Chapter 22
HUNTER
Ruby grumbled under her breath as she yanked back on her fishing pole with both hands, trying to get her line unstuck from the rocks, and I laughed.
“If you’d stop casting it into those rocks, it wouldn’t get stuck.” I reached over and took the pole from her, giving the line a few good tugs until it finally snapped free.
“Where’d my worm go?” Ruby asked, looking at the bare hook as I reeled it in.
“You fed it to the rocks.” I turned the hook over in my hands, and sure enough, it was clean as a whistle. “Don’t worry. Some crawdad will find it down there.”
“Why can’t I just feed the worms to the fish?” She crossed her arms and looked up at me with wide, serious eyes. “Putting the hook through its belly hurts them.”
The way she said it stopped me right in my tracks. Ruby didn’t even blink. She just watched me with those eyes that looked so much like Colt’s like she was waiting for my answer to settle something big inside her.
I crouched down to her level and tried to match her seriousness.
She was still in her polka dot pajamas, and her pant legs were shoved haphazardly into a pair of pink sparkly cowgirl boots.
The early morning fog rolled over the water behind her, but all I could look at was her little pink nose and the way her hair stuck up in a million different directions from sleep.
“I know it seems mean, but fish have to eat and so do we.”
She mulled that over, her little brow furrowing as she studied my face. “But the worm has to eat too.”
“True,” I said as I stole a glance up the riverbank to the campsite. Dew was still clinging to everything, and I could see Colt hunched over the fire flipping pancakes. I’d volunteered for fishing duty thinking it was the easy end of the deal. “But the worm had a really good life.”
Ruby was not buying it. At all. She rolled her eyes in a way that said, old man, please, and then squatted down beside the battered bait cup. She peered down at the remaining worms, all knotted up in their dirt, and let out a sigh so heavy her little shoulders rose and fell beneath her life jacket.
“How do you know?” she asked, looking up at me with genuine challenge, like she’d caught me in a lie.
“Well,” I said, rubbing my hand over the back of my neck. “Maybe he was in love, and he had the most beautiful worm girlfriend and little worm babies.”
“So we took him away from his family?” she screeched, her eyes wide with horror, and I knew I’d fucked up.
“We didn’t know he had a family,” I said, keeping my voice low, like maybe if I was careful, we could avoid a whole existential meltdown about bait.
“You said he did.” She pointed at me like she was suddenly looking at a monster.
“Wait, wait, wait.” I reached for her hand before she could pull back from me. “I don’t know if he had a family. I just made that story up.”
“You lied to me?” She looked at me with those damn eyes, and I swear I’d have fed myself to the fishes before I hurt her on purpose.
“No. I was just trying to make you feel better.” I looked out over the water then back at her. “Tell me how I can make it better.”
She crossed her arms. “Let all the worms go so they can be with their families.”
I almost laughed, but the look on her face told me she was dead serious. Ruby’s chin wobbled and her eyes went all glossy, and damn if it didn’t hit me right in the chest.
“Okay.” I nodded, looking down at the three bait cups that Colt had bought yesterday for us to spend the day fishing.
He was probably going to kill me, but there was no way in hell I was going to break Ruby’s heart over a cup of worms. Not when she was looking at me like I had the power to make everything right in the world.
“We’ll set these guys free, but you have to have my back when your dad yells at me. ”
Her head came up fast, and the smile that broke across her face was so big it scrunched her eyes. She squared her little shoulders the way Colt used to when we were kids, when he was full of the need to save everything he could.
“I always have your back,” she said and stuck out her hand.
I wrapped mine around hers and nodded a little farther down the bank.
“We need to put them somewhere your dad and McCoy won’t find them.”
She nodded, and I scooped up all three bait cups. We walked hand in hand a few yards down the bank until Ruby stopped at a muddy patch at the water’s edge and looked up at me.
I held out the first cup, removing the lid, and she took it with both hands. She cradled the bait cup like it was sacred, her tongue poked out the side of her mouth in concentration as she knelt in the mud and gently began shaking the worms onto the ground.
