Page 99 of Find You Again (Nashville Star 2)

At that, Griff lets out a wild cry. He quickly closes the gap between them, gathering her to his chest. Alabama shakes against him, burying her face in his neck to weep a river. Griff holds her tight, smoothing her hair as she cries.

When her breathing settles and her heart stops its furious racing, Alabama shifts in his arms, tilting her face to look at Griff. At the same sweet boy she loved so many years ago, who’s now a beautiful, kind man, haunted by the past, by a need for forgiveness he never thought he’d get.

Griff.

The man she loves.

She had thought his story would be devastating. And it is—because her father was behind him leaving. But Griff had always loved her, had kept the ring all these long years, had been tortured by the truth, had thought for so long that he didn’t deserve love, her love, any love.

All these years—he had paid the price to protect Alabama.

Griff brushes away her tears with the pads of his thumbs, his own eyes misty. “What I did—I let you down, Al.”

“No,” she says fiercely. She’s adamant that he hear her. She palms his cheek, her fingers tracing the line of his scar. “No, you didn’t. My father did. You were a kid, Griff. You made a mistake.” Her expression hardens. “He was the adult. A cop. He should have known better.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad I know.”

“You know what we gotta do now, though?”

“What?”

He leans in, brushing his lips across hers. Though his smile is roguish, his expression is serious. “Make up for all the time we lost.”

She smiles. “I thought we were already doing that.”

When she leans in to kiss him, Alabama’s arm gives a sudden throb and she has to choke back a gasp. She’s gonna pay for this; she can already feel her arm screaming at her for being a dumbass idiot.

Griff looks at her shrewdly, like he knows she’s trying to hide her pain. He pulls back to check her sling, his touch featherlight. When he looks at her, he’s scowling. “I’d say you deserve it for pullin’ this goddamn stunt.” A flash of anger surges in his eyes. “You could have killed yourself.”

Alabama cocks a brow. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Griff’s snarl tells her she’s dangerously close to spending the next week in solitary confinement.

“What d’you say we get on home and get off this goddamn cliff?” Griff puts a hand on the wheel. “And this time I’m fuckin’ drivin’.”

Her lips curve, but there’s no humor in it. “There’s just one thing I have to do first.”

“What’s that?”

She sighs and lifts her gaze to his. “I have to go to my father’s.”

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