4. Anny
CHAPTER 4
ANNY
They say time heals all wounds. Clearly, whoever said that never dated a Kingridge.
I knew I'd see him eventually. Sagebrush Creek isn't big enough for me to avoid him forever. But I never expected it to happen like this. It seems impossible that Fallon is standing in front of me after a bar fight. After sharp words and even sharper looks, he’s really here. My heart hammers from the aftershock of it.
He’s looking down at me with those dark eyes that know all my secrets. The ones that used to make me feel safe. The ones that still unravel me… even now. For one breathless second, I forget everything. I forget I'm mad. I forget he left. I forget that everyone in this town whispered behind my back, saying I'd ruin his future, and I let that scare me more than losing him ever did.
Back then, I thought I'd have time. I thought he'd come back. I thought we'd figure it out once things settled. But he didn't come back. Not until now. And every time he opens that perfect, infuriating, dangerously kissable mouth, it gets harder to remember why I built these walls between us in the first place.
His mouth turns up at the corner into a smirk and my face flushes with heat. And this is exactly why I can't be around Fallon Kingridge. He's the last man I should be standing in the dark with. The last man I should let get this close.
And he is close.
Close enough that I can smell him. It’s an intoxicating combination of leather, soap, dust, and whatever cologne he wears. The scent could get a woman pregnant on contact. It makes me dizzy and my knees want to give out.
It makes me remember too much. There was a decade of my life when all I wanted was to share this man's last name. But I can't go back there. Not when I've clawed my way forward. Not when I've worked this hard to rebuild.
I step back.
He steps forward.
I shift to the side.
He follows. His eyes locked on mine like he knows exactly what I'm doing and he's not having any of it.
"Fallon," I warn.
He grabs my arm, not rough but firm. It’s like he's afraid if he lets go, I'll bolt. Which, to be fair, I absolutely would. Goosebumps race down my skin. I hate that he still has this kind of effect on me. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I ache for it too.
"I can't do this, Fallon." I force my voice into something flat and unfeeling, even though it's anything but. "Go back to your night. I'll see you around the ranch."
"You're bleeding."
I blink. "What?"
He nods toward my elbow. There's a shallow scrape I hadn't noticed. It’s probably from when that idiot knocked over a barstool in my direction.
"It's nothing," I say. "I've had worse from fence wire."
"Still." He peels his shirt over his head in one smooth motion. "Here."
And there it is; that warm pull low in my belly that betrays me every damn time. He steps closer and presses the soft fabric of his shirt to my arm with surprising gentleness.
"Remember when you busted your chin on the hayloft ladder?"
A quiet chuckle slips out of me before I can stop it. "Yeah. You caught me."
"Had to shove Callum out of the way first," he says, grinning. "He still hasn't let it go."
His laugh is low and nostalgic. I let myself look at him… really look. For a second, it's just us again and it’s simple. We are a boy and a girl tangled up in hay bales and wild dreams.
His stomach is chiseled and tanned from long days outside. Every muscle is defined in a way that makes my mouth go dry. He's filled out, but the raw power he's always had is still there. Only now, it's tempered by time and shaped into something even more dangerous.
He's in my space, and he knows it. That maddening Kingridge confidence is written in every line of his muscles. He still acts like my body is familiar terrain. Like it's his. It's not. Not anymore. I exhale a shaky breath. I could push him away. I should. But I don't.
"Anny, why didn't you take my calls?"
The question lands hard and my throat runs dry. I’ve imagined this conversation so many times. The moment I let my guard down, here it is. I’ve been dancing around the truth. Maybe it's the alcohol, maybe it's the adrenaline, or maybe it's the soft way he's looking at me but I’m done dodging.
"I thought I was pregnant," I say.
The words hang in the air like a thunderclap.
Fallon's entire body goes still. "What?"
"I wasn't," I rush to add. "But I thought I was. I had a few false positives, and by the time I figured out the truth... You were gone."
"And you didn't think to tell me?" His voice is rough, but there's pain in it, too. "You didn't think I deserved to know?"
"It's not that simple." My throat tightens. "It's never been simple with you."
"You’re gonna have to do better than that sweetheart.” His words are rough and challenging.
Guilt washes over me and I stare at the sky for a beat before answering. "It's not easy dating the sweetheart of Kingridge Ranch when half the town thinks you're just a warm body and a pretty face. The gossip brigade found out about the pregnancy scare before I even had the chance to breathe. Everyone said you wouldn't go to Europe if you knew. That I'd ruin your career. That I'd be the reason your future fell apart."
Fallon's jaw clenches, but I push on.
"They called me a distraction with curves," I say, bitterness creeping in. "They didn't say it outright, but they made it clear… If I really loved you, I'd let you go. I’ve always loved you. So I did what I thought was right."
He drags a hand down his face. The frustration in his posture guts me.
"I deserved to know," he says. "I would've dropped everything. I didn't want Europe. I wanted you. I would've given it up in a heartbeat."
"I didn't know that," I whisper. "Or at least I didn't trust myself to believe it. I didn't want to trap you."
He shakes his head like he's trying to shake off everything he just heard. “You should’ve taken my calls.”
"Well," I say, a bitter laugh slipping out, "that makes two of us who made the wrong call."
The air between us crackles. It’s raw and full of regret.
"I'm sorry, Fallon."
“Me too.” He pulls me into his arms.
I hate how right it feels. I hate how much I need this from him. But I let myself stay there, tucked against his chest, breathing in the intoxicating scent of home and heartbreak. His arms tighten around me.
My body reacts to him without permission. His hand drifting down my back sparks every nerve ending I've got. I feel him respond too. The bulge in his pants presses against me. His breath catches when I shift just slightly.
It'd be so easy to fall back into him. So easy to lose myself in everything we used to be.
We're teetering on the edge of something impossible. If I kissed him now, there'd be no turning back. One second is all it would take. I tilt my head up. My eyes lock on his lips.
I see the moment the thought crosses his mind, just like it's crossing mine… But he doesn't kiss me.
Thank God.
Because I don't know that I could've handled it if he did.
Instead, Fallon takes my hand, warm and solid in mine, and walks me to my car in silence.
And somehow... that's worse.