Page 79 of Warrior's Walk

Riggs snorts, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You’re a wild card, and I just can’t keep betting on you and gambling with my heart.”

My heart pounds furiously as I work myself into a panic. Ten different scenarios run through my head, and they all end with Riggs dumping my ass. “No, I’m not a wild card, I’m a sure fuckin’ bet! You can trust me. I swear it.” Adrenaline courses through my blood as my fight-or-flight reflex kicks in ’cause I feel like I’m being threatened. Threatened with losing everything I care about, again, and it’s just too much for me to stomach. I place my hands on his hips, but he takes a step back. “Riggs, you’ve got to listen. Believe me when I tell you I’m all in, I want this. I wantyou. I even told the guys about you tonight.”

“I should’ve been the first person on your mind when you left the airfield. If you were all in like you say you are, I would have been the first person you called. You would have come straight home and told me. I’m thrilled for you, I really am. Thrilled that you found something you love as much as you loved jumping, but if I could just be second, and not tenth behind flying… that’s all I’m asking. You couldn’t even give me that.”

I’m still stuck on the fact that he referred to his home as mine. It is, I feel like it’s home, the first one I’ve had since I left my mama’s house, and now he’s taking it away from me. Tears burn my eyes, and my panic heightens, making my stomach swirl with nausea.

“Riggs, please. Just listen—” The ringing of my phone cuts off my words. I reach for it, noticing how Riggs glares like heexpects me to ignore it. “I’m not puttin’ the phone before you, but it’s late, and it might be important. I’ve got to answer this.”

He bites off a curse as I pull it from my pocket. “Hello?”

“Rhett, it’s Mandy.”

“Hey, Mandy. It’s late, is everythin’ alright?” My eyes are on Riggs, with his hands on his hips. He looks concerned now, or curious.

“It’s your mom. They rushed her to the hospital.”

“Who? When? Why?” I pull the phone from my ear and hit the speaker so Riggs can listen.

“I was just getting in bed when I heard your smoke alarm go off. It just kept going and going. So I knocked on your door, but she didn’t answer. I had to call the paramedics.”

All the blood drains from my face, and my mind freezes. My breath freezes in my lungs. I don’t even know what else to say or ask because I’m just… frozen.

Riggs jumps into action, taking the phone from me. “Did you overhear the paramedics say anything?”

“No. They carried her out on a stretcher, though. They took her to Mission Hospital in Asheville.”

“We’re on our way,” he barks. “Come on, Rhett.”

Tears stream from my eyes, and I can’t see, I can’t think, and I damn sure can’t move. Riggs steps in close to me, gripping my shoulders. “Listen to me, soldier. I need you to be sharp and strong right now, so you can help me take care of your mama.” He tilts my chin up to meet his eyes. “Can you do that for me?”

I shake my head no and he smiles, this sort of sad, half smile, which totally convinces me nothing is going to turn out all right.

“I need you to do it, anyway. Come on. Your mama is waiting on you. She needs you.”

And I need you. Promise me I can count on you.

I gripthe steering wheel with one hand because Rhett has a chokehold on the other. He stares out the window, but I know he’s not seeing trees, cars, or mountains; he’s lost in his head.

“When we get there, I need you to remain calm. Just let me do the talking. These doctors, they like to speak in medical terms, I think because it lessens the emotional impact of what they’re saying. There’s also a lot they won’t say, but I can read between the lines. I’ll break it all down for you.”

Finally, Rhett glances over at me. His wounded hazel eyes are wet with unshed tears. “I’m so grateful you’re here. I don’t know what’s going on with my mama, but I don’t know if I could handle it alone.”

His words hit me right in my heart. He’s so young, and he’s got that twenty-four-karat gold heart he told me was something he looked for in others, and he’s lost more than anyone deserves to lose. I’m not sure he can handle one more thing. Not without damaging his beautiful soul.

“No matter what happens, you can bet I’ll be right here by your side through whatever comes our way. We’ll handle it together.”

“Really? ’Cause not fifteen minutes ago, you were tryin’ to ditch me.”

“I… I wasn’t trying to ditch you. I was—”Trying to ditch you. “I haven’t done this before, the relationship thing. We’re both new at this, and we knew there was a strong possibility we were going to fuck this up. I was trying to remind myself to be cautious, to guard my heart, instead of handing it to you on a silver platter. Where you’re concerned, I tend to forget about boundaries and good sense and I just do what feels right.”

He blinks slowly as my words penetrate through the fog he’s using to insulate himself from what’s coming. “What feels right?”

The words try to stick in my throat, behind the knot forming. I clear it loudly. “I broke all my rules for you. I guess protecting you, loving you, that’s what feels right.”

His tears start to fall one by one, rolling down his cheeks. “You love me?”

“That’s not what I—I meant loving you, the act of being good to someone, caring for someone.”

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