Page 87 of Hard Knock Hero

“Honey, it’s going to take longer than that.”

“We don’t have the time.”

But the stress of the last several hours had weighed heavily on me. Knowing how close the Rigsbys had come to hurting Aiden because of me.

And if Owen reported Aiden’s escape to the state police, then highway patrol would be looking for him. It made me sick to imagine it. I clenched my teeth and grabbed Scarlett’s jacket in my fist. Trace came over and laid a hand on the middle of my back. I guessed that was the only comfort he could offer, but I was still grateful for it.

“We need to go,” my brother said softly.

“I know.”

I heard an engine. Someone was driving this way. “Jessi,” Scarlett said sharply.

I wiped roughly at my eyes.You can do this, I told myself.Push it down, just like you did after Jeremy. Push it all down and away. Bury it deep.

“Let’s go.” I went toward Scarlett’s Jeep. But she held onto my arm.

“Jessi,” she said again. Softer this time. There was something different in her voice. Not fear. It was shock. Wonder.

I turned to look. The approaching vehicle was almost here. And I couldn’t believe it, either.

It was Aiden’s truck.

He stopped and parked directly in front of us. In the windshield, his expression was intense and fierce, yet more untamed than I’d ever seen him. I’d never seen that much emotion written on his face.

His door flew open, and his boots landed hard on the ground. He walked toward me with long, purposeful strides.

I launched myself at him. I didn’t even feel my feet hitting the snow-packed road.

We collided. Kissed. Grasped each other like we were trying to fuse ourselves together. My heart was back in my chest and it was going absolutelywild. “What are youdoing?” I asked. “You’re supposed to be gone. The Rigsbys and the police are looking for you. It’s not safe.”

He kissed me again. Hard. Gazed into my eyes. “I couldn’t. I just…fuck, I couldn’t.”

“What does that mean?” I ran my hands over his face. This didn’t seem real.

“Come with me to Steamboat Springs.”

“What? Aiden, I…”

“Come meet my family. I’ll bring you back to Hartley after. Justcome with me.”

I stared back at him.

I felt Scarlett and Trace standing close by, both of them tense. Aiden’s words ran through my brain. Go to Steamboat Springs. Meet his family. I wanted that. Of course I did. I wanted more of Aiden.

But what about after? He would bring me back to Hartley, and then…

Be careful, I told myself.

Because for all my impulsive dreaming, I wasn’t the same woman I’d been years ago. I couldn’t let myself make those mistakes. Not because I didn’t trust Aiden. But I knew what this would mean to me.

I hugged him, dropping my forehead to his neck. “I can’t.” Saying those words ripped me open anew. “I want to go with you. But it would just be drawing out the goodbye, and it’s going to hurt so much worse later on.” Because then I’d know Aiden even better. I would meet Jake and the rest of Aiden’s family in person, and I’d probably fall for them too. I would find out all the other ways that Aiden was an incredible man, a man I could never have, and my hopeful heart just couldn’t take that.

Nothing Jeremy had ever done had broken me. But Aiden could.

“What if we don’t say goodbye?” he asked.

Scarlett inhaled sharply, hand flying to her mouth in my peripheral vision.

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