“Wyatt, please don’t,” I whispered, and my voice cracked because I meant it in every way possible.
He hesitated just long enough for me to feel the trembling power under my palm.
Then he shoved Colin back hard enough that he stumbled two full steps before catching himself.
Colin stared at him in shock, and the truth finally landed in his eyes that this wasn’t a game he controlled anymore.
“Enjoy it,” Colin said to me again, voice been thinner this time. “While it lasts.” The threat was brittle instead of confident.
Then he turned and climbed into his car and tore back down the drive in a spray of gravel and fury that echoed long after the engine faded.
The yard fell silent again, and I realized I was shaking so hard I could barely stay upright.
Wyatt didn’t turn to me right away, and his shoulders were rising and falling too fast like he was still burning off the violence he barely kept in check.
The heat between us twisted into something darker and sharper now, and my body reacted even while fear crawled under my skin.
“You scared me,” I said, and my voice was barely more than a breath.
“I’d do worse to keep him away from you,” Wyatt said, and the honesty in it scared me even more.
“You can’t,” I whispered, my hand still on his arm like I was afraid to let go.
He looked at me, and the intensity in his eyes made my breath hitch all over again.
My pulse stuttered because he’d been right.
The space between our bodies was charged with everything we weren’t saying and everything we’d already done.
For one dangerous second, I thought he might kiss me again, and I knew with terrifying clarity that I wouldn’t stop him.
Thirty
Tessa
Wyatt hadn’t touched me in the night. Not when I hovered too close. Not when the tension crackled so tight it made my teeth ache. Not even when I finally rolled away and pretended I didn’t care.
Outside, the ranch was already awake. I could hear a truck door slam. Boots on gravel. The wind ticked the loose clapboard on the porch. Life carried on like it always did. Like nothing in my life tilted on its axis the night before.
Colin had been here.
Wyatt had stayed.
And still, he left space between us that might as well have been a canyon.
I pushed out of bed and dressed quickly. Jeans, a faded long-sleeve, and my boots. I did not give myself time to think about how humiliating it felt to want someone who decided restraint was more powerful than hunger.
When I stepped into the kitchen, Wyatt was already there. Coffee poured. Jaw tight. Shoulders rigid. Every inch of him locked back into control like nothing happened at all.
“I’m taking you to my house until we figure out what that fucker wants.”
My spine stiffened. “I’m not running from home.”
“You will for a couple days.”
“I’m not a child, Wyatt.”
“No,” he said flatly. “You’re a woman an unstable man thinks he owns.” His gaze lifted, sharp now. Protective steel running right beside the cold. “You don’t stay alone out here until I’m sure he’s done circling.”
