27. Sarah
Chapter 27
Sarah
Then let me give you the world .
It was all I could think about the entire ride back to his house. There was no doubt about my feelings anymore. Not after what we’d shared tonight. My sex was still throbbing with each gentle bounce I took in the saddle.
Vibrators be damned, I’d never had anything as good as Ranger’s tongue licking my clit like I was a damn buffet of his favorite dessert.
The cold wind on my wet hair did nothing as my body still clung to the heat of my climax, even as the lights of his home came into view.
But it was more than that. Tonight, he’d shown me a sacred place he once shared with his mother. He’d told me that despite my fears, he wanted to give me the life I never let myself live.
I was falling hard and fast for him. The man who was born an outcast from my society. The one who protected all others, even if it cost him his freedom. Ranger was more than just my childhood crush now. He was the one I wanted to experience life with. The person I chose to share all parts of myself with.
“Thank you,” I said to him as he steered Hank towards the barn on the left side of the house.
“For what?” His shoulder-length curls were still damp from the river water. I hoped he wasn’t too cold.
“For sharing everything with me tonight. I feel…different. Like tonight helped me discover what I truly want for myself. I don’t think that would have happened without you.”
A smile parted his lips and crinkled his eyes. “I didn’t lie when I said I wanted to give you the world. Tonight was just the start of that.”
Something that had long been broken inside of me started to mend from hearing his words. I realized then that maybe I wouldn’t have the perfect relationship with my parents. That they would never approve of who I am and what I wanted for myself. But I had a choice in who I allowed to impact my life. I could let my parents continue to meddle in my business and berate me for my choices. Or I could lean into what Ranger and my best friends provided me. A found family of sorts. Letting Willow, Johnny, Deacon, and Ranger fill the void my parents left.
As we rode the rest of the way to the barn, I felt everything in me shift.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Why is your hair all wet?” Callie Rose asked her brother before he could say a word as we made the final step up to the back deck.
Ranger looked down at me, eyes blazing with the secret we shared of what transpired between us earlier. I felt my cheeks redden and my heartbeat kick up.
“We had a little adventure. Nothing for your nose to be in,” he shot back at his sister.
Her dark brows rose toward her hairline, but she didn’t pester him anymore. “Sarah, you know my sister.” I nodded, giving her a warm smile. Her lips were tight as she looked me up and down, assessing me. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “And this is Miles.” He gestured to the man sitting next to his sister. Miles was just as big as Ranger, taking over the entire Adirondack chair, legs stretched out long. His light brown hair flared out a little bit around his ears and the back of the baseball hat he wore backward. Stubble lined his sharp jaw and freckles dusted the bridge of his pert nose and cheeks.
He rose from his seat and stepped toward me, hand outstretched. I took it, thankful for the moment of warmth against the cold. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Sarah.” His accent was thick, like he was born in the backwoods of the Blue Mountains. I noticed Callie Rose eyeing our interaction.
Damn, she’s intimidating . She’d always been really quiet in school, but then again I wasn’t dating her only brother back then.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Miles.”
With a quick glance at Ranger, he settled back into his seat. “Do you want something to drink?” Ranger asked me.
Before I could answer Callie Rose lifted a large canister. “I made fresh hot chocolate.”
“Ooo. That sounds amazing. Thank you.”
She grabbed two metal mugs from the side table to her right. One was red speckled with black and the other was cream speckled with blue. She poured the hot chocolate into both mugs and handed them to Ranger and me before we settled into the empty chairs around the firepit.
Raising the mug to my lips, I went to take a sip of the hot liquid and immediately stopped as Callie Rose asked, “So, what are your intentions with my brother, Sarah?”
Ranger choked on the gulp he’d just taken and I was thankful I hadn’t drunk anything yet.
When I looked at Callie Rose, there was no humor in her eyes. She was dead serious. I had to give the girl props. If it was my brother, I’d be grilling the girl he was dating too.
“Come on Cal, you don’t need to do that to her,” Ranger said giving me deja vu from when Willow asked the same question to him.
