Page 77 of Resisting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 3)

“I’m sorry, Audrey. I’m sorry that I’ve been an ass. I’m sorry that I didn’t just talk to you. To find out what you thought. What you felt. The truth is you really do deserve a hell of a lot better than me.”

“The truth, if we’re talking about the truth, is that you are a good man. You’re not perfect. No one is. But you are loyal. Honest. Hardworking. You would never hurt anyone intentionally. And you protect the people that you love. The truth is that you cheat when we play quick draw. And you sneak twenties into the tip jar when my back is turned. And, if we’re talking truth then you sort of suck at bowling.”

Josh chuckled. He’d only agreed to be on the damn league because he knew that she was on it. He’d never liked bowling and it actually hurt his back to play but he did it because it meant he got to spend more time with her. And she was worth the pain.

She lifted her hand and pressed it to his cheek. “And the truth is that I love you Josh. I always have and I always will.”

This was not a conversation he wanted to have with her in a crowd of people. Also, he was about three seconds from tearing her dress off of her which would probably be frowned upon considering there was roughly two hundred people there including the mayor.

“Come home with me.” It came out as more of a statement than a question as he rubbed his hand up and down Audrey’s back. “Stay the night.”

Audrey’s eyes widened. “Stay the night?”

“Yes. Stay the night.”

“But what about your rule?”

“You break all my rules.”

Her lips curled up at the edges. “Okay.”

As much as he wanted to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and carry her out of the room caveman-style, he figured she wouldn’t appreciate the scene. So instead, he grabbed her hand and tugged her off the dance floor. He saw Viv cheering them on as they passed by her but he didn’t slow down.

He wanted Audrey. He needed Audrey. Now.

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