“Michaela.”
“Can’t we just have tonight? Can’t it be enough for now? I’m not who I was before you were shot. That night, that fight… Please. I have to go. I need time. To breathe. To heal. To mourn and move on. I don’t know who I am right now, and I can’t pretend that these last few weeks haven’t changed who I am.”
“I want to be there for you.” God, his own words sounded so desperate. And they were. Stone couldn’t imagine just letting her go. Just watching her walk away.
“And I love you for that. But this is something I have to do.”
“How long will you be gone?” It wasn’t a question he truly wanted to know the answer to. Because he knew it wasn’t going to be a quick trip home. He knew, deep in his soul, that she was leaving. And he didn’t ever want to face that.
“I’m not sure,” she whispered.
“Not forever, right?”
Her head turned, pushing her face into his chest. He felt the heat from her tears even before her cries hit his ears.
“I just don’t know…”
Stone nodded, his chin quivering as he choked back his own emotions.
“But I can check in on you, right? Make sure you’re safe?”
“I’ll make sure Hawk knows he can tell you how I am if you ask…”
He laughed, only his own tears soaked the sound. “We hid from your brother for so long. And now he’s my only hope to be connected to you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
“No. Don’t apologize for doing what you need to. I’m proud of you.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head as Mae’s arms tightened around his chest. “Just promise me you’ll give me a chance. When you’re ready. No matter when that might be. You’ll come back and give me a chance to prove how much I love you. How I only see a future with you.”
“Stone.”
“No,Michaela.” His fingers combed through her hair. “I’m Sully.Alwaysyour Sully. Please, promise me…”
Twenty-Eight
One year later…
Mae pushed back from her chair, the laptop finally logging her off five minutes after she asked it to. She loved working in her parents’ shop. Honestly, the peaceful pace of everything kept life feeling magical, but the slow technology was going to be the death of her. Gage would never have made her work on a laptop that was nearly as old as she was.
Shit. She hadn’t meant to think of the team. Of course, Mae kept in touch with Sloane, Lily, Emma, and Lacy. There was never a single moment that she thought her friends would let her leave Silver Springs without the promise of keeping in touch. She’d even been chatting here and there with Jessie. Nothing like surviving a kidnapping together to make you lifelong friends!
And, of course, she still talked to Hawk. Her dumb ass brother hadn’t stopped trying to get her to move back to Texas. But Stone… he respected her decision. She hadn’t reached out to him, and he hadn’t reached out to her. As much as she tried not to think about it, she missed him with every fiber of her being. And it was becoming harder and harder to ignore.
Mae’s stomach growled as she stacked a handful of new books she’d bought on the shelves. Their store was quaint. Small town and laid back vibes to the max. But Mae knew if they wanted to keep the doors open, they needed to offer something else. And so, for the last year, she’d set to work converting one tiny corner of the store into the smuttiest, raunchiest, filthiest romance book-nook the state of Louisiana had ever seen. And it was a thing of beauty.
It had helped her make so many new friends, connected her with so many incredible women, and put a bandage over the hole in her heart that was there from missing her friends back in Silver Springs.
“Knock knock!” Oh, thank God! Mae’s stomach growled again, even more angry than before.
“Paisley, my lifesaver! How is it possible that you pop up every day with a little treat right when I need it most? I completely forgot to eat and my stomach was about to cave in on itself.” Mae laughed as she took the paper bag and iced coffee from her friend before Paisley could even sit down in the chair beside the bookshelf.
“Oh, honey. I wish it was me, but honestly, if you weren’t sending in that mobile order every day, I would absolutely forget.”
Mae’s heart rolled as she bit down into the powdered doughnut. “Sorry,” she mumbled, crumbs and powdered sugar flying out of her mouth at an alarming rate. “I haven’t ever done a mobile order from your shop. I thought you were just bringing me treats when you came in.”
“Hm. Maybe it’s from your parents?”
“Yeah, maybe.” There was no way in hell her parents knew what a mobile order was, let alone how to use their cell phoneto make one happen. A spark of hope lit in the back of her mind. “I’ll have to ask them later.”
