Page 52 of Stay for Me

He’d been asleep.

A small twinge of guilt hit me then, hating that not only had Lucas disrupted my life, but those I cared about.

“Diana, are you alright?” he asked firmly, glancing at Lucas and Mags.

I rubbed my upper arms and lied. “Yes, I’m alright.”

“He hurt you?” the Sheriff pressed.

Pressing my lips together, I shook my head.

Chase looked over to Mags, raising a brow. He wasn’t fazed in the slightest to see Mags off Hallow Ranch, and I was beginning to wonder if this was actually the first time he’d stepped off the property line of his sanctuary.

“Wanna put that gun down?” Chase asked the cowboy, his tone flat.

“No.”

Oh, Lord.

The Sheriff sighed, rubbing a hand over his head, muttering something I couldn’t make out. “I’m asking you to put the gun down, Mags,” he said, gesturing to the weapon.

It was in that moment I made the mistake of looking at the cowboy, his dark eyes already on me. I held my breath, waiting, praying he would do what the sheriff asked and not make this more complicated. Nothing was said between us as he continued to hold my gaze for a moment.

Finally, giving his attention to Chase. “And I’m telling you no,” Mags replied gruffly.Crap. Double crap.“Your problem isn’t with me, Sheriff. It’s with the piece of shit in Diana’s yard.”

Lucas moved out of the corner of my eye, and before I could stop myself, I looked at him, watching him make a poor attempt to stand as he began shouting at Mags. As expected, it wasn’t intimidating in the slightest, due to the fact that half those words were slurred. “You t-the ffffuckkingg p-pieccce of ssshit—”

Mags pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot cut through the air, and I covered my ears, squeezing my eyes shut as a short scream escaped me.

“What the fuck was that?”Chase bellowed.

I opened my eyes, fully expecting to find Lucas bleeding out in my grass, but instead, I found him on the ground, in the fetal position, his hands covering his head, his shoulders moving harshly in time with his panicked breaths.

Did he just—

My head snapped over to Mags. “I asked you not to hurt him,” I snapped.

“And I didn’t, Diana” he countered smoothly, turning his head towards me. “Just fucking shut him up.”

“You could’ve killed him,” I argued, throwing my hand out and ignoring the way he made me feel when he said my name.

His eyes flashed, and all at once, I was pinned in place by the heat of his gaze as they dropped down to my chest and over my belly before scanning the length of my bare legs. Every inch of me felt like I was on fire, the flames swallowing me whole, scorching every inch of skin. Time, and everything around us, remained frozen as he trailed his gaze back up the length of my body. When those dark eyes landed back on mine, it felt like we were the only two people on the planet, both of us burning together.

His next words were low, laced with malice, chasing away the heat his gaze left me. “If I wanted to kill him, Diana, he would’ve been dead before you made it to the door.”

Suddenly, the fire that surrounded me was gone, and a dark chill slithered down my spine, down my legs, swirling around my feet before slithering back up my front. In the back of my mind, a memory popped up, and Denver’s voice echoed in my mind.

Mags is Mags, Diana. He’s rough around the edges, but know this; that man would never lie. Not to you. Not to me. Mags may be many things, but the last thing he would ever be is a liar. His word is all he has.

“For fuck’s sake, Mags,” Chase groaned. “Don’t say shit like that in front of me.”

Mags turned his head then, looking at Chase but not saying a word. The Sheriff was by Lucas then, gun in hand, nudging my ex with his boot. “Sit up.”

“He fucking shot me!” Lucas shouted, pointing at Mags.

“Where?” Chase pressed, sounding tired.

Lucas slowly straightened and sat up again, patting his chest, abdomen, and legs, searching for the wound.

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