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Chapter Eleven
Ellie
Imanagedtograba cab home. Cypress Falls didn’t have an official cab company, but the town organized a group of designated drivers for festivals involving alcohol. I was thankful for that tonight, especially when I needed to get away fast.
I stumbled through the front door as quietly as I could. The trailer was quiet as I tiptoed unsteadily down to the far end to check on my dad. He was safely tucked away in bed, his chest rising and falling as he slept.
Sighing, I headed to the bathroom, not even bothering to close the door behind me as I leaned over the sink and sucked in air, still trying to calm my racing mind and heart. Callen was blowing up my phone with texts wondering where I was, but I ignored him. I looked into the small mirror on the wall, taking in my face. I was a mess. My mascara was smudged, my lipstick smeared. I looked like a drowned raccoon and I had no idea how Ty could look at me like this and call me beautiful.
I pressed my lips together, everything that had happened in that alley crashing over me. My skin flushed at the memory of his touch. I bit my lip, confused. Ty had always been my friend. Sure, he was extremely good looking and was the person I was closest to growing up, but tonight I’d felt something different. Something that lived in the very core of my being and it scared me.
I shook my head, shaking away the unwelcome feelings pushing to the surface. I rubbed my palms against my temples where a headache was building. No, I had imagined it. There wasn’t another explanation. Maybe it was the alcohol and the fact that no one had said such kind things to me in a very long time.
There was no way I’d almost kissed Tyson Ranes.
I turned and started the water for the shower. As I stripped off my clothes and stepped under the hot cascade, I tried to wash away the memories from tonight. I couldn’t help but wonder, in the back of my mind, if Ty had felt that strange feeling too. Had he felt the shift between us? And if he had, was he going to try and forget it ever happened?
Because that’s exactly what I was going to do.
A loud pounding on my door woke me from a dead sleep. Groaning, I uncurled myself from the warm ball under the blanket. I hadn’t made it to my bed after my shower and passed out on the couch. My head felt heavy and I grumbled as the pounding continued.
Shuffling to the door, I pushed it open, fully ready to berate whoever it was that wanted to wake me early in the morning on a damn Saturday.
I blinked against the bright sun. Knox stood outside, grinning at me. “Mornin’, sunshine,” he said, with an uncharacteristic amount of enthusiasm.
I crossed my arms over my chest and grimaced, shielding my eyes against the brightness of the outside world with a hand. “What are you doing here?” I croaked. I needed some water. And coffee.
Knox tilted his hat back. “You wanna take a hike with me?”
My nose crinkled. “Do I look like I want to take a hike with you?” I had to have looked awful. My eyes stung with exhaustion and my whole face felt puffy. I hadn’t brushed my hair after my shower and it was an absolute mop.
Knox shrugged. “Maybe some fresh air will be good for you. It’s been a while since we’ve been on the trails.”
My shoulders sagged. Knox and I hadn’t been out on the trails at the nature preserve in months, maybe even a year. It was something we’d done often back before life started falling apart—for all of us, it seemed.
I rubbed one eye with a sigh. “I don’t know. It’s not a great time…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to admit the massive hangover I’d be fighting all day. Then again, he probably already knew. I was sure Ty told him all about last night.
“Please?”
The word hit me right in the gut. Knox wasn’t one to push. He always quietly accepted whatever came. The look on his face made me weak. I let out a breath, stepping back and gesturing inside.
“Come in. I have a few things to do first.”
He beamed, a grin returning as he stepped over the threshold. I wasn’t sure what Knox had in mind, but I didn’t have the energy to fight him. Not today.
After we drank some coffee and I got Daddy up and situated for the day, Knox and I headed toward the river and nature preserves flanking it. Cypress Falls had a lot more to offer than just cute, main street shopping and downtown Friday fests. The river was the real trophy and as we passed the sparkling water of the Blue Cypress River, something inside me bloomed. I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or happiness. It had been so long since I’d enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine.
Knox parked his truck in a lot on the nature preserve. Multiple trails started here and looped back around. All of them were fairly easy and wouldn’t take us long to hike. I breathed in the smell of flowers and damp earth as the canopy of tree leaves above whispered in the breeze.
Knox glanced at me, brows raised. “What trail do you want to do today?”
I rolled my shoulders, realizing for the first time how stiff my body was. There was still a headache pulsing behind my eyes, but the two cups of coffee had helped. A large water bottle was slung over my shoulder that I’d been nursing all morning.
“Rockpile?” I suggested. It wasn’t a long trail, but there was a small waterfall in the middle along one of the creeks.
Knox nodded and headed in the direction of the trailhead. The thing about hiking, was that it was mostly quiet. All the brush and dirt and moss dampened everything. All around was forest and rocks and it was easy to pretend it was a whole different world. As if the stress outside the trees didn’t even exist. For the first time in years, the weight on my shoulders lessened. I could finally stand up straight and walk ahead with my head up high.
“Why don’t we do this more often?” I asked, following close behind Knox on the narrow trail.
