CHAPTER SIX
COHEN
Ihad to touch her. It was a selfish thing to do, but I had to do it.
I want her. That's not complicated at all, but the way she shied away from a gentle touch, that damn sure was complicated.
I don’t want to rush her. I don’t know what they’ve been through, what they’re going through, but I can tell it still looms over both.
After petting the horses, the girls and Corbin rode with me on a tour of the farm while Calhoun went to get one of the side by sides. We will meet him at the pond.
I showed the girls the barns and the horse facilities, and we had to practically drag Laney out of there. We rode by Lark’s Meadow before coming to the pond, where I’m currently teaching Laney how to skip rocks.
I hold Laney’s arm again, and we go through the motion together a few times before I step back. “Okay, try it.”
She closes one eye and sticks her tongue out, a look of determination if I ever saw one. When she draws back and releases the rock, I find myself holding my breath.
The rock skips once, twice, three times, and then sinks. We all jump and cheer and celebrate with Laney.
“I did it!” she shouts with pride.
“Give me five!” I hold my hand out to her. She hits it and holds hers out for me. I return the gesture.
“Okay, your turn.” I face Kyla, and she laughs as she walks over to me at the pond’s edge. I step behind her and whisper softly in her ear, “Let me show you how to properly skip a rock.”
“Okay.” She giggles but doesn’t shy away from the contact as I inhale a small breath, enjoying the floral scent she wears.
I check to make sure that my brothers are keeping an eye on Laney, and they are.
Corbin and Calhoun are in a rock-skipping competition with Laney.
They're acting like they have known her for her entire life, but that is just the way that you feel around Kyla and Laney. They make it easy to care about them.
They feel like home.
I shake my head, not certain where that thought came from. I slide my fingers down Kyla’s arm before I retreat and grip her wrist gently with one hand and her waist with the other. I draw her soft, curvy body into mine but not too close. I don’t want to push her.
“You know, I don’t scare easily,” I say quietly. “But you seem like you do, and I know that it is for good reason. If you need to talk, I'm a good listener.”
I swing through the motions of skipping the rock with her in my arms, her curvy body against mine.
“Just like this. You flick your wrist.” I won’t rush her, and I won’t pry, but if she needs someone to lean on, if only for a moment, I’d like to be that person for her.
She stays silent for a time, and I move away from her as we both skip our own rocks. She watches Laney. When Laney moves out of earshot and it’s just us, she opens up.
“We just left Laney’s dad in Georgia. We weren’t married, but we have been together since our senior year of college. I was going to end things with him before graduation, but then I found out that I was pregnant. We are toxic together, always have been.”
She shakes her head as if she is back there living in that moment, and I can see a younger Kyla doing what she thinks is right for her baby.
“I stayed. He isn’t a bad man most of the time, but he has had his problems. He’s cheated on me several times, and I’ve forgiven him. He has a bad temper.”
Her eyes cut to me, and a muscle tenses in my jaw. If he hit her or Laney, I swear I will track him down and...