Page 20 of Paper Horses

His massive hand encased my wrist, bringing my attention to him. He was close, too close. The scent of cedar and summer nights and rich chestnut eyes had my heart hammering. A pause. A moment where our gazes lingered. Familiarity and comfort.

“Stay,” he said.

I didn’t move, searching his eyes and fighting the memories of another time. One where laughter came freely and smiles were constant.

“If you stop,” I said.

“What?” he asked, his eyes falling to my lips.

“Being such an ass.”

A smirk that weakened my knees formed on his mouth.

“It’s a regular occurrence now,” he said, his tone lighter.

“Hm. I guess we’ve both changed.”

Our eyes remained locked, his touch sending heat cascading from my wrist and through my body.

“Coffee coming through,” Jessie said, her voice cheerful and grating. She reminded me of Tori, and I didn’t know what to think about that.

“Sit back down, Olivia.” Hudson’s breath was warm on my face, his eyes soft.

I yanked my arm from his and flopped back into the seat, crossing my arms.

Jessie placed the coffee cups—white ceramic, plain and chunky—in front of us, followed by a bowl of small containers of cream. I crinkled my nose as she looked between us again, her grin mischievous before she walked away, shaking her head and chuckling to herself.

I turned the mug handle toward me, playing with it to give my fingers something to do.

“She seems nice,” I said, wanting to be bitchy, but too tired to try.

“She is.” He grabbed three of the creamers, and I watched him dump them into his coffee.

“Why did you break up?”

What are you doing, Liv? You don’t want to know.

I was punishing myself. Torture, like Gabe had done when he’d hired Tori. Maybe we were both so used to the pain that we invited it.

The containers made a distinct crinkling sound as Hudson’s hand clenched around them. My eyes rose to see darkened orbs of chocolate, narrowed and so intense that I instantly regretted the question.

Chapter 7

Hudson

Hazel eyes, dusted with gold and wide with a shadow of anticipated pain, stared at me as Olivia waited for my answer. An answer I didn’t want to give her. To admit that Jessie and I had split because she wasn’t Olivia. Because I could never love her. Olivia had left a trail of wreckage in my heart that had never healed, no matter how I tried fooling myself into believing it had with every attempt at dating. Reality slapped me in the face each time it hadn’t, and I’d given up, knowing it never would.

“It didn’t work out,” I mumbled.

Her sight drifted to Jessie, a flicker of something akin to sadness and jealousy in those delicate irises.

“It was seven years ago,” I added. “She’s married to Carl now, who runs the auto shop in town. And she’s happy.” I dropped my eyes when Olivia looked back at me. “Something I couldn’t make her.”

Because I had buried my heart too far below the walls I’d built around it. Walls that had locked away Olivia’s claim on it and kept it too far from anyone else’s reach. It had sucked to admit, but I’d realized years ago that I couldn’t shake her hold on it. No matter how much I hated what she’d done to me.

“Oh,” she said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.

For a moment, she looked like she had when she’d returned home from break each time. A fragile girl who needed protecting. Wounded. I’d never understood what happened in that house, and she’d only ever told me her father was hard on her. Cold and distant.