Page 69 of Feverburn

I felt my brow furrow thinking about the other douche who hurt her. I brushed the tattoo reverently and kissed the scar.“Thank you for telling me and for trusting me.”

She ran a hand through the side of my hair.“I do trust you—more than you probably know. I didn’t grow up around many men, so it is hard to trust guys. I’ve only had two serious relationships, Stefan and Tyler. And with Tyler, it was pretty surface-level. I had my guard up.”

“IhopeI can keep being someone you feel safe with.”

“So far, you have,”she said wistfully. “Even when we tried to torment each other, you always had my back. I’ve felt safe with you since day one.”

A swell of emotions filled my chest.

Her green eyes moved over my face as she whispered, “I know you’d take an arrow for me.”

“I would.”I held her palm close to my face so I couldkissit.

“I know. Thank you for giving me that peace of mind. That freedom.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, unsure what else to say. I had so many questions, but I didn’t want to upset her by asking them.

She sat up and shimmied down to sit by me, putting her legs over mine to face me on the bench.“Your turn. Will you tell me about what happened with Dane and his sister? The whole story.”

I looked out at the lake, gathering my thoughts.“Jamie was my firstlove. My first everything. I wanted it to work out because it was the hometown sweetheart thing. Her mom died of cancer when we were twenty years old. She didn’t know how to cope, so she started drinking and partying. One night, she was coming to see me at an away game and crashed on a bridge.”I swallowed hard, thinking of her.“It gutted me. Dane wasn’t living in town; he had moved away. But he returned for the funeral saying I should have watched out for her more.”

“It’s not like you made her drink and drive.”

“Yeah, but it was my game she was going to, so I don’t know, in his mind, I was to blame. I feel bad for the guy. I think using me as a scapegoat was all he knew what to do. He was only eighteen years old. I held on to that guilt but moved on with my life. It had been almost ten years. Then, three years ago, Whitney fell rock climbing. It turns out she was fucking around with my brother too. And he was the one who found her, so the whole town funneled pity towards him. But I was the one who loved her first.”I chewed at the empty feeling my words left in my mouth.“I know that sounds possessive.”

“I get it. That’s how I felt about Tyler. But Kaylee is the one who got to drive off into Harley’s arms. I had to finish my shift at work. I had to explain that my boyfriend cheated on me while she hadn’t even fucked him.”

It was the first time Rosie had venom in her voice regarding Kaylee. We shared a loaded look.

“I guess it’s safe to say we both have complicated feelings about my brother and your friend.”

She nodded.“Complicated.”The waves of the boat rocked us together while we fell silent, our eyes locked in unsaid truths. She cleared her throat,“Everything with Dane probably helped further the wedge with Harley, huh?”she asked, returning to the subject.

“Yep. And I call Dane out on hisbullshit. I’ve seen him schmooze any tourist with a pussy and a pulse who will spread her legs for him. His bed should be a frequently visited spot on Google Maps for this town.”

“Carson!”Rosie pushed my shoulder in playful outrage, bursting our serious bubble.

“It’s true. What’s worse is he’sa damn good mechanic. I am so stubborn I have Bear tow my truck to another town if I can’t fix it myself to avoid his ass.”I let out anevilchuckle.“I painted a mural for him on the side of his shop out of respect for his dad after he died. But after everything went down, I had to talk myself into not destroying it every time I saw it. That douche doesn’t deserve my art.”

She climbed onto my lap with amischievoussmile.“Be glad I’m living above your shop, not Dane’s.”

“Oh yeah? Is that all it took? A loft?”I asked, admiring how her soft thighs spilled over mine and her hair blew in the breeze.

“Yeah, I mean, so far, I like Pine Bluff. I plan to stay. And I like being close to you.”She pulled my baseball hat off my head and put it on hers. It was so damn cute I wanted to take a picture.“Thanks for trauma dumping with me.”She snickered and leaned in tokissme, taking us back to center.

We swayed with the waves, holding each other while making out. While kissing her neck, I saw her skin was getting pink, threatening to burn, so we wrapped it up and headed back to the cabin.

My girl had already been burned enough.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I stood in the shower, letting Carson rinse off the sunscreen he insisted on slathering on my body. The view of the lake from his cabin wasbreathtaking, and I liked that he had a boat and explored thewild in his free time. He was a true outdoorsman.

“What are you thinking?”His gravelly voice tore me from my inner chatter.

I bit my bottom lip, feeling silly.

“Tell me!” he smiled, lathering his body. Little bubbles formed on his chest hair, distracting me even more.

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