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He walked straight into Denver’s personal space without hesitation, colliding with the solid wall of his chest and burying his nose at the base of his throat. The scent of leather and wintergreen filled his lungs, as warm and familiar as the stroke of a hand, and Lane groaned. He squeezed his eyes shut, resting his forehead against the unshaven edge of Denver’s jaw and breathing him in. Just breathing. For what felt like the first time in years, he could breathe again.
No matter the bad blood between them, Denver would always mean safety to Lane. He was comfort. He was home. Whether he wanted to be or not.
“You did everything you could to get away from me after I kissed you,” Lane retorted. “You acted like I didn’t exist. If you’d wanted—” “I wanted you to stay,” Denver interrupted harshly. He reached down and grasped Lane by the wrists, removing his touch with a cold precision that chilled him. The sudden space between their bodies left him cold, but it was the frozen void in Denver’s eyes that nearly stopped his heart. “I wanted you to stay,” Denver repeated furiously, “and you didn’t.”
And Denver. Every memory of him was seared like a brand into his heart. Someday, when he finally tangled with the wrong bull, the coroner would cut him open and see the etchings of Denver carved into his very bones.
“I get it,” he interrupted. “I understand better than you think. Staying here is your penance. Staying away is mine.”
“I don’t know why you waited so long to kiss me again. Sometimes it feels like it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted. Like the blueprint of you was stitched inside my skin before I was ever born. I knew it from the first time I saw you. But it doesn’t matter anymore. We missed our chance. You and I? We don’t deserve happiness like that.”
My world growing up was so fucking bleak…it’s like I never knew colors existed until I met you.”
“No one is here. We’ve got nowhere to go and nothing to be except…us. Just for tonight, I want to touch you and not worry about you taking off on me tomorrow.”
When Denver kissed him, he reached a part of Lane that none of those faceless men ever could. Lane would do anything for this man…and it terrified him.
He’d never be able to breathe on his own again, not without Denver’s breath filling his lungs.
“You’ve always been so fucking beautiful, Lane. It nearly stops my heart.”
He belonged out there, not tucked away in this cabin, warm and safe. He belonged in the ground instead of Skylar. The truth was, the wrong brother had died that day.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 sobbing
“I just want you,” he said hoarsely. The ceiling blurred, and he squeezed his eyes shut. “I want you any way you’ll have me.”
“How could you ever look twice at someone like me?” Lane wondered aloud. Denver kissed his fingertip and said simply, “How could I not?”
Denver was safe. Denver might hurt him, but it would never be on purpose.
“I’ve watched you since the moment you showed up in Innocent Creek,” Lane said. “I know you better than I know myself.” “Oh, baby,” Denver whispered, cupping his face, “that doesn’t surprise me one bit. You don’t know yourself at all.” He said it so tenderly that Lane couldn’t help but chuckle, dropping a gentle kiss to Denver’s palm.
Lane would have carved his heart right out of his chest and handed it to Denver if he asked for it, but that didn’t mean he was good for him. Denver deserved better. He deserved the best.
“Your brother was one of us,” his father whispered hoarsely against his temple, “but he wasn’t the best of us. We’re still a family, Lane. We’re yours, and you’re ours, and we’ll be waiting for you whenever you’re ready to come home.”
“You’re worth protecting too, Lane,” he said harshly, eyes glowing like green embers. “You’re more than a body that can take a beating and get back up, and you lost the chance to take damn fool risks when you came back. You’re mine, and I will never sit back and watch you hurt yourself again.”
"Like you check your text messages on that fossil you call a phone." Lane snorted. "I'd have made an exception for you." "You always do."
"I feel like I matter. It doesn't matter where I go or what I do. I could win a million buckles or spend the rest of my life on this ranch and I'd never be any less in your eyes. Would I?"
They were meant for each other. They always had been.
"I'd be a fool not to love a man who makes me feel like that,” Denver said. Lane's fingers shook as he brushed them through Denver's thick hair. "Say it," he whispered. Denver's eyes gleamed. "I love you."
