Coraline
There’s no way.
There’s no way it can be my Gavin Ariksen. The man who’s been haunting my dreams ever since I left. It has to be a weird coincidence.
But no, it isn’t at all.
With my palm on my chest, I can feel my heart beating against my bones.
My blood heats when I spot him in a black button-up and that same brown cowboy hat he wore all the time.
He’s behind the gate, ready to ride, looking so good.
He has more silver in his beard, and he’s put on more muscle than the last time I saw him.
It’s definitely him. I would recognize those dashing blue eyes anywhere.
He still has that effect on me. He pulls me in like a raging storm in the oceans.
Every time I look at him, I’m always caught in his current.
It feels like a spear to the chest—a gut punch of heartache the longer my eyes linger on him, because I have no right to shout out his name from the stands. I feel it on the tip of my tongue, wanting to pour out of my mouth and cheer him on, but then it leaves as soon as I remember I left.
I left him.
I let the fear of everything get to me.
Still…what is he doing here?
“Coraline,” my sister whispers into my ear and shakes my shoulders. “Is that who I think it is?” she implores, her lips pressed together.
I nod.
“Yes,” I murmur, sniffling. “I didn’t know—” I shake my head, trying to gather my thoughts as I try to talk over the crowd’s applause and cheers.
“I didn’t know he would be here. He saved my life in so many ways, and I never got to thank him.
” A tear streaks down my face when I blink.
Everly rubs my arms with her palms, comforting me.
I’m so proud of him.
I feel purely and genuinely happy for him. He’s here, back in Texas—his mother’s hometown and favorite place to be stationed when he was on active duty. I thought he would never leave, but he did. He made it out of Alaska.
He left the cabin.
He’s doing what he loves.
“Cowboys from all over the world compete at this rodeo every year,” she informs me.
“I know.” A hopeful smile plays across my face.
He raises his arm, making my lungs squeeze until I feel like I can’t breathe. The horn blares, and he’s off.
My hands curl around my face. If he gets hurt, I won’t be able to stomach it. I close my eyes, but still keep my head facing in his direction. A small worried whimper slips out.
“Three. Four. Five. He’s still on!” My sister jumps in her seat excitedly.
I’m going to throw up.
“Six. Seven. EIGHT!” my sister shouts, and my eyes explode open. Jumping with her, I watch Gavin launch himself off the bucking horse and reunite with the others behind the gate. “He did it! He did it!”
Still with my hands on my face, I can’t help but smile so hard it hurts. The crowd goes wild, cheering the cowboy from Alaska on. I turn toward Everly. She wipes away the mascara that’s run down my face.
“I thought I’d never see him again.”
“Well, you have.” She places her hands on her hips. “Cora. Are you going to stand here, or are you going to tell him all the things you’ve been wanting to say?”
“What are you talking about?” I retort, my cheeks reddening.
“Cora. There’s something I have to tell you,” she says, making that same mischievous look on her face when she has a confession to make.
I know it all too well; it’s been engraved into my mind since we were children.
Every time she’s about to admit to a wrongdoing, her eyes widen, and she looks everywhere but in my eyes.
Bringing her fingers into her mouth, she starts to nip at her nails and rocks on her heels.
“What did you do?” I’m not sure I want the answer.
“He left a voicemail for you a couple of months ago…but I deleted it from your phone before you came out of the shower.”
Fury blows through my veins.
“What?!” I thought all this time, he was mad at me for walking away. I thought he forgot about us.
“He left a message?” I bellow.
She nods, ashamed.
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know. I just saw it and deleted it because he’s your stalker!”
“Everly!” I snap, backing away from her. The crowd is still cheering Gavin on. “What the hell? That’s not your place!” I scowl.
“I’m sorry! Okay? I thought I was doing the right thing as your sister.
But watching you drown yourself in sorrow every day because you miss him has been hard.
I just wanted to protect you from him. From everyone, after everything you’ve been through.
But it may have been a mistake. You fell for him!
I hear you cry every other night, and you don’t think I’ve seen that damn shrine of paintings you have in your office?
Get your ass down there. Don’t make me drag you!
” Her dark brown eyes narrow at me, raking my face in a scolding manner.
This is my second chance, and I’m not going to let fear steal away something good from me ever again. Gavin might be a lot of things, but a bad person isn’t one of them. Giving my sister my back, I push past the crowd. Weaving and slithering between sweaty bodies, I head toward the bottom.
I’m waiting for him to walk by the hallway, every cowboy does after they’re done. With my hat in my hands, I tug at my lip nervously. Then the doors open.
He’s not alone. Another rider walks beside him. They’re both lost in conversation, covered in dirt and sweat, unaware that I’m here. I forgot how tall and broad he is. He’s wearing that same gold cross chain; it glints underneath the white lights.
Before I can take one step, a group of women rushes around me.
One of them knocks into my shoulder brutally.
They circle them, completely blocking my view of his body entirely.
I stand by the wall, unable to move as I watch them surround him like hungry fans.
I heard about women throwing themselves at the men after the rodeo, but I thought it was an exaggeration.
One of them hooks her arm through Gavin’s. He looks down at her. She plays with his cowboy hat and puts it on the top of her head. Those same blue eyes gleam at her…the way he used to look at me.
It’s Georgia.
He moved…on?
My throat thickens, the air suddenly unbreathable, my chest and lungs burning the more I watch them together. She leans into him, grabbing hold of that same gold cross necklace I used to touch. Before their lips can connect, I run.
I do what I’m best at and run away.
The tears are falling, ruining my makeup, my eyes burning from the mascara, but I don’t care.
It hurt all these months to wake up without him.
Every night I scream from the nightmares—his story—the blood—the shootout—the ghosts…
everything, and yet Gavin made me feel safe and protected through it all.
And I threw it all away.
Threw it all away and pushed him into the arms of another woman.
I escaped the darkness with his help. I found my inspiration and started to love myself—I owe it all to him. Now another person gets to kiss him and experience the most amazing man in the world.
I thought I was in hell before, but now that I’ve gotten closure with an outcome I didn’t see coming…I really am, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive this new storm.