Page 26 of Thaw My Heart

Is that why she approached me? Small town, so I’m not surprised she knows him. I’d make it a point to know him, too. “It’s a long story, but I’m his neighbor.”

“Oh?” She raises her brows in surprise. “I’ve known him for years and can’t say that I’ve ever seen him on the dance floor. He seems… cranky.”

A laugh breaks from my throat. “He is, but… there’s definitely more to him.” Despite his crankiness, there’s a soft side to Kit I discovered tonight.

The beautiful folk music we listened to on the way here, with the inner rocker in him woven in between. The way he helped me out of his lifted truck, saying I won’t let go, melting the fear in my heart. The way he gently cradled me when we danced, softening his gaze just for me. The adorable blush that crept into his cheeks as his fingers grazed over my skin…

There’s much more to Kit than just the icy exterior he puts out. So much more that I want to discover.

She smiles, threading her arm through mine. “Come on, I’m ordering tequila shots.”

I think I found my new best friend, and I needed a girlfriend in this small town. This is turning out to be the best night I’ve had in a while.

Slow dancing with Sadie is now on my list of Never Agains. Whatever it is that started burning inside of me when she stepped closer was just hatred. Pure mutual disdain. Nothing more.

We made a deal, and now it’s done.

I can finally relish in peaceful nights without her loud music disturbing my quiet lifestyle, and she got her dance. For whatever reason she wanted it.

But did she only want to dance with me just to get under my skin? Or for some other reason? Did she truly like me as Ryker suggested? And where is her tattoo? And why the hell am I still thinking about it?

I wash cool water on my face in the bathroom, erasing my thoughts.

One damn problem at a time, Kit.

First problem: find Alaska and figure out what the hell happened during the last six months of silence between us. Second, find out why Cash is back in town. And third, forget about any thoughts about Sadie Lane for the rest of my goddamn life.

I find Ryker still sitting at our table with a beer in his hand, gazing mindlessly towards the bar. “Hey, have you seen Alaska?”

“How was your dance?” he asks. A grin hides underneath his dark mustache.

“Where’s Alaska?” I frown.

Ryker crosses his tattooed arms, revealing a crab holding a pair of revolvers. If Ryker wasn’t working on the ranch or out fishing, he was getting another tattoo. “Answer my question first,” he presses.

I sigh, plopping down next to him. “It was just a dance, Ryker.”

“Didn’t look that way,” he pushes with a smile. “You were dancing awfully close.”

A frustrated sigh rumbles in my chest as I focus on the crowded dance floor. “Why aren’t you out there?” Most nights during our bar visits, Ryker would be on the dance floor by now. With a new woman he intended to take home.

“I’m waiting on someone.”

I follow his gaze to Averie Knox at the bar, sitting next to Sadie, clinking shot glasses together with big smiles plastered on their bright faces. Fucking perfect. “You might be waiting here a while,” I mutter.

“I’ve got all night if that’s what it takes.” Ryker sips his beer, keeping his eyes on Averie while he fiddles with his military tag—a tag that belonged to his older brother Sawyer. He died while he was overseas a while back. The fiddling is a sign that Ryker is somewhere I can’t reach him. “Alaska is outside,” he murmurs.

“Hey,” I grab his wrist, and he stops. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he smiles, dropping his tag as the haze in his brown eyes clears. “Go on. She’s been waiting for you.”

“Are you sur⁠—”

“Just go,” he interrupts me. “I’m just fine right here.”

I sigh and pat him on the shoulder, glancing at Sadie laughing at the bar before heading outside into the frigid night air. Finding Alaska standing next to Hudson. A man I work with quite often on the ranch, when I’m not paired with Ryker. Hudson and I are similar in many ways. Except he’s blonde and a few years younger than me.

Alaska turns towards me, and they stop talking.