I placed a hand on his knee. “No, it’s okay. She has every right to ask that question.” He gave me an apologetic look like he was desperately sorry that his sister was about to put me through the ringer.
Shifting my attention back to Callie Rose, I told her exactly what my intentions were with her brother. “I’ve gone through most of my life feeling unsure about my decisions. I tend to question everything I do and I think that’s because I never had parents in my corner cheering me on. What I feel for Ranger is one of the very few things I’ve been certain of. I can only speak for myself when I say that I’ve never cared for anyone the way I do for your brother. So, I intend to continue caring for him and showing him just how wonderful I think he is.”
Reflections of the dancing flames from the fire pit burned in Callie Rose’s eyes as she considered my words. Her face was unreadable for what felt like countless minutes ticking by. And then…a slight tilt of her lips shifted upward and I loosed the breath I’d been holding.
“Caring for him is all a sister could ask for.” Her faint smile turned into a grin as she took in her brother next to me. A quiet exchange happened between them and I only hoped it was her approval.
“But if you hurt him, I can’t promise I won’t hurt you.” My heart stopped at her words.
“Noted,” I croaked out.
“Callie Rose!” Miles and Ranger said at once and she just sat back in her chair with a smug look on her face.
“What?” She shrugged nonchalantly like she didn’t just threaten me with physical harm. “I have to look out for my big brother. It’s not like you will.” She shoved Miles’s arm. “All you’ve done is get him in trouble.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Miles took a swig from his beer bottle, eyes darting away .
“Oh, like that time you sank dad’s fishing boat?! And then blamed it on Ranger?” Callie Rose’s eyes were wide with mischievous humor.
It was Ranger who replied, “She has you with that one Miles. Sorry to say.”
Miles guffawed at his best friend. “ You were the one who convinced me it was okay to take the boat out in the first place!”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t the one who stood up in it trying to catch a fish and ended up toppling us over.”
Miles opened his mouth to respond but instead of words, a throaty laugh flew past his lips. It only took a few seconds for his laughter to catch on, leaving Ranger and Callie Rose clutching their stomachs.
Tears of humor creased Ranger’s eyes and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him look so handsome.
“I will never forget the way your face looked as you tripped over the side.” Ranger’s words were choppy from his laughter. “Then the boat nearly swallowed me whole as it tilted over. I still don’t think my lungs have recovered from all the water I took in.”
Callie Rose pointed at Miles, tears streaking down her face. “And dad’s face was beet red when you both came up to the house, sopping wet. He loved that little Jon boat more than he loved us.”
Their laughter finally started to settle. Ranger wiped at his eyes before he settled a hand on my thigh. “Nah. He definitely loved us more.”
“Just maybe not on that day,” Miles chimed in .
“Yeah. Definitely not on that day,” Ranger said.
A comfortable silence settled over everyone. Each of them was lost in distant memories that I’d never been a part of. But it didn’t feel like I was an outsider looking in. Their banter and love for one another reminded me of my friends and everything we’d shared together.
I wondered what it might be like for all of us to hang out sometime. I could just imagine how Willow and Callie Rose would get along. Each one showing their protective nature. It might be explosive.
“I’ll be right back,” Callie Rose said as she rose from her seat.
When the door closed behind her I looked to Miles. “So, Miles is there anything I should know about Ranger? Like does he snore in his sleep? Or forget to put the toilet seat down?”
Miles chuckled and I could feel Ranger’s eyes on me, but I ignored him. Miles’s eyes slid to Ranger and for a moment I thought he might divulge the man’s secrets. But then he replied, “Nah. Not this one. He’s pretty much as solid as they come.”
It was exactly the kind of response Willow would have given and I appreciated that Ranger had someone to back him up, instead of selling him out.
Ranger’s hand squeezed my thigh. “Trying to find my weaknesses, sugar?”
I winked at him. “Just trying to make sure I know what I’ve gotten myself into.” He patted my leg with a smile.
Then Callie Rose came back through the door with an acoustic guitar in hand. Ranger shifted in his seat next to me, an uncomfortable look on his face.
