Page 65 of If You Loved Me

“But if you hurt him, I can’t promise I won’t hurt you.” My heart stopped at her words.

“Noted,” I croaked out.

“Callie Rose!” Miles and Ranger said at once and she just sat back in her chair with a smug look on her face.

“What?” She shrugged nonchalantly like she didn’t just threaten me with physical harm. “I have to look out for my big brother. It’s not like you will.” She shoved Miles’s arm. “All you’ve done is get him in trouble.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Miles took a swig from his beer bottle, eyes darting away.

“Oh, like that time you sank dad’s fishing boat?! And then blamed it on Ranger?” Callie Rose’s eyes were wide with mischievous humor.

It was Ranger who replied, “She has you with that one Miles. Sorry to say.”

Miles guffawed at his best friend. “Youwere the one who convinced me it was okay to take the boat out in the first place!”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t the one who stood up in it trying to catch a fish and ended up toppling us over.”

Miles opened his mouth to respond but instead of words, a throaty laugh flew past his lips. It only took a few seconds for his laughter to catch on, leaving Ranger and Callie Rose clutching their stomachs.

Tears of humor creased Ranger’s eyes and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him look so handsome.

“I will never forget the way your face looked as you tripped over the side.” Ranger’s words were choppy from his laughter. “Then the boat nearly swallowed me whole as it tilted over. I still don’t think my lungs have recovered from all the water I took in.”

Callie Rose pointed at Miles, tears streaking down her face. “And dad’s face was beet red when you both came up to the house, sopping wet. He loved that little Jon boat more than he loved us.”

Their laughter finally started to settle. Ranger wiped at his eyes before he settled a hand on my thigh. “Nah. He definitely loved us more.”

“Just maybe not on that day,” Miles chimed in.

“Yeah. Definitely not on that day,” Ranger said.

A comfortable silence settled over everyone. Each of them was lost in distant memories that I’d never been a part of. But it didn’t feel like I was an outsider looking in. Their banter and love for one another reminded me of my friends and everything we’d shared together.

I wondered what it might be like for all of us to hang out sometime. I could just imagine how Willow and Callie Rose would get along. Each one showing their protective nature. It might be explosive.

“I’ll be right back,” Callie Rose said as she rose from her seat.

When the door closed behind her I looked to Miles. “So, Miles is there anything I should know about Ranger? Like does he snore in his sleep? Or forget to put the toilet seat down?”

Miles chuckled and I could feel Ranger’s eyes on me, but I ignored him. Miles’s eyes slid to Ranger and for a moment I thought he might divulge the man’s secrets. But then he replied, “Nah. Not this one. He’s pretty much as solid as they come.”

It was exactly the kind of response Willow would have given and I appreciated that Ranger had someone to back him up, instead of selling him out.

Ranger’s hand squeezed my thigh. “Trying to find my weaknesses, sugar?”

I winked at him. “Just trying to make sure I know what I’ve gotten myself into.” He patted my leg with a smile.

Then Callie Rose came back through the door with anacoustic guitar in hand. Ranger shifted in his seat next to me, an uncomfortable look on his face.

She handed him the guitar. “I think it’s been long enough,” was all she said as he took it from her hands.

Curiosity bloomed within me at her words. Playing the guitar was never something we’d talked about, but it seemed like it had once been a big part of his life based on his sister’s comment.

He sat still for a few moments, hands grasped around the neck of the guitar while Callie Rose sat in her chair. Ranger’s eyes were glassy, my fingers itched to reach for him but I was nervous to intervene while he was lost in thought. Then, with a look towards his sister that showed his disapproval of being bombarded, he settled the body of the guitar on his lap.

Clearing his throat, he draped his right arm over the front of the guitar, his left fingers lining up on the neck. And then he played.

I was damn near awestruck watching his fingers move up and down the neck as a beautifully sad melody surrounded us. His dark curls slid along his shoulders with each strum of the strings and I wanted nothing more than to twine my fingers through them while I kissed him slowly. Those bright eyes had turned dark, like a thundering storm over the lake. They turned toward me and I was lost in them. He played that guitar like it was the strings of my heart, each chord hitting home. Pulling me closer and closer to the edge. The look he gave me told me he’d be there at the bottom. Arms wide open and waiting to catch me.

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