Page 209 of The Fine Line
“Remember that line?”
His brows crease for a second before it clicks. His voice goes gentle. “The one between love and hate?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“What about it?” he asks quietly.
I swallow, my voice catching. “I think I forgot about it. I’m so far past it I can’t even see it anymore.”
Something shifts in his expression. His hands frame my face more firmly. “What does that mean?”
I exhale, my lips parting on the words I’ve never said before. “I love you.”
His breath hitches. And then he’s kissing me, deep and unhurried, like the world’s stopped spinning.
“I love you too,” he whispers against my mouth. “You know that, don’t you?”
I nod, my forehead resting against his. “Yeah. I know. I think I’ve known for a long time.”
We sit like that for a moment, caught in the warmth, the nearness.
“I don’t want to let you go,” he says softly. “But I have to. You have to take that job, Cub. I’ll kill you if you don’t.”
I let out a shaky laugh, wiping under my eyes. “What a melodramatic love story that would be.”
“Is it really our love story if there isn’t drama?”
I shake my head. Rhett grins faintly.
“I wish I could come with you,” he exhales.
I smile, even as my heart aches. “I wish you could too” I whisper.
He raises an eyebrow. “I could quit. Tear my contract in two.”
I laugh through my nose. “No, you can’t.”
“Why not?” he presses, still teasing.
“Because thenIwould have to killyou,” I say, my voice soft. “If my dad doesn’t beat me to it first.”
Rhett smirks. “He’d get over it.”
“But I wouldn’t,” I tell him gently. “And neither would you. And neither would Bennett.”
The smirk fades. He exhales through his nose, nodding, something heavy in his eyes.
“Wiz can be captain,” he murmurs. “Honestly, he should be?—”
“But he isn’t,” I say quietly. “You are.”
For a long moment, neither of us speaks. The only sound is the crackle of the fire.
Finally, he lets out a slow breath. “Fine.”
He pushes to his feet carefully, wincing a little as he shifts his brace. “Get up.”
“Why?” I ask, standing, confused.
