Page 15 of The Mountain Man's Girl

Now, what the fuck am I supposed to do? How do I go back to the silence? How do I go back to the empty house and an empty bed? She made it feel like home. She brought this calming energy with her, and I’ve never slept so well. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go back to the darkness, the loneliness, the monotony. But I fucking have to. It would be selfish of me to keep her, but damn if I haven’t given it a lot of thought. Wavered on my stance a few times. Nearly turned the car around about a dozen. But it’s wrong to steal her future away from her.

“This is it.” Her sad little voice nearly rips my heart in two as she points to her apartment building. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt this girl. I probably shouldn’t have let things get so far between us, but it’s really fucking hard to regret the best moments of my life. I’m just glad I didn’t make love to her, because I don’t think I’d be able to let her go if I had.

Before I even get the truck shut off, she’s climbing out.

“Here, let me get that for you, doll.” I jump down and rush around to grab her pack, but she doesn’t hand it to me.

“I’ve got it.”

She won’t even look at me.

“Please, babe. Just give me this one last moment.”

Her eyes look up and the tears pooling in them nearly slice me open. “You can have as many moments as you want. It doesn’t have to be goodbye, Traeger.”

“Yeah, it does.” I grab her pack. “You’ve got a life to go live. You don’t need to be wrapped up with some old, retired guy who thinks watching the sun set is a fun way to spend a Friday night.”

“I love those sunsets. Being with you is fun no matter what we’re doing.”

“Come on, angel. Let’s get you inside.”Before I take you back up the mountain with me.“Don’t worry,” I tell her as she opens her door. “In a few weeks you’ll forget all about me.”

“I doubt I’ll forget the one and only man I’ve ever been in love with.” The air gets sucked right out of my lungs. She takes the pack from me and puts it on her table. “Thanks for taking care of me and bringing me back. Be safe up there.”

Fuck. How the hell am I supposed to walk out that door?By putting one foot in front of the other. You’re doing the right thing, even if it hurts like hell.

“Bye, doll. You take that ankle of yours to a doctor and have it looked at. We want to make sure it’s set right.”

She’s no longer able to look me in the eyes. I pull her in for one last hug, feeling like my soul is being ripped from my body. If she were thirty-plus years old, having lived her life, a woman ready to settle down and start a family, I would’ve asked her to marry me. But she’s only just emerged from her cocoon and needs to go fly.

“Take care, baby.” I release her shuddering frame and storm from her apartment, shutting the door before I say the words I shouldn’t.I love youisn’t what she needs to hear to get over me. She needs a clean break and a chance to heal. And I…need go figure out how to breathe again. But as I wind back up the mountain, getting farther away from my girl, it just gets harder. The air gets thicker, and the loneliness closes in.

15

Tarryn

The sound of the door opening has my heart leaping inside my chest, hoping Traeger realized he made a mistake. I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes, gathering myself before I walk out of my room.

Disappointment settles right into my gut when I see my roommate and…my ex-boyfriend. They’re too busy making out to realize I’ve entered the room, and here I thought they’d be worried sick about me. I thought they’d be down at the police station, demanding a search party, or hiking up the mountain in search for me. But nope, they’re not even thinking about me. They’re too busy trying to tear each other’s clothes off.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” I cross my arms, watching as the two startle apart. Carter turns and his eyes start to creep up to that receding hairline. I never noticed it until now. It’s probably why he keeps his hair long—to hide the fact. I really don’t know what I ever saw in him. Looks or personality.

“It’s not what you think.” He swallows hard, shoving Kelsey away. “I… We just. God, I’m so relieved you’re okay, baby.”

I jerk away from him as he tries to reach for me. I don’t want his hands on me.

“Don’t, Carter. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

“Don’t be like that, Tarryn. We’ve been worried sick about you. What you just saw was us seeking comfort in one another. It’s been really hard this last week. We weren’t sure we’d ever see you again.”

“So instead of going out and searching for me, you decided to make out? Makes perfect sense.” I roll my eyes. He’s a moron if he really believes I’m buying this shit.

“We filed a missing person’s report,” he quickly defends. “The cops were supposed to find you.”

No cops ever came knocking on Traeger’s door, so I wonder if that’s a lie too.

“And you didn’t think to take the police back up the trail and look for me?”

One day of searching and they would’ve found the cabin. It’s not like we were that far away from where they last saw me. Another tenth of a mile and they would’ve seen the smoke from the chimney and known exactly where to look.

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