Chapter 11 #2
“I didn’t—” He paused, reaching up to rub the back of his neck, voice rough.
“Those folks inside…they were quite literally pokin’ fun at me for bein’ next on the chopping block when you rolled into the parking lot at Mabel’s, and I was sayin’ no, absolutely not.
Then…you get out of your car with that damn moon worship sticker after they just said I would end up with some moon worshipper or some shit—”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish.” He looked out at the lawn, swiping his hand down his face now and rubbing the stubble on his chin.
“I didn’t mean to trick you or nothin’. You just…
you showed up, and I didn’t want to do what the town wanted, but then you asked me to make you dinner, then you asked me to fuck you…
and where in the past three days was I supposed to mention we had no choice in the matter? ”
I looked at him sideways. “So…you didn’t want to fuck me, you just had to.”
His eyes snapped toward me, a deep frown on his face—the most intense I’d seen him when he wasn’t inside me. “No.”
“Sorry,” I said. “That—it came out wrong—”
“I did want to fuck you,” he said, reaching for me now, gripping my hand. “Jesus, Noelle…I wanna fuck you right fuckin’ now. You have no idea how hard it is to sit next to you and listen to you talk and laugh with my family and not pull you into a coat closet and have my way with you.”
I blinked at him. My brain short-circuited somewhere around coat closet.
“You’re gonna have to stop saying stuff like that if you want me to have any kind of rational thought tonight,” I muttered, heart racing.
He didn’t let go of my hand. “I don’t want you thinkin’ rationally. I want you thinkin’ about what it felt like to ride me until you forgot your name.”
“Jesus Christ, Beau.”
“I’m serious.” His thumb stroked across my knuckles. “I don’t want you to think this was fate. I don’t want you to think this was the town. I don’t want you to think this was anything except me—wanting you. Every minute since the second I laid eyes on you.”
I felt like I was going to combust. Right there on the porch. Explode into a thousand tiny, horny, terrified pieces.
“Okay,” I said finally. “But what if it is fate?”
He blinked. That caught him off guard.
“What if we are stuck together?” I continued. “What if this is all just…some supernatural small-town soulmate spell and I never had a chance to make the choice?”
Beau was quiet for a long moment before he said, “Then we make the choice now.”
I looked up at him.
“You wanna go?” he asked. “I’ll drive you. Right now. Back to Mabel’s, back to Austin, wherever you wanna be. No tricks. No guilt. No magic.”
My chest twisted. “You’d really do that?”
He nodded. “I’d hate every second of it. But yeah. I’d do it.”
I stared at him, this stupid, stubborn, tender-hearted man, and felt the last of my defenses start to crumble.
“Or,” I said quietly. “I stay another week…at least until my car is ready, right? I don’t have to be back in Austin for that panel until like…two weeks from now. Maybe I could stay that long.”
Beau didn’t move. Didn’t even breathe for a second. “You sure?”
“No,” I said. “But I’m curious.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “Curious is good.”
“I mean, I still think your family might be running some kind of fertility cult—”
“They’re not,” he said quickly.
“—but I also think your niece is cute, and your sister-in-law makes the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever tasted, and you have a way of looking at me that makes my knees go soft.”
He grinned. It was slow, crooked, and deeply self-satisfied. “Yeah?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
“I already have. It’s awful up there.”
That made me laugh, which made him lean in, which made my heart skip. “You really want me to stay?” I asked.
Beau's voice dropped to match mine. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
I should’ve felt trapped. I should’ve felt cornered.
Instead, I felt—dangerously—like I belonged.
He leaned in like he was going to kiss me, but stopped just short.
His breath was warm on my lips, his hand still cradling mine.
“You say the word,” he murmured. “And I’ll take you inside, right now.
Or I’ll take you back to Mabel’s. Or I’ll sit here and let you talk for hours about all the ways this freaks you out. Whatever you need.”
I kissed him.
Because what I needed—what I wanted—was him.
His mouth opened against mine, his free hand sliding to the back of my neck like he couldn’t bear to go slow, like he’d been waiting all night to touch me. He tasted like beer and sugar and something distinctly Beau, like leather and motor oil and the sweat of a man who worked with his hands.
When we finally pulled apart, he rested his forehead against mine and whispered, “You’re not gonna leave.”
I swallowed hard. “Don’t get cocky.”
“I’m not cocky,” he said. “I’m hopeful.”
I smirked. “Still sounds like a fertility cult.”
He groaned. “You’re never letting that go, are you?”
“Never,” I whispered. “But maybe I’ll let you take me back inside.”
He stood, offering me a hand. “Walk with me instead.”
My eyes darted out onto the lawn, toward the trees. “Aren’t there monsters aren’t there?” I asked.
He smiled. “Don’t you worry, baby. I would never let anything hurt you.”
Then I took his hand, letting him pull me to my feet and lead me toward the dark woods.
Because I believed him.