Page 34 of Cowboy Dragon's Rose

I told myself it was just a weekend away.

A break.

A chance to breathe.

To not look over my shoulder.

To pretend, for just a little while, that I wasn’t a woman with a past that could still find her if she stood still too long.

But deep down? I was aching for something more.

Avery’s been amazing. She's the kind of friend who doesn’t pry, but always shows up exactly when you need her.

And the other women—Penny, Jezebel, Arliss—they welcomed me like I belonged here from the second I stepped onto the place.

They’re smart, funny, strong as hell. They are also completely head-over-heels, fairy-tale in love.

And not the performative, Instagram-filter kind of love.

I mean real love.

Deep. Soul-level.

The kind that wraps around you like a safety net and never lets go.

It’s beautiful. And honestly? A little intimidating.

Each couple feels like their own little world.

Like a perfect island where no one else exists.

You can feel it in their glances, the brush of a hand, the way the men look at their women like they’re the center of gravity itself.

I’ve never seen anything like it.

And it makes me realize—painfully, sharply—how long it’s been since I’ve let someone look at me like I matter.

Of course, there’s one of them who isn’t paired off.

Like me.

Zeke Gordon.

And maybe it’s wishful thinking, or just the fantasy of a girl desperate to feel something, anything, but I feel his eyes on me when he thinks I’m not looking.

Oh, there’s been some playful banter and stolen kisses. And try as I might to ignore it, he’s just too—too big to pretend he doesn’t exist.

He’s got this presence to him.

Larger than life.

And I can’t say I’m immune to it.

He’s magnetic. Heavy in the air. When he walks into a space, everything shifts.

Like the room knows he’s here before anyone else does.

I’ve never seen a man like him.

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