Page 42 of Spur of the Moment
Knowing he’d notice if his shirt was gone, I left it out of my bag and zipped it up. As amazing as last night was, I didn’t think it’d happen again, and if that was the case, stealing his shirt would just be weird.
As if he read my thoughts, he said, “You can keep that if you want.”
I stopped with the shirt in my fist, hovering over his open luggage. “What?”
“My shirt. You look good in it.”
I set the shirt in his bag. “I don’t want to take your clothes…”
He stopped in front of me, picking the shirt up and holding it in between our chests. “I want you to.”
I shook my head, my gaze dropping to the clothing in his fist. “It was a mistake Bailey. I don’t-”
“Want to ruin things between us? Tell me, Lettie, what would giving in to what we both wantruin?”
He was right. God, why was he always right?
He gently grabbed my chin with his other hand, guiding me to meet his eyes. “I don’t want to ever hear you say that what we do is a mistake. You leaving for five fucking years was a mistake. Me not chasing after your ass was a mistake. But us? That willneverbe a mistake.”
“I’m sorry, Bailey, I a-”
He shook his head, his thumb running over my jaw. “Don’t apologize to me, Lettie. That’s in the past now.”
I nodded and he let go of my jaw, waiting until I grabbed the shirt from his hold to zip up his bag.
“We can hit the road if you’re ready.”
I nodded again, not trusting myself to speak through the lump of emotion stuck in my throat. He may notwantme to be sorry, but I was. I’d never stop apologizing for my selfishness that caused us to be apart for half a decade. Where would we be now if I had stayed? If I had given in to him instead of running three hundred miles away?
I silently followed him out of the room as he held our bags and Rouge’s leash, my hands empty, but my mind loaded heavy with regret.
***
After grabbing a quick bite to eat and loading up the five horses from the auction house, we started the long drive home. Every hour, we stopped to check on the horses to make sure they were all getting along and none of them looked visibly ill. The stressof the past few days could catch up on them quickly, and the last thing we wanted to deal with on this drive was colic.
We listened to my country playlist up until the fourth hour when I turned the volume down.
“I feel bad,” I confessed.
Bailey glanced at me before bringing his eyes back to the road. “Why’s that?”
“Well, you got me to... And you didn’t get to... So I don’t think that’s fair.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “You mean orgasm?”
I nodded, facing forward to look out the windshield. “Yeah.”
I watched as we passed wide open fields that stretched for miles, no end in sight. The West was truly breathtaking. Montana especially. Once you crossed over the state line, it was like the blue sky opened up and you felt free, like you could slow down, take a deep breath of air, close your eyes, and enjoy the sun beating down on your skin without the stress of life wearing down on your shoulders. It was a place of serenity like no other.
“I don’t mind, Huckleberry.”
I crossed my arms. “Don’t you want, like, I don’t know, road head or something?”
He snorted as he burst out laughing. When I didn’t join in on the laughter, he looked at me. “You’re serious?”
I widened my eyes as I raised my eyebrows in a way that screamed “duh.”
“If that’ll make you feel better about it, Huckleberry, have at it. I won’t stop you.”
