Page 194 of Mountain Men Heroes

I turned startled eyes up to Sawyer. His face looked fierce in a whole new way. I had no doubt in my mind that he’d indeed be tempted to kill my mother if she presented herself.

And as bizarre as it seemed, the knowledge that he was so angry on my behalf settled something deep inside me. I slid my arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze, laying my head over his heart.

“It’s okay, Sawyer. I was better off without her. And I managed to take care of myself.”

His arms closed in a tight hug around me and he rested his cheek against the top of my head. “I’m so sorry, Trinity. I should have been here. I should have checked up on you. You shouldn’t have been alone here struggling all these years. I thought I was doing the right thing, giving you the space you needed. I’m just grateful you were still here when I returned. You could have gone anywhere to start over and save for college.”

His words hit me like a sledgehammer. Holy shit. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I’d had to save up money to rent this apartment. But I could just have easily packed my stuff and moved somewhere else. I didn’t even need to go too far. I could have gone to Cherry Falls or Kissme Bay. Both towns were big enough I could have just faded into the sea of people.

But I hadn’t. I stayed right here in Wild Ridge. The place I swore hated me.

“I’m so sorry.” Sawyer kissed the top of my head, dragging me from my revelations.

Oh, no. There’s no way he was taking the fall for my mother’s actions. I sat up straight on his lap. “You aren’t to blame, Sawyer.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t to blame for your mother’s actions, but I should have been taking care of you since then.”

“You weren’t responsible for me.”

“Sweetheart, I was. I have been since the day I realized you were meant to be mine. The woman who would own my heart for the rest of my life. I should have done a better job taking care of you.”

I fought for breath. “Own your heart?”

He ran the backs of his fingers over my cheek. “Yeah, baby. It’s always been yours.”

Something cracked open inside my chest and tucked my face into his neck as tears filled my eyes. “You love me.”

He tightened his arms around me. “Love doesn’t seem the right word to cover all the things I feel for you.”

I sat up and stared at him, blinking away the tears blurring my vision. I studied each of his features. And I could see the truth of his words.

And as I continued to look at him, his expression wide open and showing me all he felt, something happened. All the wounds inside me—the little cuts and the deep lacerations; all the scars left behind by my mother’s actions and living in a town where I felt like an outcast—all of them began to mend. I could almost feel it as the pieces were stitched together until I was whole again.

And with the healing came knowledge. “I love you, Sawyer. I think some part of me always knew I loved you. I think part of the reason I wanted to run away so badly is I knew I’d have to live here knowing I could never have you.”

He leaned in until his mouth hovered over mine. “You have me, Trinity. You’ve always had me. I’m sorry I waited so long to come back to you.”

With those words hanging between us, he kissed me. I returned it, finding this time it was my turn to be fierce and demanding.

Thirteen

Trinity

Sawyer didn’t allow the kiss to go on for long. He tore his mouth from mine and stood in one motion.

Startled as my feet hit the floor, I worked to gain my balance.

“Sawyer? What..?”

His answer was to grab my hand. He tugged me to the bed. I fully expected to find myself stripped naked and on my back in seconds.

But instead, he dropped my hand and flipped the top of my suitcase over, zipping it closed with everything I’d managed to pack inside.

“We’ll come back for the rest of your stuff later.” He leaned down and kissed me hard. “Much later.”

Before I had a chance to respond, he snatched up my hand again and grabbed the suitcase and maneuvered toward the door. In less than a minute, I found myself and my suitcase planted in Sawyer’s truck and we were on the road.

“What are we doing?”

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