“I’ll save you a seat,” he said.
I let a smile play at the edges of my lips. “The town’ll love that,” I said with a chuckle, trying to help us into that easy, joking rhythm we usually stayed in.
“Give the people what they want, right?”
His words were friendly, but there was a bite to his tone–an unfamiliar edge that I hated to hear.
“Bryce–”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Krys,” he said firmly.
I paused, debating what I could say. It was obvious he didn’t want to talk.
“Tomorrow,” I agreed, shutting the door and walking toward the house.
I blew out a sigh.
That went well.
The sarcastic thought was unlike me, and the sharpness of it echoed the bitter note in Bryce’s comment.
What were we doing?
When Bryce kissed me, I’d panicked. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to. Quite the opposite, in fact. In that moment, there had been nothing I wanted more than Bryce’s lips on mine.
And that terrified me.
I couldn’t let anyone have that kind of pull on me. That’s how you ended up stuck in Minden instead of chasing your dreams in New York like my mother had.
That wasn’t me!
But the longer I stayed, the more I began to understand how easy it could be to surrender. To be adored and loved by Captain Bryce Storm? To someone else, it would be everything they ever wanted.
But not to me.
I wasn’t ready to give up on my dreams yet, which meant I couldn’t let myself fall for Bryce.
Even if I would feel the imprint of his kiss for the rest of the night.