AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Besides,” Fallon continues. “He will if I do something crazy enough.” A sly grin crosses her face as she sticks a leg out over the cliff ledge. “Life number four, here I come.”
Wyatt laughs, but his gaze is on her precarious balance. “Sounds like you need a therapist.”
Fallon rounds on him, looking like she’s ready to mow my brother down with her gunfire eyes. “Sounds like you need a muzzle,” she snaps.
Ruby, watching the scene with great concentration, edges closer to me. “What’d he do?” she asks softly.
“Who?”
“Wyatt.” She arches a brow, wags a finger between Wyatt and Fallon. The glares they’re giving each other could melt steel. “To make Fallon’s face look like that?”
I consider my brother. Ruby’s right.
That’s a goddamn great question.
I can’t tell if Wyatt wants to fuck Fallon or fight her. Maybe both. Which is strange because Wyatt usually tells me everything, but he’s never told me what he did to piss her off.
“You wanna feel alive,” Ford says, intercepting the argument with a wicked grin. “Let’s climb these cliffs, cowgirl.”
Taking the dare, Fallon wiggles her brows and grabs Ford’s pack. “You got chalk on you?”
“Christ,” I groan. Beside me, Ruby lets out a panicked squeak. The last thing we need is these two idiots plunging to their deaths.
“Y’all need to chill the fuck out,” Davis growls, stomping forward. In one swift motion, he hooks a finger through Fallon’s belt loop, lifts her into the air and sticks her back on solid ground. I watch the tension melt out of Wyatt’s lean frame.
Sticking her tongue out at Davis, Fallon grabs a beer from the cooler. “I’m gonna do something that’ll blow y’all’s mind, then get the hell out of this town.”
Ford holds up the last lantern. “Y’all get in here.”
Chuckling, Stede ambles forward and takes the lantern from Ford. A flash of silver shows in his smile. “I’ve had a pretty good life, but I sure would like some more.”
A small intake of breath beside has me glancing down at Ruby. She looks faraway, her light dimmed.
Fallon goes to her father. “That’s perfect, Daddy,” she says, her face the softest I’ve seen in a long time.
As Stede releases the lantern, I reach out and cup Ruby’s cheek in my hand. We watch as the glowing lantern floats in the dusky sky. “Your turn, Sunflower,” I tell her.
She shakes her head, stiffening at my words. “I don’t need a wish,” she says. And then she looks up, a gorgeous smile overtaking her face. The storm cloud in her eyes disappears, her sunshine glow restored. “I have you.”
How much I love this girl.
It vibrates through me like an electric shock.
Stays in my bones. Ashes my heart. Caves in my chest.
“Goddamn, baby.” I pull her closer into my arms.
That mouth is mine. I claim it in front of everyone, drinking her in deep.
When I release Ruby, all eyes are on us.
“Take a damn picture,” I growl.
Ruby blushes and ducks her head against my chest.
Everyone laughs and the night goes on. The stars come out. The cooler is emptied. We build a fire. Ford launches into a story about the fish he caught this summer and the bear he swears stalked him for a mile before he offered it the trout in exchange for his life.
Stede appears at my side. He looks healthy as hell. “Charlie, Davis, think I can bend your ear a second?”
