“Right.”
I didn’t really give a shit if they came, so long as I got some alone time with B.
I took the road toward the old grain mill. It was somewhere I came to clear my head, to get away from it all and just think. It was also where I’d brought Harleigh last Halloween. The place where I’d touched her for the first time.
Fuck. Maybe coming back here wasn’t such a good idea. It held memories. Tainted memories. Bittersweet with the half-truths and lies that existed between us.
“You good?” Zane asked, and I glanced over at him, nodding.
But the truth was I was nervous. Restless energy zipping through me, making my leg jostle.
Last night had been urgent, driven by some base need to comfort and protect Harleigh. This morning had been… fuck, it had been perfect, waking up with her in my arms. But space, time, and distance weren’t my friends. It allowed the seeds of doubt to take root and anchor themselves to my soul. Because there were some truths I couldn’t deny.
Starting with the fact that Harleigh no longer lived in The Row. That she wasn’t right across from my trailer, always there. A stone’s throw away.
It shouldn’t have mattered; I knew her heart. But her father was a problem.
A big fucking problem.
One I hadn’t quite worked out how to fix yet.
“They’re already here,” Chloe said, just as I spotted Celeste’s Range Rover parked over by some trees. My heart lurched into my throat, blood pounding in my ears.
She was here.
B was here.
This morning, when I’d left her, when I’d watched her walk away, doubt had quickly swept in, tamping down the lingering fire in my veins after my night with her. But she was here.
She came.
The car came to an abrupt stop and I shouldered the door open, climbing out, ignoring Zane’s grumble of disapproval.
He didn’t get it.
He would never get it.
I’d spent nine long months without her. My best friend. My anchor. The other half of my dirty, black fucking soul. I didn’t plan on spending another second without her.
It was that simple.
Celeste spotted me first, a small smile lifting the corner of her mouth. But I only had eyes for Harleigh as she turned slowly, her breath catching as I strode toward her.
“Nix,” she breathed, and I pulled her into my arms, pressing my head to hers.
“Hey, Birdie.” The tension I’d felt since this morning seeped out of my shoulders.
She slid her hands up my chest, clutching my dark-gray t-shirt. “We have an audience.” Her whispered words made my chest ache.
“Don’t care,” I murmured, inhaling her. Breathing her in. This, this is what I needed. Her. Me. The two of us facing the shitshow that was life. Together.
Soft laughter spilled out of her, and she tried to bury her face in the crook of my neck, but I gripped her chin gently, staring at her. Silently telling her everything I felt. “Gonna kiss you now, B.”
Fixing my mouth to hers, I kissed her slowly. Deeply. My tongue snaked out, licking her lips, tasting her. A whimper escaped her as my tongue found hers.
Jesus. Kissing her was like a shock to my body. It wanted more. More, more, more. My hand slipped down her spine, clamping around her hip and dragging her closer. “Fuck, you drive me wild,” I said, touching my head to hers again, forcing myself to calm the fuck down.
“The feeling is mutual.” She gazed up at me all doe-eyed and lust drunk.