Summer Love_ A Steamy Small Town Romance Anthology - Piper Rayne Page 0,16

I’m not gonna let you ruin it because you’re havin’ a moment where you’re feelin’ like you can’t handle caring for someone and refusing to admit you’re scared. I’ll give you your space now, but I’ll be back tomorrow and you’re gonna tell me what scares you. Then I’m gonna help you to see that it’s all in your head. Then we’re gonna have make-up sex like you wouldn’t believe. So take your space tonight and use that time to get it into your head that I’m not going anywhere. Got it?”

She blinks with her mouth hanging open for a minute, looking like she’s at a loss for words. Perfect.

I turn to leave, and the pain in my side makes another appearance, but I keep walking.

“You’re not the boss of me!” she yells as I make my way to the front door.

But I don’t bother to respond. I’m too pissed off that she’s trying to pull this shit again, though maybe I should have expected it.

I fire up my Harley, pull my helmet on, and race away from her house in under a minute, hoping that my words sink in and she’ll see that she’s stuck with me.

Chapter Nine

Reagan

I’m an idiot. I know I am. I knew it when he was walking down to his Harley, but I couldn’t find it in me to call out for him to come back.

Something about that Buzz Wheel article set me off. I think it was the mention of love. Because ever since the meadow, I’ve been fully and completely aware that I am in love with Moose. We didn’t start over after all these years, it’s like we just continued where we left off.

And seeing the word love in print with both our names brought up all the same fears from before, and it feels like too much to handle. So, I pushed him away, like I always seem to do. God, I wish I had my shit together.

So rather than enjoying a nice dinner with him, I ignore the takeout getting cold on the table and sulk around my house all night. I try watching TV but my mind keeps drifting off to the fury on Moose’s face because of course he knew exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it. He’s always seemed to understand my inner motivation better than I do.

Since TV isn’t distracting me I decide to read, but it’s just more of the same, so eventually I go out and cut the grass in my yard. It’s not in terrible need of a cut, but it gives me something to do and right now that’ll have to be enough.

As I walk my lawn back and forth, I admit to myself that I can’t keep repeating this pattern with Moose. I need to decide once and for all whether I’m in this with him or not. And if I decide I am, that has to mean that I’m willing to be open and vulnerable with him, open myself up to the possibility of getting hurt. It also means that I can’t push him away when I’m scared. In fact, I probably need to do the opposite—I need to pull him closer during those times.

Once I’m done mowing the lawn, I head inside to have a shower and get ready for bed. My days start early at the resort, so I don’t stay up late during the week. While I’m in the shower, I think back over the last couple of weeks and even farther back in the past. Moose has always been there for me. He’s pushed me when he could tell I needed pushing and backed off when that’s what is best, always having my best interests at heart. My chest squeezes when I think of how I once again tried to push him away.

I want to be with him, that much I know. I just don’t know if I’m brave enough to be the woman he needs me to be.

After my shower, I ready myself for bed and send him a quick text asking if we can get together to talk tomorrow night before he heads to the bar. I wait a few minutes but don’t get a response. Maybe he’s just busy at work. I set my phone on the nightstand and get comfortable in bed, ready to drift off to sleep. I’m still not one-hundred-percent certain what I want to say when I see him next, but I’m trusting my heart