Page 44 of What I Should Have Known

“Kissed me.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” I slipped my hand around her ear and ran my thumb back and forth over her cheek. “I easily become obsessive, even if something isn’t mine.”

Her brows loosened. “Why can’t I be yours?”

“Wyatt.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s right. You know about him.”

“So, it’s true.”

Slowly, she slid out of my hold, and I guided her feet to the ground. I stepped back as she sighed. “It’s true. My dad has pretty much set everything up. Which also reminds me that I had told myself I’d chew you out for that stunt concerning the bronc at the rodeo.”

I forced a smile on my face. “You found out about that?”

“Of course I did, Bottle Cap. And I’ll have you know, I can protect myself.”

“I know you can, Kit Kat.”

“Then why’d you do it?” She threw her hands on her hips, but the look in her eyes wasn’t one of anger, but of tender understanding.

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips gently against her forehead but said nothing. She stepped into my body and threw her hands around my waist. My soul was tired. There was only so much I had left to offer, andI wasn’t sure how much that was worth anymore. Kat also deserved more than I was. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, I cradled her tightly against my chest. Letting all uncertainty flutter briefly away.

“I can’t give you anything more than whatever this is,” I muttered, resting my chin against the top of her head. My heart twinged with that statement. Something heavy rested in the bottom of my stomach, as if warning me that maybe it wasn’t as true as I believed it to be.

She tightened her hold on me. Silence ticked like the crickets at night between us. A gentle orange glow from the setting sun rested around us as the warmth of her body mingled with mine.

“I know.”

“No, you should have stability. Something—”

“If I wanted that, don’t you think I’d already have said yes to Wyatt?” she muttered against my torso, twisting her fingers tighter around my shirt.

“I suppose so,” I quietly replied.

She said nothing, did nothing. And as the sun eventually disappeared from the sky, she remained tucked against my body as Muffin quietly curled up by my feet. Even though I knew there’d be questions once we returned to the campsite, I wasn’t ready to let her go.

Because for this short moment, I wasn’t drowning in the hell that I called my mind.

Chapter 15

KAT

Bernie’s fingers threaded through mine as we slowly began wandering silently back to camp. His footsteps barely made a sound despite how large of a man he was, and a question burned at the back of my throat. One that my mind had been begging me to ask.

But whatever burden that weighed heavy on his shoulders, kept me silent.

Whatever anguish had shifted our passionate make-out session into one of tender comfort held me tongue-tied.

A twig snapped in the distance, piercing the dense tension between us.

In a blur, he wrapped his arm around my waist, whipped me to the side, and slammed me against a tree trunk on my ass as he squatted down in front of me. Muffin was tucked against his stomach, pressed between my body and his as Bernie’s eyes darted around.

“What—”

“Shh,” he hissed, scanning our surroundings as if out of instinct from something I didn’t know.

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