“You fought Oliver so I could escape. You stayed behind so Beckett could get me out. I think that counts as enough wooing.”
“That was survival. This is choosing you every day when there’s no danger forcing us together.” I sat up, bringing her with me, her legs straddling my lap. “But I keep wondering if it’s too fast. If you need more time before?—”
“I don’t want to wait.” She cut me off, honey-brown eyes steady on mine. “I don’t want to be careful or sensible or slow. I almost died multiple times this week. We both did.”
“But…”
“And we’ve already lost six years. I don’t want us to lose any more. I know we’re both different people now and we’ve got to relearn each other?—”
“—and woo each other?—”
She smiled. “I’ll take wooing also. But you and I both know how life can change in an instant. We’ve both seen it. Both lived through it. Both lived through itagainover the past week. Maybe things work out between us, and maybe they don’t…”
“But we try.” We both finished her statement at the same time.
She nodded. “Yes, we try. And you don’t cut me out when things get difficult. And they will. We both have trauma we’re still working through.”
“We’ll work through it together.” I pulled her closer. “I’m going to make it up to you. All of it.”
I was about to pull her under me again when my phone vibrated. I grabbed it this time even though I’d been mostly ignoring messages for the past couple of days.
“Lark texted. She wants to know if we’re alive.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That we’re more than alive.” I scrolled through messages. It reminded me we needed to get Mia a phone. “Says I need to invite you to the Resting Warrior Ranch family dinner.”
“What is that?”
“We all get together about once a month. Just…family. It’s loud and chaotic and full of laughter. You’ll like it.”
“Will I?”
“Yeah.” We both got up and padded toward the kitchen. We needed coffee even though it was some time in the mid-afternoon. “And they’re going to love you. And you’re going to see why I stayed in Garnet Bend.”
“I already know why you stayed.”
“Oh yeah?”
She tilted her head back to meet my eyes. “Because broken people need a place to heal. And this place heals people.”
I didn’t have words for that. So I kissed her instead. For the first time in years, I wasn’t running from anything.
I was runningtowardsomething.
Chapter 23
Mia
I changed my shirt for the third time.
The blue one made me look washed out. The green one had a stain I hadn’t noticed until I’d already put it on. The cream sweater was too dressy, too try-hard, tooplease like me.
I yanked it over my head and threw it on the bed with the others. I’d made a quick trip back to my apartment in Billings last week to grab clothes and essentials—the place had felt strange, like walking through someone else’s life. I’d need to go back soon and pack it all up properly, figure out what to do with the lease. But that was a problem for another day.
“You know they’ve already met you,” Coop said from the doorway, arms crossed, shoulder against the frame, that easy smile on his face. “Multiple times.”
“Individually.” I grabbed a simple black top from the closet. “This is different. This is everyone. Together. At the same time.”
