“She won.”
His lips curve into a grin. “Of course she did.”
Of course she did.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about that. Teagan on a horse is like watching lightning tear through the sky. She doesn’t just ride.
I should’ve been there.
The thought needles at me more than I expected. I stayed because it was the right call, with James and Deacon requiring my help. But still, I wanted to see her fly.
Knox’s truck rumbles up the drive, and I’m on the porch before they even come into view. Images of her jumping from the truck and running up the steps to kiss me flit through my thoughts like a fool.
The headlights cut across the yard, and the engine dies, leaving the ranch in a sudden, heavy quiet. The driver’s side door opens first, and Knox climbs out quietly. My unease from his unusual behavior only grows when he doesn’t look at me.
I stare at the passenger door, waiting to see Teagan. It feels like an eternity before the door slowly opens. She steps out, and even in the dim porch light, I see it immediately. Her face is tear-streaked, her eyes swollen, and her jaw clenched so tight it looks painful. My stomach drops straight into my boots.
I take one step toward her. “Wildf?—”
Instead of running into my arms, she holds up a hand to silence me before marching across the yard like she’s heading into battle. When she reaches me, she shoves a rolled piece of paper into my chest so hard I have to grab it to keep it from falling.
“What’s this?” I mutter, my brain trying to keep up.
“Open it.” Her voice is shredded.
My fingers feel thick and clumsy as I pull the rubber band free. The paper crinkles in the quiet night as I unroll it. I know from the first couple of inches what I’m going to see, but I continue anyway. The air leaves my lungs in a slow, deliberate exhale.
So, this is how it catches up to me.
This is how the universe takes her from me. In a gravel driveway under a porch light. Not in a pile of twisted metal, but the wreckage of my cowardice.
“Who are you?” she asks, tears spilling down her face, silent and relentless. Her hands are clenched at her sides, like she’s holding herself together by sheer force.
Knox shifts awkwardly behind her. “I’ll—uh?—”
“Just go inside,” she huffs at him without looking away from me. “Knox,” she says again, firmer. He hesitates for a moment and walks toward the house, boots heavy on the steps, leaving the two of us on the porch.Us and the ghost of a man I’ve been trying to outrun.
“Teagan—”
“Don’t,” she snaps, her voice breaking on the word. “Don’t say my name like that. Just answer me.”
While I watch her fall apart, the only thing I can think is how badly I want to wrap my arms around her. Arms she doesn’t want to comfort her.
“I’m the same man who can’t get enough of you falling asleep in his arms. The same man who thinks about kissing you again the second your lips leave mine. I’m the same?—”
“No.” She vehemently shakes her head. “Thatman doesn’t lie to me. That man knows he can tell me anything without judgment. That man… He wouldn’t have hidden this from me.”
“I wasn’t hiding it from you…” I drag a hand down my face. “I wasn’t hiding from you. I was hiding from myself.”
She blinks at me like that’s the stupidest thing she’s ever heard. “What does that even mean?” she sobs.
“This man”—I gesture helplessly to the poster—“he died with Rosie. And what little of him lingered, I spent a year trying to drown in whiskey.”
She stares at me, her breathing uneven with tears trickling down her face. “You could’ve told me,” she whispers.
“I know.”
“Would you have?” Her eyes search mine with terrifying clarity. “If I hadn’t found that, would you have ever told me?”
