The sun breaks fully over the horizon now, flooding the valley with golden light that makes everything look new and possible. Below us, the ranch comes alive with purpose and the rhythm of honest work. In my arms, Lucy sighs with something that sounds like contentment, like coming home.
For now, watching the sunrise paint the world in promises, that's enough. The morning stretches ahead of us, full ofquestions and complications and choices that will define who we become.
But in this moment, on this hill, with this woman in my arms, I allow myself to believe that some things are worth the risk.
That some people are worth fighting for.
That maybe, just maybe, we can build something beautiful from the wreckage of our separate broken pieces.
The thought should terrify me. Instead, for the first time in years, it feels like hope.
26
Colt
The morning sun slants through my truck windshield as I navigate the winding road back to town, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on Lucy's bare thigh.
She's changed into fresh clothes after a quick detour to Gabriel's house. A simple sundress that makes her look young and beautiful and, hell, ours.
The thought should probably bother me more than it does.
Instead, it settles into my chest like something that was always meant to be there.
In the back seat, Tyson pants contentedly, his massive head occasionally appearing between us to check on his favorite human. The big dog's been glued to Lucy's side ever since she got hurt, like he knows she needs protecting. Smart animal. Smarter than most people I know.
I let my thumb trace lazy circles on Lucy's smooth skin, and she doesn't pull away. Instead, she turns her handpalm-up on the seat between us, a silent invitation I'm quick as hell to accept. Our fingers lace together naturally, and something that's been wound tight in my chest for years finally loosens.
Two days ago, if someone had told me I'd be holding hands with a woman while driving her back from my best friend's ranch after the three of us had spent the night tangled together in ways that would make a porn star blush, I'd have laughed in their face.
Or punched them. Knowing me, probably punched them.
But here we are. And damned if it doesn't feel more right than anything has in my entire fucked-up life.
Not just the sex, though Christ knows that was incredible enough to ruin me for anyone else.
But this. The quiet intimacy of shared silence, the way she fits against my side like she was custom-made for that space, the fact that for the first time in two years I don't feel like I'm missing something fundamental.
Like maybe I'm not as broken as I thought.
I glance at Lucy from the corner of my eye, taking in her profile as she watches the Montana landscape roll past my window. There's something peaceful about her expression, a contentment I haven't seen before. Like maybe she's not calculating escape routes for once, not planning her next move in whatever chess game she's been playing with life.
"Penny for your thoughts, Shortie," I say, because the silence is starting to make me think too much about things I'm not ready to examine. Things like how fast I'm falling and how far I'd fall if this goes to shit.
She turns to look at me, a small smile playing at her lips that makes my chest tight. "Just thinking about how different everything feels now. Three days ago, I was sleeping in my van and working for you was supposed to be temporary. Now..."
"Now you're sleeping in our beds and working us over in hay barns?" I supply with a grin, earning myself a playful smack on the arm that stings just enough to make me want more.
"I'm being serious, Colt."
"So am I. Best career change you ever made, if you ask me."
She laughs, the sound rich and warm in the cab of my truck, and I want to bottle it and save it for the darker days. Because good things don't last in my life. They never have.
"You're impossible."
"Part of my charm." I squeeze her hand, then force myself to ask the question that's been eating at me since we left Beau's ranch like acid in my gut.
"But really, Shortie. How are you feeling about all this? Any regrets?"
