Page 72 of Only Ever You

Faye was about to grin but something stopped her. A sharp sensation of awareness.

From around that bend in the road behind her, Faye heard the screech of the car before she saw it.

22

FAYE

“Faye!”

The scream that ripped from her burned in Faye’s throat, with the harrowing yell of her name reverberating between the trees long after the sound of screeching tyres turned to silence. Her heart pounded in its place, feeling as though it took up all of the space behind her ribs with every erratic beat.

Awareness of her extremities came back one limb at a time, spurred on by the thorny thicket scratching her spine.

Bash.

Oh god?—

Her eyes shot open and Faye wasn’t prepared for how close or how frightened his face would be. Like every other emotion had been replaced with distress.

Chest to chest, Bash bracketed her body, muttering curses and something about speed limits as his heart beat out of his chest in tandem with hers. His legs wedged on either side of her thighs pressed him up against her stomach completely.

“Are you okay?” he demanded with harsh breaths.

Hands and arms tucked up between them, Faye stared at him, her brain registering the scratch of gardening gloves against her skin. He’d put himself in the way of a speeding car, in snowy weather, and he wondered ifshewas okay …

She nodded.

“Words, Faye.” Bash’s pupils had blown wide as if it was the dead of night.

“Yes, I’m okay.” The prickliness of the hedge wasn’t comfortable against her back, and the incline contracted muscles in her stomach she didn’t even know she had, but she wasn’t hurt.

Never mind if she was okay, washe? Bash vibrated as he stayed surrounding her. Breaths like clouds pushing against her lips, nose flaring.

“Areyou?” she asked.

Bash didn’t say anything. His eyes that jumped down her face were so vividly blue against the stark white background of the sky. Faye’s exhales shuddered as his gaze lingered on her mouth.

Was he … why was he staring at her like that?

“If this were a book, I know what I’d be doing right now.” The gravel in his voice made some place between Faye’s stomach and her hips tighten, and a thought in the back of her mind rose up telling her to find release.

“This isn’t a book,” she murmured, turning her hands ever so slowly until her fingers curled in the collar of his coat. His pulse jumped in the neck vein peeking out from his layers.

The line of Bash’s throat worked before he grumbled, “How unfortunate.”

A second later he manoeuvred himself off of her and—wait, what would he have done?

Faye righted herself and tried to brush off her back while Bash picked up the dropped bags of mistletoe. She watched his movements and how jagged they were; the lines on his face at war with what could have happened.

The chances of that car hitting either of them were probably low, but Bash didn’t know that. He’d reacted. And his reaction when faced with the end had been to wrap himself aroundher.

A shiver fizzled up through Faye and suddenly her eyes stung. Now that she stood on her own, her limbs shook.

Everything could have ended here. All of her plans. Theirlives.

She wrapped her fist in the sleeve of Bash’s coat and dragged him to her.

“What—oof.”

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