Page 129 of Fall to Me
She starts to speak, and I notice a shift in her demeanor. She doesn’t look like she’s getting ready to shoot back sarcasm, like she normally would. I can tell she’s serious. So, I keep my mouth shut and let her say what’s on her mind.
“I’m just a country girl from Oklahoma who loves to get her hands dirty and ride dirt bikes. Sometimes I take my time walking in the rain because the feel of it on my skin takes me back to the little girl who twirled barefoot in mud puddles.”
Every statement comes with a single step as she inches closer to me, her smile growing as she closes the distance between us.
“I believe Karma is a boomerang and will come back and bite you right in the ass. I’m a good friend . . . no . . . I take that back; I’m agreatfriend. Loyal. Fierce. And kind. I’m stubborn as hell and too sassy for my own good.”
My eyes burn, and a silent sob escapes my mouth. Tears collect on my lashes before spilling onto my cheeks, and my heart thumps harder as she continues to tell me everything I already knew but took her so damn long to discover.
“I love to read smut. I write songs. I’m strong, and I’m a fighter. A wife, a mother, a woman who loves her family beyond measure. If I unraveled every thread that makes me who I am, we’d be here until the cows come home, but in a nutshell, that’s who I am, Carter. That’s River.”
Yeah, baby. That’s my girl.
It would take forever to uncover all the wonders of my wife—and the mother of my children.
Good thing we have a lifetime to go.
THE END
Epilogue
Sean
I shouldn’t want her. She’s Coach’s daughter for fuck’s sake, and he hates me, but the heart—okay, maybe not the heart—wants what it wants, and for some reason, I can’t stay away.
Watching her with that little dipshit all night while she laughed at his stupid jokes and put her hands on him messed me up. I wanted to break his face. And the way he was trying to be all chummy with me and my friends? Coming up here . . . using her and using Cal’s gala to rub elbows with us, trying to gain another investment portfolio?
Yeah, fuck that guy. I see him for exactly what he is: a weasel.
Hannah heads out of the ballroom by herself, and I follow behind her. We’re halfway to the restrooms when I catch up to her. Grabbing her elbow, I spin her around, backing her up against the wall.
“Let go of me, Sean!”
“I’m never letting go of you,” I breathe. “You should know that by now. I can’t stay away from you any more than you can stay away from me.”
She tries to duck around me, but I place my arms up against the wall, caging her in.
“I’ve moved on. You should too,” she grits out.
Leaning down, I speak low into her ear. “What are you going to do? Huh? Marry the guy? We both know that little shrimp dick will never give you what you need. He’s a fucking bore. All he cares about is work.”
I crowd her space, pressing myself into her. Jealousy and pure anger course through my entire body.
“I’m saving you from yourself, sweetheart. If you choose him, ten years down the road, you’ll look back on this day, miserable and wondering what the hell you were thinking. His vanilla ass will keep you on your back in the missionary position. Two fucking pumps and he’ll be done, rolling over exhausted while you dig a vibrator out of your nightstand to finish the job for him. He won’t ever fuck you like I do.”
“That’s all you care about, isn’t it? Maybe I want more than sex!”
“End. It.”
“Fuck you, Sean Mackenzie.”
“Oh, that’s a given. After you fucking end it with him.”
“What are you going to do if I don’t? Huh?” she sasses, arching a brow. “You can’t just barge in and crash my date . . . and you sure as shit can’t make me break up with him.”
“The fuck I can’t. Watch me.”
I pick her up and toss her over my shoulder.