The dirt clumped and half the worms stuck to the bottom, but she was so damn careful with them, cooing little encouragements under her breath as she picked up remaining worms out of the cup and placed them in the mud.
“There you go, little guys,” she whispered, patting the muddy earth next to her growing pile of liberated worms. “Go find your families. Be brave.”
I watched her, the tiny set of her jaw, the careful way she patted the dirt, and damn if it didn’t do something to my chest. Ruby had always been a wrecking ball, sweet and stubborn in equal measure, but she was also gentle and so full of hope.
I crouched beside her, elbows propped on my knees, while she did the same with the next two cups. When she was satisfied, she set the last empty cup with the others.
We both stood, and she dusted her hands off on her pajamas as she smiled up at me. I ruffled her hair and we started back up the riverbank to the campsite.
The light was changing, gold coming through the trees as the sun rose higher in the sky, and when I looked up toward camp, I saw Maggie standing at the edge of it. She was watching us with her arms crossed loosely over her chest, and she was wearing my sweatshirt.
My whole chest went tight at the sight of her.
She looked soft, still half-asleep, but when our eyes met, she smiled. God, that smile.
I’d left her in the tent this morning because I hadn’t been able to sleep. I’d been lying there in the dark thinking about last night, what we’d said, and everything I hadn’t.
Ruby dropped my hand and took off up the bank, her boots catching in the mud before she found her footing and sprinted the rest of the way. She hit Maggie first, arms wrapping around her waist, and then she was gone, already hollering for Colt.
I took my time climbing the bank. Maggie watched me the whole way up, something warm and quiet in her expression that made me want to close the distance between us faster than I let myself.
“You’re such a sucker.”
I slowed the last few steps. “What?”
She nodded toward the spot down the bank where Ruby and I had just set the worms free. “You caved faster than a cheap lawn chair.”
I folded my arms, eyes narrowing as I took her in. My sweatshirt swallowed her whole, sleeves bunched into her fist, and falling damn near to her knees. Her bare legs were tanned and freckled from the summer, and her hair was piled in a messy bun on the top of her head.
There was no way to look at her and not want her.
I reached out and fisted the front of my sweatshirt, dragging her straight into my chest. She stumbled into me, laughter catching in her throat, and I could’ve gotten drunk on the sound.
I ducked my head, breathing her in. “I’m only a sucker for certain people, Sunshine.”
“Am I one of those people?” she asked quietly, and I wrapped a hand around the back of her neck.
“You know you are,” I said as let my fingers tangle in her hair.
She made a soft sound, low in her throat, and the heat of it rippled through me. Her lips parted as I tipped her head back, and she pushed up on her toes, mouth hovering close.
My mouth brushed over hers, and she melted into me, her hands fisting in my shirt and pulling me closer. Her mouth was soft and warm, and I kissed her slow because that was how I wanted it.
There was no more hiding, no more pretending this wasn’t happening. I wanted her exactly like this, out in the open, light catching in her hair, where anyone could see. No games. No going back.
I kissed her again, greedy for the taste of her in the morning, greedy for anything she’d give me.
I knew Colt could see us. Hell, I wanted him to. I wanted the whole damn world to.
I let my hands drift down, catching the hem of my sweatshirt and trailing my fingers against her thigh. “I love you in my clothes.”
“Yeah?” she asked as her breath rushed out of her.
“Yeah, Sunshine. I do.” I slowly thumbed along the curve of her leg, like I wanted to brand the sensation into both of us. Her skin was warm and soft beneath my fingers, and I could feel the fine goosebumps rise under my touch. “I love everything about you.”
“Everything?” she quirked a brow, and I grinned.
“Everything,” I said against her mouth before I nipped at her lower lip. “Well, except for how stubborn you are.”
“I’m not stubborn.”
I snorted, pressing my fingers firmer against her skin. “Mags, you make a mule look agreeable.”
Her head tipped back as she tried to glare at me, but her lips curved into a smile. “I’m reasonable.”
“Is that what you call it?” I laughed and let my fingers skim higher beneath the hem of my sweatshirt. “Is that why it took you so long to admit you loved me?”
