“Truth,” he interrupts. “My way is truth.”
That hits hard because my way has always been noise, humor, movement—anything but standing still long enough for the truth to catch me.
I blow out a shaky breath. “Okay.”
Tex releases my face, and his hand slides to the back of my neck, his fingers firm in my hair like he needs a tether. He doesn’t pull; he just holds.
“Look at me,” he says.
I do.
His eyes are fierce. Not angry or cold. Certain. “You didn’t do anything wrong by wanting space. You didn’t do anything wrong by making a choice."
My voice wobbles. “My brothers think I’m an idiot.”
“Your brothers are scared,” he corrects. “And scared men get loud.”
I swallow hard because that’s true, and it still doesn’t fix the fact that their fear always lands on me like a cage.
“I shouldn’t have?—”
Tex’s hand tightens slightly at my neck. “Don’t.”
I frown. “Don't what?”
“Don’t apologize like you did something shameful. You didn’t.”
My lips part, the wordsorryalready trembling on the tip of my tongue.
He catches it, as if he can see it forming. “No. Not that.”
I stare at him, trying to figure out how to exist in a world where I’m not required to pay for love with guilt. “I didn’t mean to hurt them.”
Tex’s gaze softens. “I know.”
“And I didn’t mean to—” My voice breaks. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
His jaw tightens. “You didn’t hurt me.”
My laugh is watery. “I heard you wrong, ran off, got covered in cow shit, accused you of regretting me?—”
“And we handled it,” he says simply.
The certainty of that truth makes my chest clench. “You didn’t deserve that.”
Tex steps closer until my body is almost pressed to his. Warmth radiates off him, cutting through the cold at my back.
His voice drops, his Texan drawl thickening. “Jane. I deserve to know when you’re hurtin’. I deserve you coming to me instead of runnin’ away alone.”
I close my eyes briefly. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“I know. But you’ll learn.We’lllearn,” he says, like it’s inevitable, already decided.
My heartbeat stutters. “Why are you so sure?”
Tex’s gaze holds mine steadily. “Because I’m not guessin’ with you.”
I stare at him for a long minute.
