Chapter 14 #2
“I did reach out,” I said softly. “I called a few hours after we fought. I texted four or five times on the ride out of town.” My hand dropped.
“You ghosted me. You didn’t even send a one-word answer back.
I figured that was your way of saying you’d never forgive me.
It wasn’t too long before I lost that phone. Someone stole it.”
“What? No—” He broke off, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I dropped my phone that day. Ran over it with my car like an idiot. It took a day to replace it. But there weren’t any messages when I got the new one up and running.”
I blinked.
Years of hurt shifted and rearranged into something unsteady and new.
“Ah,” I breathed. “It must’ve lost the messages or something. I swear I called and texted.” Now there was nothing to hide behind. There was no excuse that he’d forgotten about me or hated me. He thought I was the one who ghosted him.
The air between us changed in a way that made every inch of space matter.
I pushed to my feet too fast, grabbing at scattered supplies just to have something to do. “I should—”
When I turned, he was there. Too close. My breath caught.
He braced a hand on either side of me on the stall’s wall, not touching, but boxing me in. The heat of him pressed in, familiar in a way that resonated somewhere deep inside where I’d buried and forgotten about it.
He whispered, “You called.”
“I called,” I breathed out. “Why didn’t you try reaching out?”
“I did. But I only had the number for the phone you lost. You never tried again to reach me? It…it’s been a long time.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“I don’t know what the hell this still is,” he said, voice rougher now. His gaze rose to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “You being here…” He swallowed hard.
I didn’t move. Didn’t step away. Didn’t breathe.
He leaned in slowly as if giving me time to stop him.
I didn’t.
His lips brushed mine once. Light. Testing.
It wasn’t enough. My hands came up, sliding into his hair, gripping, pulling him down to me even though I knew better than to start this.
The shift in him was instant. He kissed me like he’d been holding back for years—starved, furious, and desperate all at once. It sent heat spiraling through me so fast my knees weakened. He pulled me into the solidness of him, folding me against him and keeping me upright.
I pressed closer where everything seemed to fit. I couldn’t get enough.
Then just as suddenly he tore himself away.
“Shit.” He dragged a hand through his hair, breathing hard. “Didn’t mean to do that.”
The space between us cooled.
I blinked, still caught somewhere between then and now, between what we were and what we just did. I was confused and not nearly ready to regret it.
“You’re right. That was…” I shook my head, sliding sideways out of his space even though my body didn’t want to cooperate. “I should go. I have a shift tomorrow. Eight, I think.”
I was talking too fast. Moving too fast. Grabbing things that didn’t need grabbing. Running.
“Gia. Stop.”
I shook my head harder, like I could fling him out of my bloodstream by force. “You’re absolutely right. Shouldn’t have done that. Very unprofessional. Very just…” I swallowed and looked away. “Shouldn’t have.”
Then he moved. One second there was space between us, and the next his hand closed around my wrist, firm and warm, pulling me back against him with a confidence that stole the air from my lungs. Not rough. But certain.
“Rye—”
He kissed me before I could finish. There was nothing tentative about it now. No careful testing. His mouth claimed mine like he’d spent too long fighting the urge and finally snapped under the strain of it. Heat rolled through me fast.
A soft sound escaped me before I could stop it. My palms landed on his chest, feeling the hard muscle beneath his shirt, but instead of pushing him away, my fingers curled into the fabric and held on. He made a low sound against my mouth that sent another dangerous pulse through me.
God, this man.
The kiss deepened for one dizzying heartbeat before he broke away to kiss down my throat, tempting me with a taste of the whirlwind he kept at bay beneath the surface. Then, abruptly, he stopped. But he still didn’t let me go.
His forehead rested against my neck, both of us breathing too hard. Then his head tipped, his mouth brushing the curve of my neck one more time as released a shaky breath against my skin. The scrape of his stubble and the heat of his breath made my entire body tighten.
“Give me a second,” he muttered, voice gone rough. He straightened and held me lightly against him. “I need to cool off.” His eyes darted to Sofia and then the mare.
My fingers curled into the back of his shirt before I could stop myself, holding him against me.
I couldn’t stand the thought of him stepping away yet—of losing the heat and weight of him, the hard steadiness that made the rest of the world quiet down for a minute.
Want pressed hot through me, sharp enough to make my chest ache.
I kept my face tucked against him because if I looked up, I wasn’t sure what I’d say.
“Look…” He dragged in a breath before lifting his head. His hands loosened on me, but he didn’t go far. Like he physically couldn’t. “You left when I was in a bad place.”
His eyes locked onto mine, stripped bare in a way that hit harder than the kiss. “I don’t think I ever climbed all the way out of it.” His throat worked. “I needed you. But you left.”
The words hurt. Guilt flared, but something else rose up with it. Something sharper. “I didn’t leave you. I was trying not to die. He might’ve…” I swallowed hard and whispered, “Killed me and you if I hadn’t gone.”
“I get that,” he said quickly, dragging a hand through his hair hard enough to leave it standing up.
He turned away for a second like he needed the distance to keep himself under control, then looked back at me with something raw and tight in his expression.
“It doesn’t change what it felt like.” His laugh came out sharp and humorless.
“I put a lot on the line for you, and you crushed me. Then you disappeared without telling me what the hell you were planning. After that you never tried hard to contact me again.”
“I was scared for both of us. Dad was bad that day. Then you blindsided me with a marriage proposal when I already had a plan in place to run. That day and the many after it were the worst of my life. I never wanted to hurt you. I swear.” I breathed out slowly.
“Then I was alone in a big city, living in a shelter. I got my GED. I got through school. But I…”
Silence stretched between us, tight and humming.
I worried my lower lip before saying softly, “I worried about you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a plan?”
I cocked my head. “Would you have let me run away by myself?”
“No. I would’ve gone with you.” He stepped back then. Not far, but enough to break the fragile, dangerous line of contact. “If you were still worried about me, you could’ve reached out again.”
“I could’ve.” That was the miserable truth.
“This is complicated now. We can’t just step back into something that we barely started back then.” His gaze dipped to Sofia for a second before moving back to mine. “I’m not sure I can afford whatever this is if I’m the only one in it.”
I crossed my arms, not to shut him out but to hold myself together. “That’s not fair.”
“I think it’s honest.”
My heart still raced and my lips still tingled. My whole body still leaned toward him even as everything in my head screamed: caution.
“You kissed me. Twice.” I held up two fingers like he couldn’t count.
“Yes.” No hesitation. No apology. “You kissed me back. I’d do it again, but there’s a lot in my life already that needs me.” His drifted back to Sofia. “Are you going to run again?”
The words sank in. My gaze fell to the dark purple marks on my wrists. Then back to him. “I might have to if me being here puts people at risk again.”
“Gia—”
I moved before he could say anything else. If I stood there, I’d crack open. I gathered my things with hands that didn’t feel steady, like they belonged to someone else.
“Josh or one of the equine vets at the clinic can help you from here,” I said, already turning away. “For what it’s worth…” My throat tightened around the words. “I’m sorry.”