Chapter 6-Sawyer
Her kiss still burns on my lips when I climb into the truck. Searing into me like a brand.
For a second, I just sit there—hands on the wheel, heart beating like it’s got something to prove.
I shouldn’t have let it happen.
Shouldn’t have kissed her back.
Shouldn’t have wanted it to last.
But she came at me like a spark in dry brush—fast, unexpected, impossible to ignore—and now every nerve I’ve got is tuned to her frequency.
“Come back safe, okay?” she said.
Yeah. Like that’s ever been guaranteed.
Still, I can’t stop myself from answering.
“I always do.”
I shift into gear, the diesel engine rumbling low and steady beneath me. The ranch shrinks in the rearview mirror, but the pull in my chest doesn’t fade.
Every instinct I’ve honed—every ounce of discipline I earned in the field—is screaming to turn the hell around.
Instead, I keep driving.
One mile. Then another.
The truck eats up the distance, chewing through the two-lane blacktop that cuts across the hills like a scar.
The evening settles around me—familiar, quiet, a kind of solitude that used to feel like peace.
Now it just feels empty.
Micah calls, checking in over the radio, his voice crackling through the static.
We talk logistics, timing, load weight, route checkpoints, and when I’m meeting up with him and Benji—all the details that used to be enough to keep my head locked in the mission.
And it works. Slowly.
The rhythm of the road, the hum of the wheels, the smell of diesel and dust—it steadies me.
By the time we hit the Pennsylvania line, my pulse has leveled out. My focus is razor-sharp again.
Brentwood Cattle’s expecting a perfect delivery, and I plan to give it to them.
Still, somewhere under the noise, a quieter thought beats steady.
This time, it’s not just about proving myself.
Not about money. Or pride.
This time, there’s something waiting for me when I get back.
Someone.
Her. Lil Bit.
And for the first time in a long damn while, that makes the fight ahead feel like it’s worth every mile.