Page 80 of Forever in the Country

His comment had seemed so out of place but I’d been too embarrassed and upset to dwell on it.

I shake my head. “I didn’t even know youwantedto ask me. I just wanted to be alone. I felt like I should have stayed at school, but I just wanted to sleep in my bed and have Mama fuss over me.”

“I hate that you went through that. And I hate that the nurse was so insensitive.”

Her words have replayed in my mind almost every day since. She might have meant them to comfort, but it had only fueled the guilt and the questions I’d never have the answers to.

What did I do wrong? Was it my fault? What if I hadn’t tested so soon?

The questions are endless, and they’ve weighed heavily on my heart for so long it’s a relief to share the burden with someone else.

Needing a dose of levity, I say, “I hate that I didn’t know Sorren Mackay was going to ask me out.” He pinches my side and I yelp as I squirm in his lap.

Yanking me tighter against him, Sorren kisses me with a reverence that has me clinging to him. Each stroke of his tongue, each nip of his teeth soothes the ache and longing I’d been carrying.

I’d been ashamed and scared, but I’d found solace in his arms, and for that I’d be forever grateful.

34

SORREN

Isent a text to Tanner late last night telling him I wouldn’t be in today. Listening to Rhea recount what had happened to her wasn’t something I’d been ready for. She’d been so damn scared both then and now, and it was unbearable to think of the guilt she’d carried for so long.

After kissing the hell out of her, I’d taken her to the bathroom and drawn a bath, sliding in behind her and showing her every way I could that I was there. I’d made love to her until she’d fallen asleep in my arms and then I’d watched her sleep until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

“What are you thinkin’ so hard about over there?” Rhea says without opening her eyes.

“You,” I reply, kissing her shoulder.

“What about me?” She wiggles back against me, her ass pressing against my dick and all its morning glory.

Burying my face in her hair, I kiss her neck as I say, “How brave you are.” I press another kiss higher up her neck. “How completely in awe I am of your strength and compassion.” I place one last kiss just behind her ear as I whisper, “How I’m absolutely fucking in love with you.”

She rolls onto her back, eyes glassy with unshed tears. Her hair is wild, more from my raking my hands through it than just sleeping, as I push it off her face.

“I love you,” I say again.

“Are you sure?” she whispers and I chuckle.

“Yeah, Sunshine, I’m sure.”

“But like really—” I swallow whatever else she was about to say, pressing her into the mattress with my body.

“Ride me,” I beg, my hands already roaming over her hip. “I need—”

My phone chirps on the nightstand and my gut clenches as I roll over to grab it.

“Sorren, what—”

TOM OAKDEN: They arrived in Nashville this morning—paid cash

TOM OAKDEN: Vivian used her maiden name to rent a car which is why we just found them

Fuck.

“Sorren?”

The touch of her hand on my arm startles me back to reality. I’m not ready, and fuck if I’ll ever be.

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