Page 92 of Wild and Wrangled

“Because it’s us,” I said. I leaned down and kissed her shoulder.

After we got cleaned up, I pulled Cam down on the couch with me and held her closer. “Dusty…” She trailed off.

“Talk to me, angel,” I whispered with my lips in her hair.

“Will you stay over tonight?” she asked. “I want to wake up with you. I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“Me neither,” I said.

Chapter 40

Cam

When I woke up the next morning, Dusty’s arm was draped over my waist, so I slid out from under it as carefully as I could before getting out of bed. I didn’t want to wake him. Yeah, we did get some sleep together, but only after weslepttogether one more time and took a shower before going to bed.

I moved Dusty’s blond hair away from his face as he slept. In the quiet of the morning, everything I felt about Dusty almost overwhelmed me. I couldn’t believe we did it—that we made it back to each other, that we made it back to each other ready—better, even.

I walked out to the kitchen and turned the coffee maker on. I looked around the house that had quickly become a home over the past few months. Even though it wasn’ttechnicallymine, it felt like it was. I couldn’t imagine letting it go. Maybe I could buy it from whoever Anne left it to—maybe if they knew that someone was building a life here, they would let them stay.

Because I really wanted to live here. The truth of it in my gut was clear, after so many years of being unable to hear my own instincts. And another thing was clear, too: I wanted to work at Rebel Blue. I wanted to have my own piece of it like the rest of the people in my life did. I didn’t want to stay in a job just because it offered security. Because the truth was, Rebel Blue had always offered me the most security, in all the ways that actually mattered. I wanted to give back to the place that had given so much to me. It had given me a family.

Once I had a cup of coffee, I pulled out my phone and checked the time. It was just after seven, which meant Gus would definitely be awake.

“Hello?” He picked up on the first ring.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll take the job.”

“Are you sure?” Gus asked.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I’ll call my firm tomorrow and put in my notice, and once I finish out my caseload, I’m all yours.”

“Fuck yeah,” Gus said. “Thank you, Cam.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I really needed this.”

“I’ll tell my dad, and we’ll make things official as soon as we can. Do you want to come to the Big House for breakfast and celebrate?”

“I’ve got some things to do here, but I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay, bye.”

After Gus hung up the phone, I couldn’t stop grinning. When did my life get so…good?

I didn’t know how much time had passed when I heard my bedroom door open and Dusty’s bare feet against the hardwood floors as he made his way out to the kitchen. He was justin his briefs, his hair was a disaster, and he was rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes.

Beautiful.

Every time I saw more of him, I tried to catalog his tattoos and make note of my favorites—the dagger in the middle of his chest, the bee on his thigh, and the scorpion on his ribs. And, of course, the “A.”

“Morning,” he said when he saw me. A grin stretched across his face. “It broke my heart when you weren’t there when I woke up, you know.”

He walked behind me and draped his arms over my shoulders and pulled my back to his chest. “You were out cold, and I didn’t want to wake you, and I had to call Gus.”

I felt Dusty stiffen just slightly. “Is Riley okay?”

I nodded. “She’s fine. Probably still asleep—she hates mornings—I had to call him about a job.” I smiled.

Dusty kissed the side of my neck. “What kind of job?”

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