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“Because I fell first, and I’ve been waiting fifteen years, hoping I could catch you.”

My heart leapt at his words, and all my resistance crumbled. I fell into his arms, fell into his kiss, fell into his promises and all the hope that this time would be different than the time before.

His hand cupped the back of my neck, tangled in my hair as we kissed under the soft orange streetlight glow. My stomach swooped with a hoard of butterflies, and I held on to his broad shoulders, his firm torso, wanting to savor this feeling but also needing to make up for lost time.

He dragged his lips over my mouth to my cheek, my jaw, and when he whispered in my ear, he said, “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted this.”

But I did, because my body remembered him, longed for him, in a way my brain couldn’t even fight against.

I took his face in my hands, kissing him longer, harder. My back pressed against his truck bed, and his large hands cupped my ass, sending a rush of desire through me.

I could feel his erection through his jeans, pressing against me, matching everything I was feeling.

I wanted him, in every sense of the word.

So I decided to take what I wanted, to stop letting logic and hurt stand in the way of something that could be better than I ever dreamed. I reached for his cock, rubbing my palm against it through his jeans, and he moaned against my lips.

I captured his lips with my own, desperate for more of him, when I heard the crackle of a speaker.

When I looked over, a cop car was driving by. My eyes widened with fear. Could you get in trouble for making out in public? Even if you were fully clothed? I’d always played it safe, never getting carried away like I was right now.

The voice said, “Get a room.”

Rhett had a wry grin. “Fucking Knox.”

“Knox?” I asked. “KnoxMadigan?”

“That’s the one.” Rhett lifted his middle finger, flipping off the cop car. As it got closer, I saw Knox’s grin and his middle finger pointed right back.

We watched the taillights disappear down the road, and I shook my head, still breathless. “Didn’t he get suspended like every other week in high school?”

Rhett shrugged. “Guess he turned it around.” He looked at me, cupping my face with his hand.

Nerves sputtered through my body at his touch, realizing what I’d been about to do, how carried away my heart had gotten. “He won’t tell anyone, will he?”

His features fell, and he dropped his hand as well. “He won’t tell a soul.”

Guilt swirled in my stomach. “I didn’t mean to say I regret it or anything.”

He gave a quick shake of his head. “We should get you home.”

21

RHETT

I couldn’t stop thinkingabout that kiss with Mags as I drove to the rodeo in Rutlage with Cooper, Fletcher, and my brother Tyler in the truck. Usually Fletcher and Tyler couldn’t come along with us with work and family, but today was a special day.

I just wished it felt that way.

Tyler was sitting in the back seat with me, and he nudged my leg with his boot. “What’s going on with you? I’m thirty-six with a hickey on my neck and you haven’t made a joke once?”

In the front seat, Fletcher said, “If not a joke, then at least a congratulations for keeping things hot with the wife after a few years together.” He held up his fist from the front seat, and Tyler bumped it.

Cooper nodded in agreement as he drove down the highway. “You’ve been pissy all morning, Rhett.”

Feeling like I was in a fishbowl, I said, “What the hell? Why are y’all keeping tabs on me?”

Tyler gave me the side-eye. “Quit skirting the question.”