But the day I was released from hospital, he showed up at my door. It was heaven and hell seeing him again. I was racked with every single emotion one can feel and I felt like I was going to explode as he wrapped me up in his arms.
But from that moment on, things haven’t always been the same. I was terrified to lose him again, especially after all we’d just been through, after all he did for me.
But I know now that dealing with something like what we had, it was a lot. It still is. Trace had to figure out how to forgive someone who was really only trying to act as a hero for his sister. I was still trying to figure out how to cope with my new memories and the realization of everything, and in between it all . . . there is us.
Trace reminded me that he will always find me. We’ll always come back to each other. So we agreed on time and space. Though it broke me even more, I knew we had to do it.
Now, I approach the cabin, eager to finally see him again as anticipation dances around my chest. Hopingthat this time, it’s for good and that we never have to run from each other again.
I walk into the garage and immediately stop in my tracks.
My eyes start to water when I realize what I’m looking at. My heart bursts at the sight of gleaming teal paint and a memory that I had to force myself to give up on.
Trace emerges from somewhere in the background. A daydream cloaked by darkness. That’s what he personifies. Even though the air dances with a cold December air, he still decides to remain shirtless, leaving his beautiful tatted body on display for my wandering eyes.
But then I can see the evidence of his sacrifice, the burn scars that caress his upper arm, right above the barbed wire tattoo. And on both of his hands, distorting the look of his skeleton tattoos.
My chest feels like it’ll sink if I think about how fucking brave he was that night. Deciding to use Jensen’s intended downfall for us all and risk his life to save the rest of us. I’ll never know who to repay him for that, but more importantly, I’m grateful he made it out alive.
A smile cracks on his face when we look at each other, bringing me back to the present, and my body buzzes with nerves that send me into a frenzy. It’s been two months but it feels like years ago all while seeming like yesterday.
He doesn’t move, just watches me as I look between him and the car that takes up his garage.
“Trace?” I say his name, my heart flooding with emotion as I take in the scene. He turns aroundslowly and when his golden eyes reach mine, it’s like coming home. “Trace, you bought the Bronco?”
He smirks, finally closing the distance between us and before him or I can say another word, he scoops me into his arms and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “Of course I did, Livie. I wasn’t going to let you be reckless enough to get rid of it.”
Pride swells in my chest, ecstasy rippling through me. My heart thrums as tension and adrenaline and impatience tangle in my core.
Last month, I realized that I needed to sell the Bronco. It was a decision I didn’t want to make, and I didn’t make it lightly, but I felt in my heart that it was the barrier between this town and me getting away. A decision I was still trying to battle, not sure what the right thing to do was. So I caved, and I put it up for sale and an anonymous buyer came and picked it up. I didn’t meet the buyer. The money was wired to my account and the car was gone the next day.
Seeing it here, in Trace’s garage, makes me believe that the magnetic pull I’d been feeling was all for this. For him and l. The thread that holds us together through everything.
I don’t even know what to say. I just look into his eyes as he holds me in his arms, his fingers digging into my ass as my fingers scrape gently against his neck.
It’s electric, this moment between us. And I can’t hold it off any longer.
I lean and press my lips to his, needing his kiss like I need my next breath.
“Fuck, Reckless,” he moans into my mouth. Euphoria expands in my chest, filling me with desire and love.
The combination of his embrace and the way he smells, the way he feels, has me desperate for more. But I have to hold my breath while he kisses me, staving off the aches my body craves to have taken care of; his movements causing chaos as he grips and tugs and devours.
“I’ve missed you so fucking much,” I whisper and he smiles against my lips and we kiss for a for a few seconds longer before he pulls away.
“I need you to know why I didn’t say anything to you about everything,” he tells me and I watch the way his eyes bore a sincere and heartfelt need to clarify.
“It’s okay, Trace,” I assure him, knowing that nothing is going to change what happened or alter how I feel, but he sets me down and shakes his head.
“No, it’s not. You struggled for so long and I was the only one who truly knew what you were going through and I had the answers to make it go away, but I didn’t.”
Trace wraps his hand around my face, cradling me. I swallow, somewhat nervous about what he wants to tell me, but I focus my eyes on him and listen.
“I had only followed after you because I realized that I didn’t want you to have to face my sister alone.” He pauses a beat before resting his head on mine, sorrow filling his tone as he continues.
“I saw the whole thing and I didn’t know what to do. I knew it was an accident and the moment I saw you running away from that cliff, I wanted to go after you. But then you ran into Jensen and I froze. I didn’t know it then, what I do know, that he saw the whole thing like I did. But what I saw was you needing someone and then you kissed him. I was hurt, so I didn’t stick around. I went to go find Seren’s body butthen police showed up and honestly, Olivia, I didn't know what to do. I couldn’t tell them the truth, especially after finding out that more bodies were being found and they were looking for a killer. I knew the moment they found out about you and Seren, you’d be implicated. You’d be the prime suspect and with your memories evading you, it was the perfect answer to give them.”
I reach down to find Trace’s hands holding me at my waist and intertwine my fingers in his, feeling the burn scars that paint them. I caress his skin gently, wishing I could take the reminders away, wishing I could go back and do things differently. But what’s done is done, and all that matters right now, is that we still have each other.
