“You are so bad, but I do like your thinking.” The kiss I gave him was quick because anything longer would make me desperate for more, and we had lunch to eat. “Maybe try that later. ‘I love you sweetheart, here’s my dick’.”
I thought that my impression of him was pretty good, but Gunner clearly found it amusing. His loud bark of a belly laugh made Dream Maker pull his head up startled.
“Shit, sorry Dreamy.” Gunner whispered against his neck. “It’s okay buddy.”
I handed Gunner my apple and let him give it to the horse. He clearly trusted him and if anyone could turn this horse around then my cowboy could.
“That was a terrible impression of me by the way,” he said, watching Dream Maker stroll away. “But to answer your question, being certain about us means I’m never letting you go.” His voice was rough with emotion. “Fire, arson, whatever else comes our way, none of it changes that.”
As his lips met mine, I felt that familiar warmth spread through me. Beyond us, the foundation for the new stables was taking shape, tomorrow the concrete would begin being poured and it all felt like a fitting metaphor for what we were building together. Something solid and lasting, meant to endure whatever storms might come.
As for whoever had tried to destroy what Gunner loved? They would learn what I already knew; you don’t mess with a Miller and walk away unscathed.
“There is one thing that all this has changed,” he said as he took my hand.
“What’s that?”
“I think maybe it’s changed me.” He was quiet for a moment, the gravel crunching under foot as he started to walk us away from the paddock. “I thought about what it would have been like had you been in danger. It made me realize something.”
I tilted my head to look at him. “What?”
“That I don’t want to waste time being careful. Being scared.” His fingers found mine in the darkness. “The camp, us, this life we’re talking about building, I want it all. Even if it’s risky. Especially if it’s risky.”
“Even if there’s a great hulking development next to it.”
He laughed softly. “Especially then because,” there was steel in his voice, “because whatever we build, whatever life we createtogether, will be bigger and stronger than whatever they can throw at us.”
I was quiet for a moment, processing. “When you say lifewecreate together?” My heart hammered against my ribs. “What would it look like?”
He turned to face me fully. “It would be a life with no holding back. To go all in with me, even knowing it might get messy.”
“And what would ‘all in’ look like?” My mouth felt like sandpaper, as tentative thoughts whirled around my heart.
“Taking risks and lasting instead of protecting ourselves against the possibility that it might not be.”
I thought about all the ways I’d held pieces of myself back in the past. All the safeguards I’d built without realizing it. The way I never gave myself fully.
“I’ve always been too scared,” I admitted. “In the past.”
“Me too,” he said simply. “But I’m more scared of missing out on this because we're too afraid to try.”
I leaned against him, breathing in his familiar scent. “What if we mess it up?”
“Then we’ll figure it out. Together.” His lips pressed against the top of my head. “What do you say, sweetheart? Ready to trust us?”
I thought about the fire, about how quickly everything could change. About how precious this was between us. How he made it more valuable.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’m more than ready for us.”
Chapter 49
Titanium – David Guetta ft. Sia
Gunner
The idea that pouring concrete into a huge hole would be interesting was a little weird. Of course, we had to be there, but the other dozen people I wasn’t sure. There was Calvin, Ella and Peggy, our friend Deacon who owned the feed store, Shane and Felicia who owned the lavender farm along with a handful of ranch hands and stable hands including Mikey and Tally. Everyone was standing around, waiting expectantly, like something great was about to happen.
It was, in the sense that it was the start of something new and exciting. A fresh start as we literally rose from the ashes.