“No.” She swallowed hard, her eyes flicking past my shoulder. “You didn’t make it easy.”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t.” I slowly slid my hand back up her body to cup her face. “But I’ve loved you longer than I should admit.”
“How long?” she whispered.
I let out a slow breath. “Probably since you first walked into Willow Grove.” The truth clawed up my throat, and she blinked up at me as her eyes searched my face.
“Then why her?”
“I…” My fingers tightened in her hair. “I told Ella I was interested in you.”
“What?” The word came out broken as her body went still.
“She said you weren’t interested, that you’d never want me back, and I—” I let out a slow breath.
“I believed her. The night she came onto me, I thought she could make me forget you.” I shook my head and hated myself for what I was saying.
“She couldn’t. And then I watched what they did to you, watched you spend your life being second to her, and I knew I’d never be another person to make you feel that way. ”
Something in her eyes shifted, and her hands loosened in my shirt. But I didn’t let go.
“But I need to be fucking clear, Maggie. It was always you, only ever you. It was never even a choice.”
She froze, her breath catching on my words, and I watched them work through her, every memory, every scar, every time she’d been set aside. Her hands fisted tighter in my shirt again, like maybe I’d disappear if she let go.
“I never stood a chance. You came in just the way the sun does—slowly at first, then you were everywhere, all at once, until I couldn’t remember what it was like not to be soaked in you.”
She trembled, and I wanted to kiss her, rewire every memory she’d ever had and make it so that no one and nothing came close to how fucking good this could be between us.
“Ella knew how I felt,” she whispered as she shook her head. “She knew before the two of you ever dated.”
A sharp ache ripped through my chest, and I wished I could go back in time and change everything.
I cupped her jaw, rougher than I meant to, forcing her to see me. “None of it matters anymore. It’s just you and me, and you’re the only thing I’ve ever needed.”
She nodded and surged up onto her toes, dragging me down into a kiss that knocked the air out of my lungs. The noise from the campsite surrounded us, the low rumble of voices as everyone started to wake, but none of it mattered.
Nothing mattered except her lips on mine, her heartbeat wild against my chest, and the way I knew I’d never let her slip through my fingers again.
Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me impossibly closer, and I felt the last of that guarded wariness draining out of her, replaced by something wild and hungry and so fucking honest it nearly buckled my knees right there.
I didn’t care who was watching us. The rest of the world could burn down, and I’d still be standing right there with my mouth pressed to hers, memorizing the way her body gave up every last bit of defense in my arms.
“I love you,” she murmured against my mouth, and I could taste every raw, aching ounce of honesty in what she’d just said.
“I love you, Sunshine.” I kissed her again, slower this time, my hands sliding to her hips and pulling her flush against me so she could feel exactly what she did to me. A soft sound escaped her throat, and I swallowed it.
Her body arched against mine, her hands trembled against my neck, and before I could lose myself in her, there was a sharp whistle.
“Alright, lovebirds. Show’s over.” Blaire’s voice rang out around us. “Someone cover Ruby’s eyes before Hunter traumatizes her for life.”
I grinned against Maggie’s mouth, unable to help myself, and she started laughing so hard she had to bury her face in my chest.
Her laughter hit me right in the gut. She was all tangled up in my arms, face pressed into my shirt, and I couldn’t get enough of her. I wrapped both arms around her and lifted her into me, burying my nose at the crown of her head.
“Come on,” I said against her and took her hand in mine. “Let’s get back over there before Blaire starts hollering again.”
She smiled up at me as we started walking, and she wrapped her other arm around my bicep to pull herself closer into my side. I looked down at her, then out at the campsite, at all these people I loved.
There was nothing better than this. Nothing that could go wrong—
“Who the hell let all of our worms go?” McCoy shouted from the riverbank.
Ruby and I made eye contact, and hers went wide. The girl lasted about half a second.
“It was Uncle Hunter!” she yelled out, and I almost choked on my laugh.
“What the hell, Ruby?”
“I told you that you’re a sucker.” Maggie laughed, tugging on my hand.
I squeezed her hand, lifted it, and pressed my lips to her knuckles. She wasn’t wrong. I was a sucker for my girls, and I’d be damned if I was going to apologize for it.