“Probably.”
He turns in my arms, and in the faint moonlight, his face is completely open—no armor, no mask, just him. He looks at me like he’s deciding whether he can trust this, and I already know I’ll spend however long it takes proving he can.
“I meant what I said,” I tell him. “In the parking lot—all of it.”
“I know,” he says quietly.
Something soft moves across his face, then he pulls me in and kisses me slowly.
“Randy’s going to wonder where I went,” he says against my mouth.
“Tell her something came up.”
He laughs and I feel it vibrate through his chest. I decide right then I’m going to spend the rest of my life chasing that sound.
I don’t know what happens tomorrow. There are hard conversations waiting—things I can’t take back, a town that won’t make this easy, and a future I can’t see clearly yet.
But tonight, he’s here.
I’mhere.
I drove two hours and I finally told the truth.
I didn’t run.
That’s enough.
That’s everything.
COLTON
We both ended up staying over at Miranda’s last night. The two of us on her tiny-ass couch was a pain, but it gave me an excuse to keep him in a bear hold for most of the night. After hanging out for a bit, chatting, and him filling her in on the anonymous texter, we both headed back toward the ranch.
Once I pull up, I get off my bike, placing my helmet on the fence post. Glancing over, I see Cash standing by his truck, his back to us, shielding a woman.
As Rhett crosses over to me, I call out, “Cash, who’s the flavor of the week you got hiding over there?”
Cash turns, his face a little surprised to see us both here, but he masks it as fast as he can as Halle’s face comes into view.
“Hal–Halle?” The puzzled look on my face causes Cash to turn the same shade of red as his hair.
Something flashes in Halle’s face before she’s composed again. “Thank God! I was so worried. I’ve been waiting for you.” She holds her phone up. “I’ve been watching your location all day!”
Cash snorts, but the way her eyes cut to him causes him to immediately go quiet again, making me raise an eyebrow. Before I can question more, though, Rhett cuts in.
“Thanks for the warning, guys. Rowdy Randy, was not what I expectedherto be all.”
Cash and Halle both break out into laughter as Halle walks over, wrapping her arms around me in a warm embrace.
She whispers to me, “I’ll explain later, but I just had to. It was so worth it, and Cash jumped right in. Honestly, it made it even better.”
I shake my head, chuckling, and filing that away to ask Rhett about later, before pulling away from her. As soon as she’s out of my arms, she smiles before heading for her car and saying goodbye to us all.
Cash lingers for a moment, watching her car disappear, then makes some shit excuse as to why he’s making himself scarce. Darting off as the last bit of daylight shines over the fields.
I look over to Rhett who’s just standing there, watching my face. “You’re staring.” I say it without looking at him, but I’m smiling and he can probably tell.
“I know.” He doesn’t stop.
