Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)(100)

And maybe if I had help easing into slumber I wouldn’t notice that gnawing need in my gut to have Sierra close—because that’s the only time I felt whole.





Ugh. I did not want to watch my mother feed her new husband cake.

I turned away and heard laughter, which probably meant someone had a face full of frosting. I checked my messages and saw one had just come in from Boone.

B-Dub: Hey. Back n room. Too many beers. Going to bed.

I texted back:

Me: Are you okay?

B-Dub: No

My stomach pitched.

Me: Time for a call?

B-Dub: I want to talk in person, k? Tomorrow.

Me: You can wait?

B-Dub: No choice. Drank eight beers or I’d be n my car on my way home to u.

Before I responded, he texted back:

B-Dub: LUV U – nite…

Fuck this texting shit.

If he couldn’t come to me, I’d go to him.

I left the reception—I doubted anyone noticed. I had to wait for the valet to bring my car around. As soon as I cleared the gated area I hit “start route” for the motel in Flagstaff.



Three hours later I stood in front of Boone’s hotel room door. I knocked loudly in case he’d fallen asleep and made sure he could see me through the peephole.

The security lock slid on the inside.

Boone opened the door wearing just his boxer briefs. He crushed me against his chest before I said a word.

My purse fell to the floor when I wrapped myself around him, touching as much of him as possible.

At some point we realized we stood in an open doorway.

Boone shut the door, locked it and sagged against it. “You came. I didn’t ask you to.”

I curled my hands around his face. “You didn’t need to ask me.”

He closed his eyes. “God. Sierra. I’m so f*cking glad you’re here.” He hauled me against him, burying his face in my neck. “Can we just stay like this for a while?”

“Let’s try this over here.” I threaded my fingers through his.

Ten steps later we’d reached the king-sized bed. The bedding was a wreck. I kicked off my shoes, yanked the dress over my head and tossed all the pillows back onto the mattress. Then I situated myself in the middle and held my hand out to him.

It took Boone some time to settle in.

I ran my hands through his hair, down his shoulders and arms, trying to soothe those ragged edges because I knew my touch did that for him. It didn’t surprise me that his breathing slowed and he fell asleep. I closed my eyes, relieved that I’d brought him some peace. Even momentarily.

Later, Boone’s soft kisses peppered my jaw as he pulled me from a light sleep. He whispered, “Be right back,” as if he expected me to leave.

Silly man.

The toilet flushed. Water ran. He crawled back in bed, snuggling his body behind mine. He rubbed his cool, damp face across my shoulder and his cold hand skated up the outside of my thigh.

“I thought maybe I’d dreamed you.” He kissed the nape of my neck. “Thank you for coming. How was the wedding?”

“Boring. With a side of pompous. Everyone got gift bags. Like they were attending the freakin’ Oscars or something. It was ridiculous. I did sneak a shot of the ceremony with my cell phone and sent the pic to my dad with the caption—‘Freedom from Alimony!’”

I felt Boone smile against the nape of my neck. “Did Gavin see the humor?”

“Is it mean to say he always laughs at my mom?”

“No. Better laughing than crying or screaming.”

“Thankfully those days are in the past. For both of us.”

He started to move his hands all over me. More out of reflex than anything else. He pressed his lips into the back of my head.

Stalling.

Prompt him? Or let this play out on its own timeframe?

My concern for him won out. “What happened?”

“I don’t even know where to start. Probably because I didn’t know what to expect with him. I haven’t talked to you about it because it seemed stupid to speculate. That doesn’t mean I didn’t. I’d half-convinced myself he’d been born again and wanted to share his personal journey to salvation. I had awesome zingers worked up for that possibility.”

I snickered.

“I’d also prepared myself for the apology portion of the twelve-step program. Where he admits how he wronged me, swears he’s given his life over to a higher power and accepted the change, needing me to offer him my forgiveness. The last two possibilities were either he would tell me he was gay, he’d been in a serious secret relationship for a few years and couldn’t live the lie anymore. Or, he’d met the love of his life, decided to give up driving truck so he could marry this woman with four young kids that he planned to adopt and he’d be a stay-at-home dad.” He rubbed his mouth across the top of my ear and his fingers dug into my hips. “I wasn’t even f*cking close to any of those scenarios.”

I waited.

“This is so f*cked up,” he whispered. “I never imagined this stuff went on in my family. So he totally blindsided me when he said he’d been sexually abused from age three until he turned twelve.” He paused. “By his dad, Sierra.”

I rolled over and wrapped myself around him as he began to talk.