I kept a steady hand at the small of her back as we cut away from the fairgrounds and headed toward the dirt lot. Tension rolled off of her like heat off blacktop, and by the time we reached my truck she was trembling so hard I had to help her into the passenger seat. She climbed in without protest, and I shut the door gently as I made my way around to the driver’s side, tugging my phone out of my pocket as I went. Seeing as Norah left right after the rodeo to take the horses home, and my mom left not long after the pie contest, I thumbed off a quick text to the only other family member who knew we were still at the fair.
Me: Taking Andi home.
Luke replied instantly.Use protection.
I didn’t bother responding, just climbed in and dropped my phone into the console.
The second my door closed, the silence hit harder than it had after that second firework cracked. She was staring out the passenger window, arms wrapped around her middle now instead of the rooster, legs drawn up slightly in the seat. Still quiet. Still shaking.
I cranked the engine and pulled onto the gravel path, steering us away from the fairgrounds and back toward the ranch. A minute passed. Then another. And the quiet wasn’t just charged with tension that I couldn’t even begin to explain; it was…suffocating.
Taking my eyes off of the road for just a second, I glanced over and saw her swipe at her face with the tips of her fingers…and that was it. Something broke loose inside me, and I justneeded to do…something. But she was too far away—trembling and trying so hard to hold it together, andtoo damn far away.
“You’re killin’ me, princess,” I said softly, reaching over to pop the buckle on her seatbelt. “C’mere.”
Her glassy eyes found mine, but she didn’t move. Not yet. But when I held out my arm and motioned her over, she came to me.
Climbing over the center console, she carefully tucked herself sideways between me and the wheel and curled into my lap like it was the only place she wanted to be. Her thighs draped across mine, boots resting on the edge of the passenger seat, as her arms slipped around my neck and her head settled into that space between my shoulder and jaw.
With one hand on the wheel and the other planted firmly around her waist, I made sure I stayed well within the speed limit and murmured, “I’ve got you,” as my lips brushed her temple.
And I did. No matter what tonight stirred up or how long it took to come back from…I had her.
She was safe here with me, and I was going to make sure she knew it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Andi
Gravel crunchedbeneath the tires of Zane’s truck as it bumped along the winding driveway that led to the ranch. It felt like he was doing everything he could to avoid those dips that peppered the quarter mile drive, but I didn’t mind them. Because with every pesky little pothole one of his tires found, his arm tightened around me, fingers flexing and anchoring me back to him when the movement rocked me away.
I liked being that close to him. Liked the way his stubbled jaw scraped lightly against my temple as I tucked myself into the crook of his neck. Liked how every breath near him filled my lungs with the scents of sun-warmed leather, cedar, and soap. Liked how…safeI felt.
We were long gone now from the chaos of the crowd and the exploding lights in the sky, but I still couldn’t shake what had happened. I didn’t even know why, really, or what exactly set me off. Ilovedfireworks, but the moment that second one cracked through the night, it was like something inside of me just…broke. Then came the pressure in my chest. The jump in my pulse. The way my hands curled tight without me telling them to. Each loud crack after was a deep, percussive thud that reverberated in my chest like…like the aftershock of beingthrown against a wall. I knew I wasn’t in danger, though—knewit wasjustfireworks. But my body didn’t. My body braced. My throat closed up. My vision tunneled. And, no matter how tightly I wrapped my arms around that stuffed rooster, I just couldn’t pull myself back together fast enough to make it stop.
But Zane did.
He didn’t ask questions. Didn’t tell me to calm down or breathe or explain myself. Just…comforted me with arms that didn’t let go and a voice that said,“I’ve got you”and meant it.
We pulled up to the house and parked by his mother’s Suburban. Zane didn’t say a word as he cut the engine and pushed his door open. With one foot out the door, he slid one arm under my knees and secured the other behind my back, lifting me to him as he brought us out of his truck and walked toward the porch. I didn’t say anything, either—just kept my face buried in the crook of his neck and let him carry me, clinging to him like I had for every mile of that drive.
The house was dark and quiet, save for the soft whine of the old screen door as Zane eased it closed with his shoulder, and I was thankful that no lights flicked on and no curious footsteps met us from down the hall as he took me straight to the guest room I’d been crashing in—skillfully maneuvering around that creaky floorboard I always seemed to find no matter how hard I tried to avoid it.
Moonlight spilled in through the sheer curtains, casting a silver glow throughout my borrowed room as Zane walked us over to the bed. The edge of the mattress dipped as he lowered me onto it with the kind of gentleness that had my heart hammering inside my chest. My arms slipped from around his neck as he slowly pulled away, but he didn’t stand up to leave…
He sank to his knees.
One hand slid from behind my back and the other from beneath me until both rested at the curve of my thighs as heknelt there on the hardwood floor in front of me. His eyes found mine for a moment as his palm ghosted along my calf and down to my ankle where he lifted my foot and slowly tugged at the worn boot until it came off before moving to the next.
A soft smile pulled at my lips as I braced my hands against the comforter. “I thought you said the only time you’d be on your knees…” I said quietly, aiming for dry humor even though my throat was tight with emotion, “was to beg God to take me back to my gated hell.”
Zane stilled, and a pained breath escaped him as he pulled the second boot off, pairing it up with its twin and setting them off to the side. His cowboy hat shadowed most of his face, but I could see the tight line of his mouth as he rasped, “I should never have said that.”
I hated how I couldn’t see him, how he chosenow,of all times, to hide from me. Reaching for his hat, I slowly slid it off and held it loosely pinched between my fingers at my thigh. My other hand lifted, fingers brushing through his hair, still damp from the heat and matted slightly where his hat had pressed it flat, before letting them drift to the space between his eyebrows. My fingertip brushed the crease there.
“Always so scowly,” I murmured, trying to coax some ease into his expression as I traced the outline of his face.
His eyes slid closed at my touch, just for a moment, but his jaw ticked as he swallowed hard. “I hate this.”
