Page 96 of Give Me Redemption

“Why?” My guard is up still. My heart is closed off behind a glass wall.

Her hands are behind her back. She pulls them around, and in them are a box of playing cards and a bottle of tequila.

“Thought you might wanna play?” She looks around me. I guess checking to see if anyone is here. In a way I wish there was, just so she could see I’m not as lonely as I feel.

I take a sip from my beer, resting my arm on the edge of the door, eyeballing her.

I have no desire to admit how the way she looks right now makes my knees weak. That hopeful, nervous expression on her pretty face makes her look innocent, but my heart knows better.

She can crush you.

“And why would I want to do that, Dalton?”

She lifts her left shoulder in a slight shrug. “Because I miss you.”

Part of me wanted to tell her to fuck off. Part of me wanted to drag her into the room and make her mine forever.

Part of me just wanted my friend back, because she was easy to talk to and I needed that.

Thatpart won.

We stayed up, playing and talking, and it was then I decided I couldn’t not have her in my life. She meant too much to me. I had no interest in any other woman.

I wanted her.

We haven’t been alone since. We’ve met up at Hudson’s for a beer or two, we’ve gone to movies in the park, but there’s been no going over to each other’s places.

I’m not getting let down again. If she wants me, then she’ll show it.

I’ve introduced her to my family, and she was my date for Pops and Emily’s wedding.

We’re out at the ranch now. I got her on my dirt bike, and yesterday she even rode a horse.

We’ve had a blast, but the sun is going down and it’ll be getting dark soon.

“We better get back,” I say as I sit up from lying on my side. She looks around like she’s just noticed it’s getting dark.

We’ve been out here for hours, talking about everything under the sun, literally.

I stand up and she holds her hand out for me to help her up. She makes a groaning noise when I do.

“Damn, I didn’t realize how long we’ve been out here. My ass is numb.”

Laughing, I lift the blanket, roll it up, and hand it to her before I hop onto my bike. She climbs on behind me and slides her arms around my waist. My breath catches just from that. It still hurts, it still stings, but I’ve made up my mind.

I’ll suffer in silence as long as I get to be near her. Hear her laugh and catch her smile.

She’s my girl, even if she doesn’t know it.

I’m pathetic, but I don’t even care. I kick-start the bike and head back to the guesthouse we’re staying in.

The evening air brushes across my face in a delicious way. I love the freedom of riding my bike. Whipping through the fields has always been a sort of therapy for me, but having Dalton along for the ride is like trading out bliss for heaven. While both are beautiful, one outweighs the other.

Once at the shop, we hop off and I look back at Dalton as she pulls her hair tie out and redoes her hair.

“That is seriously one of my favorite things to do now.” She smiles, and it’s infectious.

“It is one of my favorite things,” I reply, happy as fuck she thinks so.

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