Keepsake (True North, #3)

by Sarina Bowen

Once in a while some well-meaning person in my life would point out that after living the first nineteen years of my life on a dusty property in Wyoming, I still rarely left the farm. But they were wrong. I’d been to Middle Earth and Hogwarts and Dickensian London all in the past month or so. The difference between living on a ranch where books were banned and a farm where books were freely discussed and traded could not be underestimated.

And, as they wrote in Genesis, it was good.

I smiled at her because my dignity was already compromised. And looking at Lark always made me want to smile anyway.

“Who are we going to find for you, Zachy?” Your best friend? “Uh, I don’t know if I’m dating material.”

Sorry, my sleeping subconscious decided to press my dick against your ass.

Zach, who was ornery to no one, was looking at Kyle as if he’d like to kill him.

From the other side of the wall came a piercing whistle, followed by cheering and applause.

“I’d do anything for you, you know that, right?” My eyes burned at the idea. I did know that. It scared me, too. And I didn’t know why.

“I am in love with you.” My eyes filled instantly. I didn’t think he’d go there, and it hurt me to hear it. “Well, don’t be,” I said, my voice a scrape. “I’m a mess, Zach.” “I’m not scared of messes.”

“Everyone has a time when they need a lot more than they can give. It doesn’t matter how much you hate it. It’s just true.”

“I can handle it, Lark. Just lean on me. I’ll be your Apostate Farm.”

But saying goodbye to Lark hurt me in an entirely new way. Like I was bleeding and didn’t know if I could stop. Didn’t know if I even wanted to.

Sometimes the end of a stage in your life doesn’t announce itself with trumpets or fireworks. Sometimes it just seeps in, like the smell of snow on the air as fall gives way to winter.

My dragons took long naps on their chains and forgot to frighten me with their fiery roar.

“Everything that happened to me almost seems worth it when you’re sitting in my kitchen. Because I love you, Zach.”

“You’re so much more than part of a bad memory. I love you, and even if my life is kind of a mess right now, I still want you in it.”