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And then she did something worse.
She started sobbing.
Huge, choking sobs that made her shoulders shake and her body tremble. Her hands were over her eyes, and her legs couldn’t carry her weight on top of this onslaught of emotion.
Then his hands caught her shoulders, drawing her in against his chest. “Layne. Layne, please.”
“They put it all over the Internet. I knew . . . I knew it would be bad ” She choked again.
“I’m sorry.” She felt his breath on her hair. “Layne, I’m sorry.”
“Even Kara . . . Kara was emailing with them.”
“Your friend is a bitch. And she doesn’t deserve you.”
“She was my only friend.”
“No. She wasn’t.”
Her hiccupping breaths abated enough for her to look up at him, but he didn’t let her go. His arms were around her back.
Strong, supportive, doing the job her knees just couldn’t. He smelled like sweat and sunshine and the woods, and she loved it.
She pressed her face against his shoulder. “I was worried you hated me.”
“Then we have that in common.”
Confused, she lifted her head. His eyes were close, blue sparked with sunlight.
“I was worried you hated me,” he said. “After what your father said ”
“That was my fault.”
“No.” His voice hardened. “That was his fault.” He paused to brush a strand of hair from her forehead.
“I don’t hate you,” she whispered.
“You sure?” There was no relief in his eyes, just wary exhaustion. “You wouldn’t be alone.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing. I’m being stupid. It’s been a long weekend.” His hands were stroking along her back.
She gave a choked laugh; it sounded strangled. “Tell me about it.”
Gabriel paused, and now he seemed hesitant. “I was worried you wouldn’t want to see me.”
“Are you kidding?” She looked up at him. “You’re the only person I want to see right now.”
He leaned in, his expression softer now, more sure. “So crying when you see me is a good thing. Got it.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “I can’t believe you ran all the way here.”
“I told Hunter I’d run a marathon with him next month.” He paused. “So I’ll need to do lots of running in the morning.”
She picked up on the wry note in his voice. “Funny how I do lots of riding in the morning.”
“That’s what I figured.” He looked up, past her. “Is it always this deserted?”
