Page 83 of Find You Again (Nashville Star 2)

Alabama trusts him, and all he’s done is lie to her again and again.

“Hey.”

Alabama’s soft drawl hits Griff’s ears and he jolts. He turns around to see her standing in the hall wearing a faint smile. “I was lookin’ for those.”

Coming back to the present, Griff glances down to see the pill bottle practically strangled in his right hand. “Shit,” he says, feeling like a prick. Her face is pale, her smile laced with pain.

He swallows. “I was meanin’ to bring them to you.”

“Holly talkin’ your ear off?”

Griff exhales and walks toward her. “Somethin’ like that.”

When Alabama tilts her head, copper strands of her hair spill around her shoulders. Griff freezes. The flash of red has his heart lurching, has him remembering her blood on his hands, her blood pooling beneath her—

“Griff?”

He blinks himself awake.

She frowns for a moment, her gray eyes searching out his face. “Everything okay?”

“Besides the hole in your arm?” He slips an arm around her waist to pull her in close. “It’s great.”

For a moment, he lets his gaze sweep over her, guilt and sorrow flooding him. She’ll have a scar for the rest of her life. Her shoulder might never work like it should. He runs a gentle hand down the strap of her sling, checking to make sure it’s not too loose.

“How about you let me change that bandage, then I’ll order a pizza?”

“Ah, the glamorous life of a country singer.”

Griff laughs. “For you, sweetheart, I’ll take it. Any day, every day.”

With a happy little sigh, Alabama leans into him, resting her cheek against his shoulder. He palms the side of her face and traces a thumb across her cheekbone. In his arms, she feels so precious, so infinitely his that for a long second, he can’t breathe. All he can do is just hold on to her as tightly as he can. “I’m glad you’re here, Al.”

She snuggles against him, her heart pulsing in sync with his. “Me too.”

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