Page 82 of Somewhere You Belong

“Willow?”

“My parents died when I was two, Dallas, so I never really knew them.”

Her admission makes me freeze. “Fuck.” I reach out to her, pulling her into my chest and she lets me. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” she mumbles against my chest.

“I know, but…”

She pushes off me way too soon, smoothing her hair from her face. “It’s fine. In fact, I think we should change the subject because the night just got way too depressing.”

I huff out a laugh, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Yeah, but at the same time, I feel like I just got to know you on a level you don’t allow many people to. Am I right?”

Her brown eyes lock onto mine. “Yeah, you are.”

I take her hand and place it over my wildly beating heart. “Then I’m honored.”

Fuck. What is this woman doing to me?

“You should be,” she fires back, making me laugh.

How is that one moment our conversation can be so heavy, and the next, I can’t hold back my smile? How can the desire to lift those burdens from her shoulders overwhelm me so soon after meeting her?

I don’t know her—not deeply, at least. But at the same time, I feel like I do, like she’s meant to fucking be here.

It’s a magnetic force that I can’t explain, but one I’m listening to nonetheless.

“You know what would make me even more honored tonight?” I squeeze her hand that is still on my chest.

“What’s that?”

“You being my plus-one on the Ferris wheel.”

Willow peers up at the metal structure towering over the pier behind us, a centerpiece that catches your eye instantly. “You want me to go on that thing?”

“Yup. Believe me, the view from the top is worth the trip here as well.”

Her head drops down as her eyes meet mine. “Uh, I’m not getting on that, Dallas.”

I grab her by the hand and pull her toward the back of the line that’s already forming. When the sun sets in the distance, people gravitate toward the ride to catch the spectacular view. If we don’t get in line now, we won’t make it on in time to see the sky light up in yellows, oranges, and pinks.

“Yes, you are, Goose.”

“No, please.” She resists my pull, but when we find our place in line, I spin her into my chest, so her back hits my front.

“Don’t tell me that the badass businesswoman is afraid of heights?”

“That’s exactly what I’m about to tell you.” I can feel her shaking in my arms.

Leaning down so my mouth lines up with her ear, I whisper, “You don’t have to be afraid, Willow.” She lets out a breath. “I’ve got you and I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

I’ve uttered those words a few times in my life, but saying them to her does something to my heart.

It makes me want to uphold that promise in a different way.

I’m not trying to save her life.

No. I’m trying to get her to see a life that she couldliveif she stayed—and somehow, the stakes seem higher because a different part of my heart is on the line this time.

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