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I chuckled and reached across the seat, placing a hand onto her leg. “But it all worked out,” I quietly said, brushing my thumb back and forth.
“Well, technically we haven’t even had a single first, alone date yet, so I don’t know if that counts as everything working out,” she teased, a smile finally caressing her beautiful, plump lips.
I chuckled and then slammed on the brakes. The truck fishtailed, skidding across the snowy, icy road.
Tenley shrieked, latching a hand onto my arm, and digging in her nails as the wheels locked up. But we weren’t stopping, the road was too slick.
My heart raced as I glanced at Tenley right before the truck skidded sideways and my side slammed directly into at least three deer standing in the middle of the road.
Chapter 12
**TENLEY**
“Weston?” my voice cracked as I looked at the man sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Are you okay?” he breathlessly asked. We werelucky—thedeer at least had started to run off by the time we bumped into them, hopefully leaving only a small dent in the door and no damage done to the animals. One could hope at least.
“I’m alright. Are you good?”
Headlights flashed on my side of the truck, drawing our attention away from the near catastrophic collision. A couple vehicles were headed directly toward us. And not slowing down.
“Weston!” I shrieked. Panic rising in my throat. Not a moment to spare as the adrenaline pumped harder through my veins.
He quickly put his foot on the gas to drive us away. But the wheels simply spun on the snowy road, not catching to propel us forward.
The vehicles were cruising steadily closer as I latched onto his arm again. He rapidly flipped four-wheel drive on and engaged the gas pedal again. This time my body lurched with the truck and we were finally spinning forward.
Weston jerked the truck as close to the right side of the road as possible and stopped just as the other two vehicles swerved around us, fishtailing. They barely missed hitting us.
We remained frozen in our seats, my heart pumping loudly in my ears. My skin prickled, nausea rolling in my stomach. After nearly crashing into some deer, we'd almost been hit by oncoming traffic.
Taking a very shaky breath, I let go of his arm and leaned my head back against the rest.
A string of curse words left Weston’s mouth, as he glared at the two quickly fading vehicles.
“It’s fine, we’re fine. Don’t stop and see if we’re alright,” he grumbled toward them. His eyes tracked the fading vehicles, eventually sighing, and once again glanced my way.
“I’m okay, really,” I reassured him before he had a chance to ask, and he clenched his jaw.
“Oh, they’re going to get an earful when we get to the ranch,” he continued to mutter, easing us back onto the road.
“Who is? About what?” I asked, and he ran his fingers through his hair before gently placing his hand onto my leg once more.
“That was Cash and his family in one vehicle, with my parents in the other. Remington and his family are probably not too far behind,” Weston replied.
My mouth fell open. “That was your family? Being that reckless?”
“Well, I mean, it is icy.” He tried to justify, but I could see the concern and annoyance that was on his face. I think it was more his way to calm himself down, not just because we’d nearly been hit, but also because his family could’ve been hurt. That was the one consistent thing that I knew I could always count on from him.
His desire to protect those he loved, which seemed to also include me.
We slowly began rolling forward once more, his hand gripping my thigh the entire way. Not another word was shared as the tires crunched over the snowy drive, eventually ending at the ranch.
There were lights on in the main house, smoke curling out of the chimney once we arrived. This place brought oddly haunting and relaxing memories back to the surface. Ones of life and love and near death. It was a strange feeling, the truck door creaking loudly through the silence around me as I stepped out.
Walking around the front of the truck, I paused beside Weston. He was running a hand over the dented metal door, his brows furrowed deep in thought. Some damage yes, but it seemed all superficial, though I wasn’t sure how much of a relief that was for him.
He sighed and stood up, swinging his hardened gaze from the frame of the truck toward me. “I should be able to fix that. As long as there’s no internal damage, just a little reshaping.” He gave me a tight smile, his face pulled taught.
