After rolling off the bed, Slater tugs a shirt over his head before opening the door Jenni is standing behind. When she spots me lying on one side of the rumbled bed, a vast grin etches across her flushed face.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Her cheeks bloom even more. “I just wanted to let you know we’re in San Francisco.” Her eyes stray from Slater to me. “And Emily asked me to tell you she needs to see you in her hotel room ASAP.”
The urgency in her tone makes me leap out of bed too quickly for someone with a woozy head. After stabilizing my footing, I drag my fingers through my fluffy hair before straightening my creased clothes. I’d prefer to get changed before our meeting, but what I’m wearing will have to do since I don’t have access to my suitcase.
I offer Slater my thanks with a smile as I pad past him. Just as I’m about to exit, his hand darts out to seize my wrist. My heart squeezes when I peer up into his gorgeous brown eyes. So many things are said without a single word escaping our lips. His sorrow for the cruel words we’ve shared since I started working with Emily. Mine for the horrid things I still have to explain. But the most important of all is the promise that we’ll work through our differences until we come to an amicable solution for us both.
Nodding, I press my lips to the edge of his plump mouth. “Thank you.”
My heart races when he smiles. I may not be able to fix the mistakes I’ve made, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start fresh to create something better.
Chapter Thirteen
Slater
“Thank fuck,” I breathe out heavily when my baby arrives in San Francisco in one piece.
It killed me asking Sonny to ride my bike, but he’s the only member of the road crew who has a motorcycle license. Normally, I wouldn’t let my bike out of my sight, but Kylie was ill all night long, so I had to pick between looking after her or riding my bike.
I chose her. I’ll always choose her.
Once I got my anger under control, I headed back onto the bus to discover Kylie huddled in a ball in the middle of the bed. Big angry tears were flooding her cheeks, leaving black smears on her face. She was sobbing so hard, her whole body was shuddering. It tore my heart in half seeing her so broken.
After sitting on the bed, I pulled her to my chest. She cradled in close before apology after apology spilled from her lips. Hardly anything she said made sense, but the word sorry was used continually, so it didn’t take a genius to realize she was apologizing.
By the time she finished crying, my chest was saturated with her tears, and she was both physically and emotionally exhausted. “I’m sorry for everything I did,” she whispered, her voice the clearest it had been all night. “Please forgive me; I need you to forgive me.”
I cleared away the hairs stuck to her temples before lifting her eyes to mine via her chin. “Why did you leave?” I asked my question more sincerely than I did earlier.
This time, her eyes didn’t dart away. She maintained eye contact by staring firmly into mine. “I did it for you. Everything I did, I did for you.” Her voice was as pained as the heartache etched on her face. “Please forgive me, Slater.”
Although she didn’t give me an actual answer, I always struggled to say no to her in general, especially when she stared at me like she did last night.
“Please, Slat—”
“I forgive you,” I interrupted.
Three little words and the burden of anger I had been carrying the past two years lifted from my shoulders in an instant. Her face scrunched up as she battled to hold back more tears. My thumbs cleared away the ones her eyes couldn’t contain. Within minutes, I saw enough tears leak from her eyes to last me a lifetime, and her stomach could no longer ignore its churning.
“I’m going to be sick.” She clamped her hand over her mouth as her pupils dilated. I barely got her to the bathroom in time. I’m fairly sure she didn’t have any food in her stomach because nothing but smelly bourbon was expelled from her body over the next several hours.
Kylie is tall for a girl, but she’s tiny in size. I was shocked how much she vomited throughout the night, but it had nothing on the shock of discovering her flawless skin still bears my name. It’s on a place not many men have seen, but I saw it while replacing her vomit-stained shirt with one I carried on the bus. When she lifted her arms to assist me, the black ink peeked out of her panties. It was as surprising to see as the day she got it. . .
Kylie’s wary eyes stray to mine. “No eye contact, don’t mention the word ‘dog,’ and only eat food directly out of the packet?”
“Yes.” It’s the fight of my life not to laugh. I thought Kylie would be too smart to believe the bullshit spilling from my lips, but she’s gobbling up every word like it’s gospel. “And don’t drink the water.”
Her brows furrow. We’re about to do the dreaded meet the parents routine. Kylie requested to meet my family first, then I’ll meet hers next weekend. We’ve been dating for nearly three months, so we felt the timing was right to introduce each other to our family and friends. We’ve pulled into a truck stop halfway between her college and my parents’ house to give our legs a bit of a stretch. Kylie’s college is seven hours away from her parents’ ranch, but mercifully, it’s only three hours from my hometown.
Her brows are still drawn together when I lower her purple helmet over her head before wrangling the straps into submission. I don’t wear a helmet while riding, but I always ensure Kylie does, especially since she lacks concern for her own safety.
“Do they even have a dog?”
I chuckle over the confusion in her tone. “Come on, let’s get this over and done with.”
I throw my leg over my bike before offering her my hand to assist her on the back. Kylie is a daredevil wrapped in a wholesome country girl facade. She lives her life to the fullest, and even though she loves being on the back of my bike, she molds her body as close to mine any time we ride. It has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with not wanting an ounce of air between us.
Once her arms are curled around my waist, and her cheek is leaning against my back, I kick over my bike then finish our trip to our family home.
