AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then she saw Thatch standing there, Aiden and Silas on either side of him, their hands on his shoulders as though holding him back.
But nothing could hold them back now. She ran and he ran, and they collided in a hard and powerful hug right in the center of everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I’m sorry.” Lyric sobbed on his shoulder. “Thatch, I’m sorry I didn’t show up for you—”
“That doesn’t matter.” He held her close, shuffling his feet to move them behind one of the cargo trailers and out of everyone’s line of sight. This moment was theirs. Between them only. They didn’t need to share it with the thirty or so strangers who were standing around.
“I saw Luke at the café. Before dinner with your family. And I ran. I couldn’t face him.” Lyric peered up at him, tears flowing, but her eyes were wide and bright and hopeful.
That look right there told him everything he needed to know—that he hadn’t imagined their connection, that she felt this strong pull to him too. “You shouldn’t have had to face him alone.” When he’d first seen Lyric talking to Luke, he’d been ready to go over there and deck the guy, but that wouldn’t have made him any better a man than the one she’d left behind, as Silas and Aiden hadreminded him. “I should’ve been there with you. I knew he was in town. I should’ve been watching out for you.”
“It’s not your fault.” Lyric loosened her hold on him but didn’t let go. “I kept you out. I acted like it wasn’t a big deal that he was in town.” One single tear still clung to her eyelash. “I didn’t know how big a deal it was until I saw him. I just panicked.”
“I get that.” He ached for her, that she had to fear someone because of what had happened to her, that someone so good and sweet and warm had ever been touched by violence.
A smile crept onto her lips, and she moved her hands to his chest. “I didn’t mean what I said to you. That I don’t want you. That’s not true at all. I just wanted to get away. So I took off, not really sure where I would go, but then I ended up at the same cabin we stayed in.”
“Really?” He smiled too. “The same one?”
“That was the only one available.” She laughed a little. “Fate, I guess. All night, I kept thinking about how I made the biggest mistake of my life when I walked away from you. But I didn’t know what to do. That fear was so debilitating. And then Tess and Kyra showed up and reminded me that I’m not powerless.”
“You were brave, Lyric.” It had been difficult for him to stand back simply watching while she confronted Luke. But she hadn’t needed his help. “You’re so brave.”
“All of you make me braver.” She backed him up against the trailer, pressing her body to his. “I should’ve runtoyou instead of runningawayfrom you. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“You can come to me about anything.” Even her concerns about his family’s expectations. “I know it was probably a lot for you to think about having dinner withmy family.” Especially given everything she’d been dealing with. “We don’t have to hang out with them if you’re not comfortable. I told you that we didn’t have to define our relationship right now, that we could take this at your pace, and that’s still true.”
“I appreciate that.” A smirk replaced her earlier smile. “It would seem that my pace might be picking up speed. I haven’t stopped thinking about you, Thatch. Not even for an hour when we’re apart.”
“Then we’re in the same boat.” He went to kiss her, but she started talking again.
“All I can think about is when I can be with you again. I love being with you. You make me laugh and you make me feel safe and you bring out the absolute best parts of me.” She kissed his lips softly, her lips clinging to his for a few extra seconds. “And I’m sure I’ll love your family too. It’ll be fun to spend some time with them. If we can still make that work?”
“They’d love that.” He tightened his hold around her, lifting her feet off the ground while he kissed her. “And so would I.”
Her arms went around his neck and her legs around his waist so he was holding her up, holding her against him, kissing her like he might never have the opportunity again.
Lyric pulled back, her expression suddenly stricken. “What’d you tell your family when I didn’t show up?”
He set her feet back on the ground but still didn’t let go. “That you broke up with me. That’s what I thought. That I’d driven you away.”
“No,” she whispered an inch from his lips. “No. You made me believe again. That love was possible. That—”
The obnoxious loudspeaker crackled. “Bronc riders, please move to the arena.”
“Aw.” Lyric’s perfectly kissable lips pouted. “I guess we’ll have to finish this later.”
“We’ll have plenty of time.” He couldn’t resist the temptation to lay one more kiss on her before he climbed onto the back of a bronc with a whole new motivation. “We can finish this at the big barn party tonight. And then at my place or your place after.”
“Yes and yes.” She stepped away from him, giving him a pat on the butt. “Now go win yourself a new purse.”
Thatch laughed. “I’ll do my best.” They’d taken two steps when he saw their friends had quietly gathered around them, watching everything. “All right. Show’s over.” He waved them away.
“Sorry, but, oh, my God, that was like watching a scene from a movie.” Tess was actually weepy.
Kyra had a hand over her heart. “So beautiful.”
