“If we’re not breaking up, when are you going to kiss me?”
Tarr grinned at her again, chuckled, and then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with all the passion and love he possessed for her.
forty-one
“Are you sure we’re okay?” Briar touched her lips to Tarr’s again, despite the fact that his phone had vibrated against her side for the third time in as many minutes.
“Yeah, I’m great.” Tarr kissed her again, sliding his mouth along her jaw and then over the delicate bones along her collar. “Tuck is going to send out a search party, though.” He finally pulled away, and Briar reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.
“Tarr?”
Since she’d been outside all through sunset, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness gradually, and she could see him just fine. Of course, Tarr sort of blended into the night, and oh, how she loved that about him.
“There are so many things I love about you,” she said. “How you seem to be able to say whatever’s on your mind, how you’re so good with horses, how you kiss me.” She remained straight-faced, and he stayed quiet. “Is that the same as beingin lovewith someone?”
“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” he said. “Because I’m fond of how Bobbie Jo loves her goats so fiercely, but I’m notin lovewith Bobbie Jo.”
Briar nodded, the back of her head grinding against the hard ground. “Maybe if I list the things I love about you every day, there will come a time when I recognize that I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Tarr rolled to her side, his fingers still twined with hers. “There’s no—I don’t want you to feel any pressure, my thorn-filled Briar. You’ll know when you know.”
“But we’re good?”
“You said you envisioned your future with me, and I know you can’t see your own face, but I could.” He spoke softly, reverently, as if he didn’t want to scare the stars away by speaking too loud. “And when you said that, I could see that you love me, so yeah. I’m good, and if you’re good, then we’re good.”
She lay there on her back, her eyes searching the skies, as his words sank into her soul. He could see the love she held for him on her face—and that never happened. Perhaps it was a new thing about her that she hadn’t discovered yet. She could hide almost all of her emotions, but apparently, not love.
A smile touched her lips, and then she rolled too, put her palm on Tarr’s chest, and pushed herself up. He groaned in an over-exaggerated way, and curled into himself. “Let’s go,” she said. “We already have to ride back in the dark, and Tucker’s going to lose his mind.”
“I’ll text him.” Tarr stayed on his side, curled up, as he pulled out his phone. The screen lit up his face as he texted quickly, and then he sat up and got to his feet. “We can walk back,” he said. “The horses will just come with us.”
He bent to pick up his cowboy hat, which he reseated on his head, completing the vision of the perfect cowboy silhouette against the rising moon. “Or can you ride in the dark?”
“I used to be able to ride upside down and with my eyes closed,” she said.
“Yeah, but on a trained horse,” he said.
True, she thought. Stunt-riding horses trained for years, and they were as important as the girls who rode them. They had to hold steady lines, with a constant clip, never missing a step or leaning too far.
Briar had loved her stunt horses with her whole soul, and a powerful wave of nostalgia and missing flowed through her as she joined Tarr at the horses. “I can ride,” she said quietly, telling him she was ready to take another step forward in her healing.
She’d already come so far, but getting back in the saddle—literally—was something she’d never really felt like she needed to do.
Until Tarr hadn’t come back to his cabin, and Briar couldn’t stand the thought of not talking to him for another moment. She’d gone over to the arena, assuming he’d be there, since he hadn’t taken his truck.
She hadn’t found him, and she’d returned to Tarr’s with a heavy heart. Only a minute later, Tuck and Bobbie Jo had pulled up, a big bag of Doritos for Tarr.
Tucker had called Tarr for her, and Briar had become a master in gesturing and mouthing words, so Tuck wouldn’t give away the fact that it was her asking after Tarr. He’d seemed truly surprised when she’d arrived, so she’d had one minor success today, at least.
“Tarr, baby?” She slipped her hand in his as he finished checking his horse’s saddle.
“Mm?” He drew her into his arms and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“I’m really sorry about earlier,” she said with every ounce of sincerity she could muster.
“You already said that.”
“Yeah, but I think you forgave me too fast.”
