My thumb ran circles on the back of her hand. “You think it’s beautiful, huh?”
“Incredibly.”
“Hey, I take bets seriously. I have something really important to achieve,” I said, grin sliding to my face.
“I have no doubt you’ll win that wager. Then you’ll get to keep the hashtag and all the women.”
I grimaced, knowing I’d ditch that persona in a heartbeat if it were right. If I had something left to give.
All while that attraction pulled and compelled.
A riddle of lust and something bigger.
I shifted around and pushed to my feet, not letting go of her hand.
I gave her a little tug. “You wanna dance, Goddess Girl?”
Blinking up at me, she gave me a slight nod, and I pulled her to her feet.
I curled an arm around her waist and tucked her close. Tried not to moan out loud with the need that went sliding down my spine and landed like a thousand bricks in my stomach.
“You have to stop calling me that,” she whispered. “You’re liable to fill my head with the illusion that I might have a chance with you.”
Nah. I was the one who didn’t stand a chance.
I tightened my hold and pressed my mouth to the top of her head. “Maggie. Wish I was that guy.”
For the longest time, she didn’t say anything while we swayed in the summer breeze with the scent and the sounds of the sea surrounding us.
Maggie curled those arms around me, her head on my chest.
“Did you ever fall in love with one of those girls?” she finally whispered into the roaring silence. Got the sense that she already knew the answer.
I blew out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I did once.”
She nodded softly.
Gettin’ me in a way that she shouldn’t.
“What happened to her?”
I pulled her closer, my lips murmuring the confession at the top of her head, “She was one of the people I loved most.”
Sadness pulsed from her, and she locked herself to me, like she could hold what was pouring out of me.
Stand for me.
Bear it.
Had the intense urge to weep.
“I’m so sorry, Rhys,” she whispered.
She pressed her hand to my thrashin’ heart. Like she could feel the cracks. The fractures. What was bleeding out. She peeked up at me. “Who else did you love most?”
Grief gushed, breaking through the gaps, and I couldn’t hold back the words. “My daddy. Failed him when the only thing I’d ever wanted to do was make him proud.” Sadness tugged at every edge of my mouth and a grieved chuckle rumbled out. “Guy was my hero.”
Maggie gazed up at me. “What happened to him?”
“Seven years gone.”
She hugged me fiercely. “I bet he was incredibly proud of you, Rhys. How could he not be?”
The fingers of my left hand wound up in the mass of her hair. “I wish that were the truth.”
She hugged me tighter, like she wasn’t afraid.
“Sing to me,” she murmured. “Sing the song you were playing that called to me from my room.”
My arms wrapped tighter around her slight body, and I exhaled, the lyrics barely breaking over the wind.
Didn’t know what was comin’
Didn’t know where I was goin’
Fallin’ faster
Comin’ slower
Lookin’ for a lover
To get lost under covers
In my whispers
In my ear
Wishing on a star
Hoping on a heart
And then you were there
You caught me in a dream
I think I heard you in my sleep
I think I found you in my dreams
I think I felt you in the daylight
Give me one minute, sweetheart
I’ll ruin everything
I hummed the last line because I couldn’t bring myself to sing it aloud.
Twelve
Rhys
Seven Years Old
“Just like that,” his daddy murmured as Rhys cranked on the wrench so he could get the nut tight.
They were workin’ on a big piece of machinery out in the field where his daddy had been called to work on a broken tractor.
Day hot, sun bright and gleaming against the blue, blue sky.
Rhys was sure he’d never felt so right.
He grinned back at his daddy who was watching him from over his shoulder. “I think I got it real tight!”
His daddy chuckled, and he leaned over and placed his hand over Rhys’, helping him cinch it down. He grunted when it barely budged any more. “Wow. Look at that. You sure did. You’re strong as a horse.”
Rhys grinned.
So big.
“Does that mean I can work with you every single day?” Excitement spilled from his words.
His daddy chuckled some more. “Not sure what your mama would say about that. I’m bettin’ she’d think you should be in school.”
Rhys frowned. “Why I gotta go to school when I’m gonna work with you one day?”
Hopefully right then.
School was not Rhys’ favorite.
Not even close.
A loud laugh burst from his daddy, and he scooped Rhys up and tossed him over his shoulder. Rhys howled and squealed and giggled, and his daddy let him slide down a little bit, giving him a tight hug before he set him on his feet. Still, his hand was on the top of Rhys’ head.