“Why’d you lie to your brother yesterday?”
Her entire body seized in discomfort.
I eased back a fraction to give her some space.
“I don’t know what—”
“Maggie, you do know.”
Her head shook, and she shifted to stare off through the iron slats on the far end of the balcony. Moonlight spilled onto the beach, reflecting on the waves, making them glisten and shimmer.
Warily, she turned back to look at me, hesitation firing in every molecule. “Have you ever been willing to do something right for someone else, so desperately, that you are willing to risk it all? Whatever the cost?”
Visions flashed.
Blood.
Screams.
Agony.
Horror.
I gulped it down.
“Yeah.” The word was a grunt.
She met my gaze.
Hers held a reservoir of fear and an ocean of resolution. “That’s why.”
Terror slicked down my spine.
Ice-cold dread.
What the fuck was she in?
I’d immediately known she wasn’t bein’ straight. Add in the bits of that fuckery I’d overheard with her mother on the phone yesterday and things were not sittin’ well.
“What are you sayin’, Maggie?”
“Rhys…” She blinked a couple times and then gave a harsh shake of her head. “It’s nothing. I didn’t want Royce to worry. I mean, have you met him?”
“Maggie.” Didn’t even try to hide the pleading. “If you’re in trouble…”
A pained smile fluttered all over her lips. “It’s nothing. Just some family stuff I can’t involve him in, and I don’t want him to worry.”
“Your mother,” I settled on.
The crusty bitch on the phone who I’d be more than happy to shove my boot up her ass. I’d barely caught onto a word or two on her side, but it was more than enough.
Maggie choked a pained laugh. “Is a horrible person. Simple as that.”
Those fingertips found my face, girl searching me in the lapping night. “And you, Rhys…what are you running from?”
My head barely shook. “I’m not runnin’, Maggie. I’m standing still.”
Because I couldn’t go back, and I couldn’t move forward.
Not when I’d ruined the one true, good thing I’ve been given.
And I was stuck there.
In that moment.
In their eyes.
In the devastation.
In my regret.
Grief flashed. It slicked my skin in a sheen of sweat.
Those fingertips traced over it, like this girl was experiencing me, tapping into my energy and reading every last fuckin’ thing written on my soul.
“Friends, Sweet Thing.” It was caution.
She lifted those charcoal eyes.
Fierce.
A black bolt of lightning.
Bright and blinding.
I swore, I felt her like a shockwave.
A blow that hammered through my body like a storm.
The urge to rub at the achy spot in the middle of my chest was unbearable.
“I think you’re a liar, Rhys Manning.”
I forced a grin and some lightness into my tone. “I’ve been called way worse things, Mag Pie.”
And a thief of this girl’s beauty wasn’t gonna be one of them.
I forced myself to edge back. But I couldn’t go far. I flopped onto my ass next to her, our shoulders pressed together.
Our breaths long.
Nothin’ but sighs and whispers.
Didn’t matter if I tried to fight it. I wasn’t sure I had the power to stop it. What I felt building. Gaining strength.
I should ask her to go back to her room, but I got the feelin’ it wouldn’t change a thing.
There were some connections that were just inevitable. No matter how fuckin’ bad they might hurt in the end.
Under the weight of it, I forced myself to say, “There’s some lucky motherfucker out there who’s gonna steal your amazing heart, Sweet Thing.”
I threaded my fingers through hers where she had her hand rested between us.
Fire flashed.
Awesome.
Really helping things.
“One of those cowboys you’ve been dreamin’ of. You’ll settle down in a small town and have yourself a brood of kids, just like you wanted.” My words were a gentle tease imagining it.
Something simple and right.
Hopefully after she allowed herself to have a million experiences and decided that was what she really wanted.
“Want you to have it all.” I squeezed her hand.
She squeezed back.
Energy spun around us.
A blanket of warmth.
Could feel her smilin’ next to me. This brilliant, sweet smile that made that achy place glow.
She tipped her head toward the sky. Her eyes dropped closed.
“Don’t forget the horses,” she murmured, imagining it, too.
I squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Never, ever forget the horses.”
A soft giggle fluttered from her, and she began to whisper, “Maybe it’s because of my past. The way my parents treated me. But that’s what I want, Rhys. My soul’s hope. A family. Someone to share this love that’s been burning up inside of me for so many years, aching for someone to give it to.”
And there I sat, wanting to dip my fingers into the well of her sweetness.
Take for myself.
A savage who fed from her grace.
Something playful and sad stole across her expression when she shifted to look at me. “Maybe someone to dance with me to whatever beautiful song you’d been writing over there.”