I finally called Shawn and told him I was heading to Steamboat Springs and would ride out the rest of the summer series.
He wasn’t thrilled.
The academy still had several weeks left, and I’d made commitments to Bryce and the students.
Still, he didn’t argue and didn’t try to talk me out of it.
Just told me he’d call the people at Outlaw Heritage and see if they could move up my August ad campaign photo shoot.
“Better to get those pictures now,” he said. “Before another bull rearranges your face.”
I hid out all weekend, planning my escape. Ignoring every call and every text.
Like a coward.
When Jovie finally reached out, I typed a flippant reply and hit Send.
Like she’d done something wrong. And she hadn’t. Not a single damn thing.
Sunday night, when it came time to load my truck, Momma hugged me goodbye.
Then she leaned back and looked me square in the eyes.
“I don’t know what this is about, Axle,” she said softly. “But I doubt running away is the answer.”
I didn’t reply, but her words followed me all the way to the edge of town.
I was almost out of Wildhaven before I realized I couldn’t breathe.
For the first time in ten years, I didn’t want to leave. I wasn’t excited to hit the road again. I just wanted to stay.
I turned the truck around and drove straight back to the ranch, ready to face whatever consequences lay ahead.
The back deck light on Jovie’s cabin was still on, as if she had left it burning for me, like part of her had expected me to come home to her.
Her door was unlocked, so I slipped inside quietly and found her curled up on the far edge of the bed.
I stripped down to my boxers and climbed in beside her.
The second my arm wrapped around her waist, she relaxed, and every bit of tension left her body.
Then she whimpered into the darkness, “I missed you.”
God.
I close my eyes now and tighten my arms around her.
Jovie stirs. Her eyelashes flutter, and sleepy blue eyes blink up at me.
For a moment, she just stares as her hand slides across my chest.
“Axle?”
“Morning, Doc.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “When did you get here?”
A guilty smile tugs at my mouth. “Early this morning.”
