Page 79 of Forever After All

Linc turned his head toward her and let out a long exhale. “Go to sleep.”

“You go to sleep,” she quipped back.

Linc chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Applejack might be fine, but Jess was sleeping within inches of a man for the first time in her life. She’d been on plenty of multi-day trail rides, but she always had her own tent. No boys allowed.

Being this close to a man–physically and emotionally—stirred up feelings she’d never wanted before.

But she wanted Linc. She wanted to be closer, and that simple thought had her bones buzzing beneath her skin, pulling her toward him without words or movement.

She turned over and grabbed her phone from the bucket she’d made into a nightstand. “I’ll take the next watch.”

“Just sleep, Jess.” Linc’s words were deep and heavy in the dark night, but every word tingled in her ears.

“I can’t sleep,” she whispered.

“That makes two of us.”

Jess huffed. “If we’re not going to sleep, you should just go home.”

“No, ma’am,” Linc said, quick and sure.

“Why not?” She didn’t appreciate the constant temptation he presented. Being next to him for this many uninterrupted hours bordered on torture.

“I don’t want to,” he said matter-of-factly.

Jess turned to stare at the dark where he lay only a few inches beside her. “Why not?”

Linc shifted beside her. “Because you’re here.”

Oh no. She was in so much trouble. Something was growing inside her, and she didn’t know what to call it.

Some people claimed tofallin love. The action described was scarily accurate. Someone could have pushed her off a cliff and she wouldn’t have been nearly as terrified as she was right now.

“Tell me something about you,” she whispered. “Something about your life before you came here.”

Silence. It wrapped around her and choked the breath out of her chest.

When she’d waited long enough, she whispered, “Linc?”

“I’m thinking.” He sighed. It was a painful sound, and she regretted ever asking the question.

“I can’t think of anything good to tell you,” he admitted.

She curled in her shoulders against the ache in her middle. As much as she wished Linc’s childhood had been full of games and fun, it wasn’t. She had a feeling his upbringing was a lot like hers, and if so, no wonder he didn’t have anything good to say.

He shifted again. “Yeah, I don’t have any stories. Sorry.”

“Have you ever been happy?” she asked, terrified of his answer.

He clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “Yes.”

Her breaths grew shallow, and her throat constricted. “When?”

“I’m happy right now.”

Right in this moment with her, or since he came to Wolf Creek? It didn’t matter because she got to have happy Linc beside her.

---