I hated that they were risking everything for me while I sat there doing nothing.
I was still staring at him when a sharp knock came on the door, interrupting my thoughts.
Tex moved instantly.
Before he was even fully awake, his hand grabbed the gun, his arm coming up in one smooth, practiced motion. He sat up halfway, aiming toward the door, eyes sharp and alert.
The door cracked open.
“Easy, bother!”
Moose froze in the doorway, hands slightly raised, clearly startled by the sight of Tex pointing a gun straight at him.
“Jesus, man,” Moose muttered.
Tex blinked, fully waking now, lowering the weapon slightly but not setting it down. “What?”
“It’s time to move,” Moose said quietly. “JD wants you both up. We’re heading out in ten.”
Tex nodded once and Moose stepped back, closing the door behind him. Tex exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face before setting the gun down back beside him.
I pushed myself upright. “What now?”
He looked at me, his expression already shifting back into something harder. More distant.
“We move you to another safe house,” he said. “Then I go hunting.”
My stomach tightened. “Hunting?”
His jaw flexed. “I’m gonna find the men who took your ranch, Rowan. The men who killed your animals and threatened you.” His eyes darkened. “And I’m gonna make them pay.”
Fear twisted in my chest. “Tex…”
He started getting off the bed, but I reached out, catching his wrist. “What if…” I hesitated, then forced the words out. “What if I asked you to stay?”
He went still and I swallowed.
“I’m scared,” I admitted quietly. “And I don’t… I’ve lost so much already, Tex. So many people. Everyone I know. I don’t want to lose you too.”
The words hung heavy in the air. His gaze locked on mine. And for a moment everything else faded.
For a moment it was just him and me and the feeling we were both trying not to name. Because I saw it in his eyes and it was the same thing I felt.
But neither of us said it, because saying it would make it real, and real meant something neither of us were ready to face. Not yet.
Tex’s jaw tightened slightly. “Please don’t ask me that, Rowan,” he said quietly.
My chest ached. “Why?”
“Because I need to do this,” he replied, voice low but certain. “I need to be out there. Doing something. Not sitting here waiting for them to come at you again. It’ll kill me not doing anything.”
I nodded slowly, even though part of me wanted to argue. Because I did want to ask him that! I wanted to beg him to stay.
“Okay,” I whispered instead.
Something softened in his expression, just for a second, and then it was gone and reality came rushing back in.
The drive felt longer than it probably was, and no one spoke much.
