“Bear, I’m never leaving you.” I brush my free hand over her chin, cupping it to hold her eyes on mine. “Never.Thankyou for calling me, instead of doing something that scared you all by yourself.”
This is the man I want to be for her. Maybe now she’s finally ready to let me prove myself.
Her full lips press softly to mine, and she breathes out the words I thought I might never hear again. “I love you.”
“I love you, Blair. I don’t even know how to express it in a way that’ll ever show you exactly how much.”
Slowly, without letting my touch leave the small of her back, we move to stand below our tree. I can’t help myself from pushing her against the rough bark and crashing my lips to hers with a heart-stopping, breathtaking kiss. She quivers under the skimming of my fingertips beneath the hem of her shirt, and the kisses turn frantic. We’re teenagers stealing a moment of privacy, tongues colliding, moans stolen, fingers wandering.
She wraps a hand around the fabric of my shirt, breaking the kiss for a single moment. “Denver, thank you for coming when I called. I didn’t…” Her voice cracks, and she kisses me again, as if the taste of my lips and the feel of our bodies pressed together is what’s giving her the courage to open up. “I wasn’t sure you’d come. I almost didn’t call because I didn’t know how I’d handle it if you didn’t.”
“You call, I come. Always.” My eyes search hers. “I don’t care if I’m a million miles away, or if you think the reason is stupid, I want you to call me every single time the urge strikes you.”
“I love you,” she repeats against my lips. “I love you, Denver Wells.”
“Let’s get the heck out of here before it starts raining again. I think we need a hot shower together and some ice cream in bed.”
She nods, and I grab her hand to lead her toward the horses. As steady and sure as she was while kissing me, she’s noticeably shaken now. It’s not that I thought she wasexaggerating when she said she was scared—Blair wouldn’t ask for help unless she felt backed into a corner in some way. Which means she wasfuckingterrified. And it’s scrawled across the panic in her rich brown eyes, the slow worrying of her bottom lip, and the anger etched between her brows.
Every horse person has been where she is before. It’s easy to sayyou fall off and get right back on again,but a bad moment can plant seeds of doubt, and eventually the deeply rooted fear can become debilitating.
I squeeze her hand to remind her I’m here, and I’ve got her. “Let’s ride double just until we get out of this clearing. On my actual horse this time.”
“Well—” She looks over at me tentatively, and I smile back. “Okay.”
We both know she doesn’t need any help getting on a horse, but that doesn’t stop my hands from finding her waist and boosting her into the saddle. Once she’s settled, I slip a foot in the stirrup and hop up behind her.
Holding one hand around her and the other leading the buckskin she rode in on, I ask, “You okay?”
Blair’s heart is racing, the hand resting over mine clammy. And naturally, she insists she’s fine. I’m not buying it for a second. Never have. I don’t understand why she still does this, when it’s so obvious I know her better than she knows herself.
“Bear, I love you. You can tell me if you’re not okay.” I kiss her shoulder, hoping she feels the warmth through the fabric. “Five seconds of—”
“I’m a little nervous. Only because it’s been fourteen years, and the horse was getting spooked, and he’s not even your horse, anyway.”
“One spring a couple years back, we were out here driving cattle. The season had been really warm and dry already, and there was a fucking snake on the trail. Well, my mare reared up before I even realized what the hell was happening, anddown I went.” I hold tighter around her waist, rejoicing in the slow melting of her tense muscles. “Physically, I was fine. But for some reason I was fucking terrified to get back on. It felt stupid, considering I spend my weekends getting bucked off horses for fun, but it was different somehow.”
“You weren’t prepared for it,” she offers up, glancing over her shoulder.
“Maybe.” I shrug. “Either way, it took a few days before my confidence returned. And that trail probably spooked me even more than it spooked my damn horse formonthsafterward. It’s okay to be scared, baby. We’ll get you back running barrels before you know it.”
For a minute or so, she’s quiet and contemplative. Her back against my chest, head resting on my collar. Her breathing becomes easier with each step, and she reaches back to stroke my cheek. “I can’t believe I found you.”
My eyes narrow on hers. “Are you sure you didn’t get thrown off and you just don’t remember because you smacked your head? I think you meantIfoundyou.”
“If that happened, I wouldn’t remember because I smacked my head. I meant I can’t believe I came back to Wells Canyon and you were still here. That I found you, and you still love me. You didn’t meet somebody else you wanted to marry, have babies with, and do all the things you wanted.”
“I never wanted those things with anyone but you.” It’s a slow ride across the golden field, with Blair shivering in my arms.
“D-do you want those things still?” she asks after a long period of silence. “A wife and babies?”
“I want whatever you want.”
“No, give me five seconds of honesty.” Her hand moves to rest on my thigh. “Tell me whatyouwant.”
“You.I want you, Blair. If you’re the bride, I want to get married. If you’re the mother, I want kids.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “What happened back then was a downpour.There was this constant, agonizing, crushing weight on my chest that I couldn’t shake—believe me, I tried. I woke up every morning feeling that way for fourteen years. But you walked back in bringing all the sunlight with you. You didn’t notice how much brighter my life’s been since the ambulance ride, because you weren’t here during the dark days. So I want you. I want your sunlight and your love—whatever comes with that. Understood?”
I feel her head nod slightly against my shoulder. “I came back here after getting the worst news imaginable, and despite the grief of it all, I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. I get it. My life’s been brighter since the ambulance ride, too.”
