Page 40 of Only Be Mine

And I knew, with a hollow ache, that I wasn’t ready to stop remembering.

Chapter 13

Cate

July - Twelve years ago

Istudied myself in the mirror, running my hands down my stomach and over my hips, pinching at skin that had never bothered me before.

Ugh. Since when did I do this?

I exhaled and let my hands fall to my sides. Maybe I didn’t need to stop with the milkshakes. Maybe I just needed to stop letting my brain talk to me like it hated me.

“Cate! You ready?” John’s voice drifted up through the open window, bright and impatient in that way that always made my chest feel too full.

“Almost!” I called back, grabbing the black satin robe from the hook and slipping it on. I tied it loosely, then paused a beat, listening.

He was moving around downstairs - cupboards, drawers, that familiar thud of him setting something down too hard because he was excited. Coyote Ridge did that to him. The mountains flipped some internal switch that made him lighter, happier… more himself.

“We’re all packed down here!” he shouted from the kitchen. “The only thing missing is you!”

I smiled despite myself, tugged my hair into a loose ponytail, and headed for the stairs.

The kitchen was a controlled disaster. Cooler by the door. Bags lined up like soldiers. John in an old T-shirt and jeans, keys in his hand, looking like he’d been up for hours just waiting for the day to start.

I stopped in front of him and did a slow, exaggerated turn.

“Well?” I asked, lifting my chin. “Do I pass inspection?”

His reaction was immediate. Eyebrows up, jaw slack, eyes dragging over me like he had all the time in the world.

“What… uh,” he cleared his throat, visibly regrouping. “What are you wearing?”

I trailed my fingers down the smooth fabric. “Do you like it?”

When I loosened the knot and the robe fell open, nothing scandalous, just lace and suggestion, his breath stuttered. He stepped closer without thinking, hands finding my waist like they belonged there.

“I don’t know,” he said, voice low. “I think we should take those off.”

I rose onto my toes and brushed my mouth over his, smiling when he groaned… right before his phone rang.

Perfect timing.

John’s eyes flicked toward the counter like he was offended by the sound. I pressed my face into his neck, inhaling him, cedar and sun and something warm underneath. “You better get that,” I whispered.

He hesitated. Like he was genuinely considering letting it ring forever.

I stepped back, letting the robe slide off my shoulders and pool at my feet, and his gaze followed it like it was the beginning of a prayer.

“You’re evil,” he muttered.

I grinned. “Maybe.”

Then I turned and ran upstairs before he could catch me.

His groan echoed through the house, and I laughed all the way down the hallway.

I flopped onto the bed, energy thrumming beneath my skin. Somewhere along the way, John had become my center - not in a way that scared me, but in a way that felt… solid. Like finding something you didn’t realize you’d been missing until it was there.