Written in the Scars(53)

“Good morning,” I say, coming up behind him. I wrap my arms around his fit waist and lay my head on his back.

“Morning,” he says, his hands resting on my threaded ones at his front. “I tried to sneak out so I didn’t wake you.”

“You didn’t. I slept better than I have in months.”

“Me too.”

Our bodies sway, a comfortable lull that could put me to sleep again. I press a kiss in the center of his back and walk around to his side. “How are you today?” I ask. “Hungry?”

He keeps his vision trained on something out the window. “You know what you said last night about finding love in tough situations?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” He angles his head to the side and looks at me. “A lot of things happened, a lot of things I won’t forget. Like what it’s like to feel your body crunch beneath the weight of a timber trapping you underground. All the things your mind considers when you contemplate you might not make it to the surface before you die.

“I know what it’s like to crave a release from pain and I know what it’s like to suffer the humiliation of knowing you’ve let everyone around you down,” he says, swallowing hard. “But the one thing I don’t think I’ll be able to really make peace with is not being here for you.”

“I struggle with that too. Maybe it’s unfair—”

“No, it’s not,” he gruffs. “I’m the one that slammed my phone and broke it in pieces. I didn’t replace it. It was me that thought you would be fine with Jiggs, but I was wrong. It was my place, my role.”

I start to disagree, but can’t. He’s right. We both know it.

“Do you think we can fix this?” I say instead.

“We are going to find the love. We are going to love each other so f*cking much that we either forget the pain or we can’t feel it anymore. That doesn’t mean we forget the baby,” he says, a shake to his head, “but it means we honor it by loving each other.”

I can’t breathe, can’t respond to his words because it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.

“Day by day,” he says, “we take it easy. We have no rush. No pressure. No calendars and stupid ass internal temperatures. It’s me and you. I want to date you all over again.”

Giggling, I press a soft kiss to his lips. “I hope you’re out of practice dating people, Coach.”

“It’s a damn good thing I have a playbook full of practice techniques then, isn’t it?”

He squeezes my ass, making me yelp as he carries me out of the room, melting me into a pile of goo with his decadent smirk.





ELIN


The music is streaming overhead, scents of oregano and tomato sauce wafting through the door as I clutch Ty’s hand as he leads me into Thoroughbreds. He glances at me over his shoulder, his eyes sparkling in the halogen lights, as the doors chime shut behind us.

I squeeze his hand; it’s met with a gentle clasping of his own.

I can’t stop smiling. I haven’t stopped since we came up for air a few hours ago. Not that he has either, nor has he stopped touching me in some way, like he’s afraid I won’t be there if he breaks contact. There have been no objections from me.

“Now that’s a sight for sore eyes!” Jiggs shouts, tipping a beer bottle our way.

Our friends are at our usual table in the corner. The looks on their faces make Ty and I laugh as they see us together, our fingers interlocked.

“All is right in the world!” Lindsay says, standing up and hugging me. I return the embrace with one hand because Ty won’t let go of my other.

“Yeah, we are getting there.”

“Excuse me,” she says, clearing her throat. “You do remember me, right? I’m Lindsay Watson, married to a man that you grew up with. You remember Jiggs?”

“Shut up,” I laugh. “I’ve been . . . busy.”

She looks at my husband and giggles. “Oh, I bet you have. How are ya, Ty?”

“Much better these days,” he winks.

A hand touches my shoulder and I jump, as does Ty. We turn to see Cord beaming behind us, one hand on each of us.

“Finally,” he laughs. “My God, I thought the two of you were gonna kill me. Hard-headed bastards.”

“Yeah, she is,” Ty says, laughing as I knock him with my shoulder.

“Come on, let’s play some pool,” Jiggs says.

Ty kisses me, letting his lips linger much longer than necessary, before joining my brother at the table in front of us. “Cord, wanna play?” he asks.

“Nope. I suck.”

“Which is why we want you to play,” Ty jokes. “So we can kick your ass.”

We watch them rack the balls and then Jiggs break. We all feel it, I know we do, the feeling of our tribe being back together. It’s the way things should be.

“I have to say,” Lindsay says, “seeing you walk in here with him made my day. Did you get everything figured out?”

“Some things just have to be shelved and hope that time heals like it’s supposed to. I’m trying to let things go.”

“You will,” Lindsay says, standing up. “I gotta pee. I’m sorry. I’m drinking all this water because I literally crave water all day. All night. But then I have to pee constantly,” she laughs, hand on her belly, and makes a beeline for the restroom.