She handed him the guitar. “I think it’s been long enough,” was all she said as he took it from her hands.
Curiosity bloomed within me at her words. Playing the guitar was never something we’d talked about, but it seemed like it had once been a big part of his life based on his sister’s comment.
He sat still for a few moments, hands grasped around the neck of the guitar while Callie Rose sat in her chair. Ranger’s eyes were glassy, my fingers itched to reach for him but I was nervous to intervene while he was lost in thought. Then, with a look towards his sister that showed his disapproval of being bombarded, he settled the body of the guitar on his lap.
Clearing his throat, he draped his right arm over the front of the guitar, his left fingers lining up on the neck. And then he played.
I was damn near awestruck watching his fingers move up and down the neck as a beautifully sad melody surrounded us. His dark curls slid along his shoulders with each strum of the strings and I wanted nothing more than to twine my fingers through them while I kissed him slowly. Those bright eyes had turned dark, like a thundering storm over the lake. They turned toward me and I was lost in them. He played that guitar like it was the strings of my heart, each chord hitting home. Pulling me closer and closer to the edge. The look he gave me told me he’d be there at the bottom. Arms wide open and waiting to catch me.
Our gazes were locked when the aching melody came to a close and something in my chest cracked at the absence of the sound. I wanted him to play for me forever.
“I’ve missed that,” his sister said, severing the connection between Ranger and me.
“Yeah, man,” Miles’s face was sad, yet serene. “It’s been too long.”
I realized at that moment that the two of them had missed out on so much while Ranger was away. Ten years of having to live in a world where their brother and best friend was trapped behind bars for the crime of defending a kid against some rich assholes. My heart squeezed thinking of how many memories they’d all missed out on together because someone else decided he should be punished for protecting the innocent.
Tears hit the back of my eyes and I blinked quickly. I had no right to cry. Not when they’d lost so much.
“I’m going to grab another beer,” Miles said, voice soft. “Callie, want to join me?”
Her eyes were locked on her brother and I wondered if she’d heard what Miles asked her at all. Then she blinked several times, coming out of whatever stupor had pulled her down. “Yeah, sure.” I didn’t miss the way Miles offered her his hand and how her body shuttered when she took it, like his touch had electrified her.
When they disappeared through the back porch door, I shifted in my seat so I could see Ranger’s face clearly. “That was beautiful.”
His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed .
“Thank you.” He leaned the guitar against the side table next to him. “It’s been a really long time since I played.”
“You haven’t played since you were released?” I asked, my voice quiet.
He shook his head, his lips turned down slightly. “I was different when I got out. Being locked in a cage for that long changed me in ways that I can’t describe. I tried to be my normal self…for Callie Rose and for Miles. But something inside of me changed in those ten years. When I was released and came home, it felt like nothing had changed at all and that the entire world had shifted at the same time.
“Miles was granted custody of Callie Rose when she was sixteen to eighteen years old while I was gone. He made sure the ranch stayed alive and that my sister was taken care of. I gave up that responsibility the night I fucked everything up. Even though I knew he would take care of her and our home, I couldn’t get rid of the guilt that I’d left her for so long. I thought I needed to be punished.”
My chest twisted. I reached for his cheek, luxuriating in how his warmth seeped into the palm of my hand. He closed his eyes, pushing the side of his face against my skin. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Ranger. You acted in defense of a young kid who was being ganged up on by three men. The only wrong thing about it was how those guys were able to cheat the system with their money.”
“It doesn’t take back all the years I lost though.”
I swallowed. “You’re right. It doesn’t. And I wish, more than anything, that I could make it all right for you. That I could snap my fingers so you could have all those amazing years with your sister and Miles. But you don’t need to punish yourself anymore. It’s okay to be happy.”
“You’ve shown me that.” His voice was husky with emotion. “Before you came along, I was still stuck in the past. Feeling like there was no way out for me. That I would be stuck in the fear of losing my freedom forever. Being with you has shown me something different. That there’s still joy to experience in this life.”
“There is,” I whispered, not caring about the tears that started to spill down my face. “And I’m so glad we get to experience it together.”