Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Town
“It’s cute, right?” I asked.
“Very cute,” Brooks agreed as he looked around the apartment, though his frown belied his statement.
“You don’t like it.” I sighed. “What’s wrong with it?”
Without saying a word, he went to the door and fiddled with the knob. “A child could pick this lock. Don’t even get me started on the one on the back door. And there’s no security system.”
“It’s Huckleberry Hill. I don’t even need a security system.”
“Freckles, you need a security system no matter where you live. I’m putting one in. And I’m changing the locks.”
I glared at him and crossed my arms over my chest in a measure of defiance.
He straightened his spine. “This isn’t me overstepping. This is me wanting to make sure you’re safe.”
“I appreciate that. What I’m not okay with is you steamrolling me and telling me how it’s going to be.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I thought I was safe. And then in the middle of the night, my cell door opened, and two huge fuckers tried to kill me just to prove a point.”
My breath hitched.
“Please,” he said softly. “I just want to protect you.”
I ripped my gaze from his and stalked to the window that overlooked the main street. Darkness blotted the sky. Streetlamps illuminated concrete sidewalks and closed storefronts. It was a sleepy little town tucked away in the mountains, bedded down for the night.
What could possibly happen here?
His steps were heavy as he trekked toward me, but when he was standing behind me, he didn’t touch me.
Still, I could feel the heat of him. He was a presence.
Solid.
Commanding.
It should’ve been overwhelming. The way he wanted to take charge and ensure my safety.
I turned to face him and peered up. His expression was stoic, but I knew what it cost him to remind me of his time in prison.
You couldn’t take your safety for granted.
Maybe safety was an illusion anyway.
Something was always bound to hurt us. A punch to the chin. A glass shard in a palm.
A broken heart.
I took a step toward him.
He reached out and clasped my shoulders and then dragged me to his chest. I pressed my nose to his sternum and wrapped my arms around him.
It was dangerous.
He made me feel . . . everything.
I wanted him to sleep in bed next to me. I wanted to wake up in the morning and bring him coffee from Sweet Teeth. I wanted to feel his lips on mine and—
My brain and body were not in sync; they were at war with one another.
“I’ll stay at The Regal Beagle tonight and move here tomorrow. Compromise, all right?”
When he didn’t reply, I pulled back and peered up at him.
He rubbed the corner of my mouth. “Barbecue sauce.”
“Don’t distract me.” I yanked out of his arms.
“Wasn’t trying to.”
I raised my brows.
“All right, I was,” he relented.
He reached for me again then his head dipped.
I shyly met his mouth as his hand slid down my body to press against the small of my back.
Our thighs brushed and desire pumped through my veins, obliterating the voice shouting from the corner of my brain, reminding me to be careful.
Careful had left the building.
We kissed for eons. We breathed the same air.
I grew dizzy and when he pulled back, I slumped against him.
“What were we fighting about?” I asked, breathless.
“We weren’t fighting,” he stated. “And I don’t remember.”
I was propped up in bed at The Regal Beagle, a glass of cheap wine in my hand.
Wyn’s face filled the screen of my phone. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head and her mouth dropped open. “What the hell is in the water in Huckleberry Hill?”
I took a sip. “I’m inclined to think it’s the altitude, not the water.”
“Hadley got a cowboy, Salem got a bull rider, and you, my dear, have a—”
“Nothing,” I interrupted. “I have nothing.”
“You liar. Why are you lying to me, of all people? The man rescues you from a ditch, pays for your rental car repairs, and has already kissed you. You have a cowboy. You’re a cowboy magnet!
And why isn’t your magnet in bed next to you?
Why are you talking to me instead of riding him until the break of dawn? ”
“Wyn,” I mumbled, my cheeks flaming.
“Ah, there’s my girl.” She chuckled.
“To answer your question, he’s in his room and I’m in mine because I needed to clear my head. And he didn’t like the idea of me staying at the new apartment until he can put in a security system and change the locks.”
She frowned. “Wait, what apartment?”
“Oh, right. I hadn’t gotten to that part of my day yet.” I sighed. “You know the empty storefront next to Sweet Teeth?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Lucy owns it and there’s a vacant apartment above it. And guess what? She got together with Muddy and furnished it for me. So now I have a place to crash while I’m in town.”
“That’s . . . kismet.”
“Or convenient,” I quipped.
“They’re trying to convince you to stay,” she stated. “They’re removing every roadblock, so you stay there, leave me alone in New York, and go on to live your happily-ever-after life with your new cowboy.”
“It seems that way, yes,” I agreed. “But I’m not sure what I’d even do here.”
“Poet,” she said quietly. “You know what you want to do. You’re just too afraid to finalize the decision.”
“Uh. Ouch.”
“Come on, the writing is on the wall,” she said. “You know it. I know it. I hope you just admit it by the time Hadley and Salem get back into town.”
“You expect me to have a new life plan by then?”
“Yes. I do.”
“I can’t move here,” I protested.
“Why not?”
“People don’t just decide to move across the country, away from everything they’ve ever known.”
“Sure they do. Your life wasn’t working in New York.
You suffered through because you had a job.
Now you have no job. You stayed because you had friends.
Well, Salem and Hadley left. I’m the only one still here.
And your grandfather is across an ocean spending the semester in England on sabbatical. He’s living his life.”
“And I’m not living mine. That’s what you’re saying.”
“What’s got you scared, Poet?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?” I sighed. “I’m scared of everything.”
“The guy, too? Is it because he’s an . . .”
“Ex-con,” I finished for her. “And no. That, oddly enough, isn’t what terrifies me. I’ve never felt this way about someone. He makes me . . . I’ve only just met him. But I wouldn’t be moving here for him.”
“Maybe not, but it sounds like it would be hard not to factor him in, at least. The potential of a relationship? Two of your three best friends in one place?”
“It’s all gonna change.”
She laughed. “You’re funny.”
“What?”
“Poet, it’s already changed! You quit your job. You. You did something bold and crazy, and I’m so proud of you for standing up for yourself.”
“Yeah, and now I have no money,” I drawled. “This is what I get for following my bliss. It didn’t pay very well.”
“It was killing you,” she stated. “You haven’t been happy for a long time. I don’t want that for you.”
“You weren’t this supportive of Salem moving home,” I reminded her. “In fact, didn’t you have a meltdown over it?”
“Salem loves the city,” she said. “It wasn’t the same and you know it. But you . . . I think you’ll be really happy in Huckleberry Hill. If you let yourself.”
I swallowed. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’re going to be all alone.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said, straightening her spine so that the top of her head briefly went off the screen.
“The models renting out Salem and Hadley’s room are very nice—they share their vodka with me.
We’re cool. Anyway, I’m probably going to move into the Carrington’s penthouse. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
I fell silent as I thought about everything she’d said.
“So the guy . . .” she began.
“What about him?”
“Does he know you’re a virgin?”