Page 69 of Catch Me When I Fall

“You thinkin’ it's a church cult?”

I rolled my neck, bringing my head down to look at him. “God, I fucking hope not. The last thing we need is another church cult.”

Hayes, Dominic, and I had already dealt with a smaller one down in Tennessee years ago.

“I’ll call for a vote tonight,” Hayes sighed, rising to his feet. “The faster we get it done, the sooner you can head to Astoria.”

After getting Ash out of Devils Den, I confessed everything to Hayes about Carrie, telling him how Mags called me on my bullshit, and even about the night I kissed her. Now, after everything, I didn’t think it would be right to go back. I should just let her be, let her find happiness—without me.

The thought alone made me murderous.

“I didn’t even tell her my name, Hayes,” I said quietly, looking at her thick file underneath my laptop. I always kept it close, just in case. After looking over it a hundred times or more, I was beginning to see some more missing pieces, and I knew the only way to get those answers was to go to her.

“Then explain why, Gray.”

My eyes flicked up to him, my jaw tight. “She’s not—”

“Never, in all the years I’ve known you, have you been this hung up on a woman. She has done something to you and from what you’ve told me, you’ve done the same to her. There’s something there, and like Mags said, you owe yourself. You deserve some fucking happiness in your life.”

I tilted my head to the side. “And what about you?”

My friend’s emerald eyes flashed as he looked out the windows behind me, his eyes scanning the city and the mountains beyond. “I thought I’d found it, man. I really fucking did.”

I nodded, remembering his ex cheated on him before we moved out to Denver for the rest of the year. “And if you found it again?”

He looked at me. “If I found what you’ve found, Gray…there’s not a single fucking man on this Earth who could stop me from having it.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, I agreed with him. I needed her, and I hoped to God she still needed me.

“Go to her. Tonight. We’ve got things handled here,” he urged, giving me a small smile.

My heart begin to ache at the thought of seeing her again, holding her again, tasting her again…. I turned to my chair to face the windows, imagining her saying my name for the first time.

Fuck, I couldn’t wait to see my sunshine again.

Chapter 19

Carrie

Present Day. Astoria, OR.

The bell above the door jingled as it opened, a cold winter breeze following the customer inside along with some snowflakes. The holidays had come and gone, but we still had months of winter left. Snow covered the ground and ice covered the streets, but I was still head over heels for Astoria.

“Welcome,” I greeted, giving them a smile before returning to my orders, clicking on the latest release from this month’s featured author. Every month for the last six months, Rossy’s Books had been hosting a small author signing during the last weekend. It was something Sarah had always wanted to do, and she passed it over to me.

She knew I needed it.

I needed the distraction.

The bounty hunter never came back, and I was hurt—gutted.

I was heartbroken over a stranger, and it made me feel like a fool.

After a month had passed, the hope still remained, but then another month passed, then another. By the third month, I was broken in a way my father’s shit or Robert’s death could never achieve. Sarah came over for a girl’s night and found me crying on my couch. She stayed the night and I ended up confessing nearly everything. I told her about my friends in St. Louis and how they’d hired the bounty hunter to find me. The only things I hadn’t told her were the crimes of my father—I couldn’t speak of those things. Physically, I didn’t think my body would allow it. Every time I thought about him, I had an overwhelming urge to vomit.

And then there was Leo. Sweet, kind Leo.

The night after the bounty hunter kissed me, I called things off with Leo, completely unaware of the heartbreak awaiting me. Nevertheless, he remained a good friend and respected me. I’d told him I needed to focus on myself, and eventually, I opened up to him about being a widow.

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