Page 52 of Hung Up (Shadow Ridge #1)

“Faith, I’ve seen firsthand, felt it for myself, what you’re willing to do for those you care about.

I’ve witnessed what you do when you receive any kind of love from somebody.

” My lip finds itself wedged between my teeth, and his thumb comes up to capture it, pulling it loose.

“When I gave you flowers and notes, when I made you happy, you showed up for me in a way that I so desperately needed. When I fell off, when I messed up and hurt you, you pulled back. But when I kept trying to fix the mess I created, you started warming back up to me again. It’s so clear to me that every guy who came before me gave up when things got difficult.

Didn’t care enough to try and help you through those down moments or hard times.

That’s not a reflection on you, Sweetheart. It’s a reflection on them.”

Tears had begun to well in my eyes as he spoke, and they finally found their way down my cheeks.

Hearing someone else tell me it wasn’t my fault, tell me so confidently that I’m not hard to love, seems to heal so many scars I hadn’t realized I wore so plainly.

His words salve the cracks on my heart, putting the pieces I’d hidden away into the full picture.

“And I’m sorry they made you feel that way, but in a fucked up way, I’m glad they did.

” One brow shoots up, the other furrowing.

“If they hadn’t, I never would’ve had to work for you.

And if I didn’t have to work for you, I wouldn’t have grown in the ways I have.

And if they hadn’t dropped the ball, I wouldn’t have been lucky enough to get to love you in the first place. ”

I tip my head up, capturing his lips in mine in a slow, heartfelt kiss, praying that it portrays all the words that seem to be clogged in my throat.

For so long, I have just been going through the motions, shutting myself off from the possibility of anyone loving me and loving them in return.

But Jesse didn’t just open my eyes to what I had been missing by not allowing anyone into my life; he reignited that flame within myself I had let be snuffed out.

He has single-handedly put me back together and restored that version of myself I had allowed to disappear all those years ago.

“Rylie told me about what’s going on at work,” he says once we pull away, resting his forehead-on mine for a brief second before pulling back just enough to look me in the eye, our noses brushing against one another.

“That your assignment is at risk. I know how hard you’ve worked for this, how much of yourself you’ve poured into trying to make this something amazing, and I can’t take that away from you.

I know better than anyone how important a career can be and what you would do to succeed in it.

So if we need to end things until the season is over so you can finish what you started, then that’s what we’ll do. ”

“Absolutely not.” I reach for his hands, shaking my head. Instead of telling him my assignment is safe, I tell him, “I’ve never let anyone make my decisions for me, and I’m not about to start now. No one, and I mean no one, will get in the way of what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

I let go of his hands and cup his face in my hands, making sure he’s looking at me and really hears what I’m saying, because after this, there’s no going back.

“You.” That one word seems to take him by surprise, his face falling slack as his eyes frantically scan my own to make sure he heard me correctly. “I want you, Jesse Hayes. And I’m sorry it took me so long to admit it.”

“You want—” He stops, shaking his head. “Say it again.”

I chuckle softly before repeating, “I want you, Jesse Hayes. If you’ll still have me.”

He crashes his lips to mine, capturing them in a passionate, relieved kiss that has my insides feeling like jello.

I wrap my arms around his neck and allow him to lift me, tilting my head so he can deepen the kiss.

He’s walking us toward the couch and lowers me onto my back before coming to hover over the top of me.

My legs wrap around his waist, but before I can arch up and press myself against him, he’s breaking the kiss.

“You mean it?”

“I mean it.”

“This isn’t a dream?”

I smile, shaking my head. “No, Pretty Boy. This isn’t a dream.”

“I don’t know.” He narrows his eyes at me playfully. “That seems an awful lot like something dream Faith would say.”

“Do you talk to dream Faith a lot?”

He hesitates, his lips pursing. “Sometimes. Anyway.”

His lips are back on mine, his hips dipping against mine.

His hard length presses against my core through my thin pajama shorts, causing a moan to tumble out of me.

I fist the back of his shirt and drag it up his back, wanting to feel his skin beneath my hands, when his phone rings.

He groans and pulls away, reaching into his back pocket.

