in his brow had smoothed away. For once, he didn't look away or try to hide behind that wall he'd built around himself.
"I've wanted to do that since you first walked into my garage," he murmured.
My heart skipped, and I pressed my smile against his jaw. "Even when I was being too chatty?"