Ignoring the call, he sets it on the coffee table and is about to reconnect our lips when it rings again.

“You can answer it,” I tell him, tilting my head to try and see who is calling. “I don’t mind.”

“I do,” he says, his voice thick with need.

I laugh, lifting my head to capture his lips, when this time my phone is the one pulling us apart.

Gently pushing his chest, he climbs off me, falling against the couch with a huff.

Just as I’m reaching for my phone, his ringtone mimics mine.

We both raise a brow at one another as I answer Rylie’s call and he reaches for his, finally answering it.

“Hey, Rylie,” I say at the same time Jesse is saying, “What do you want, Lee? I’m a little busy.”

“Turn on the TV right now.” I reach for the remote, a deep furrow in my brow as I turn on my flat screen, the Pbr coverage still on from the last time I had been watching it. My eyes widen as I see the headline on the screen, and I turn up the volume. “Do you see it?”

“Yeah,” I mumble, unable to fully comprehend what I’m seeing. “I’ll call you back.”

I turn to Jesse just as he’s telling Lee, “Dude, I don’t care. I was in the middle of?—”

Snatching his phone from his hand, I point at the television before speaking to Lee. “Sorry about that, Lee. I have it on right now. He’ll call you back.”

Turning back to the screen, the same headline keeps rotating across the bottom.

Pbr Bull Riders All Forfeit Their Rides—Competition To Resume Tomorrow.

“Turn it up,” he says, his voice practically a whisper. I increase the volume, turning on the subtitles as well, before I sink back against the couch.

“We’ve never seen anything like this before,” the Pbr reporter who covers the pre-event and post-event coverage says. “Never in the history of bull-riding have we encountered something quite like this.”

“This is unprecedented, to say the least, Ryan,” his guest and retired bull rider replies. “I mean, this late in the season, everyone is usually at one another’s throats, fighting for that top spot. I would’ve been itching to take advantage of someone’s absence.”

“Jesse Hayes has definitely made some waves over the years, and not always for good reasons.” Jesse tenses beside me, so I reach for his hand and give it a comforting squeeze. “I mean, you’ve seen the headlines. But this year he’s stayed out of the papers until fairly recently.”

“I don’t think that video is what some people believe it to be. It looked to me like they’re fairly comfortable with one another. Could there be feelings there? Could playboy Jesse Hayes finally be settling down?”

“It appears there’s more to it for sure, considering he forfeited his ride to go see her.” My eyes widen slightly. How on earth do they know that? “Here’s what one of the riders had to say.”

Kai’s face appears on the screen, a microphone in front of his face.

“Look, we’ve all grown fairly close this year compared to other years.

We all want each other to do the best we can.

And Faith has become one of us. We all love her here and were upset when we heard she might be unable to complete the season.

So when Jesse made the decision to leave, forfeiting his ride so he could go make sure she was okay, it was a no-brainer for all of us.

We didn’t just do this for Jesse, we did it for her, too. ”

Tears well in my eyes and I sniffle involuntarily. “Wow. It appears that not only has Jesse made a huge impact this season, but Faith Thompson from All In has, too. That’s amazing to see. It makes you feel good to see that kind of friendship amongst a group you wouldn’t expect to be that close.”

“It’s definitely refreshing to say the least,” the retired bull rider says. “And it looks like we haven’t seen the last of Faith, either. Rumor has it, an invitation has been extended for her to come back next year. Maybe we’ll be able to see this romance blossom firsthand.”

My jaw drops at that kernel of information, and Jesse’s head whips toward mine, a smile on his face.

“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of upset women out there.

” They both laugh. “Well, I guess that’s it for our post-event wrap-up.

Tune in tomorrow, where we will hopefully be able to watch some rides. ”

I turn the television down as the music starts to play, slumping back against the couch.

The riders forfeit their rides so Jesse would have a chance.

They threw away their opportunity to get ahead.

Too many emotions are running through me to begin comprehending, but there’s one thing I know that needs to be done.

“Well,” I say, reaching for my laptop and flipping it open. “Looks like it’s time for us to book some tickets. Can’t let their sacrifice go to waste.”

“You’ll come with me?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”