Page 25 of Austin
“It feels really crazy to be here like this.”
“It must be like a dream come true.”
Laughter bubbled up at his ridiculous statement and escaped her lips before she could stop it. She cleared her throat.
“You can laugh, you know. It’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost control of a situation.”
His comment stopped her cold. Was she that transparent? Or was he that intuitive? Did it matter which, when he’d hit the nail on the head?
“You might be right.” Why not admit it? It was true. There was a brief silence, then she said, “Are you going to tell me to be more like my sister?”
“Do you hear that a lot?”
“Practically never, actually.”
Austin rolled over on his back and stared up at the stars. “Do you want to be more like Whit?”
“I…want to break free a little.”
“Just a little?”
Her voice was small when she said, “A lot. I want to break all the habits I’ve developed over the years. I want to say screw it, and do what I want and not care about what people think.”
And there it was in a nutshell. She’d spent way too much time in her life worrying about what other people thought. What their perceptions were. It wasn’t how she wanted to live.
He said nothing. Kristen rolled over onto her back, mirroring his position, flopping an arm over her forehead.
“And you’re right,” she murmured. “About laughing.”
“You were laughing today. After catching Duane.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
She let out a sigh. She couldn’t articulate how it was different, but it was. Not everything had to be placed in a specific box. The thought had no sooner entered her head than she realized how out of character it was for her. She loved her boxes.
She lay back down, watching a meteor streak across the sky. Unfettered. Free. And perhaps close to crashing and burning. The thought made her give another small shudder. Crashing and burning was no fun, but freedom… Might it be worth the risk? She’d already crashed and burned.
And never wanted to do it again.
She closed her eyes, but they flashed open when Austin dropped a lazy arm over her.
“Give me your back.” His voice was low and close to her ear, sending another shiver through her.
“Excuse me?” Her voice was thick.
“Roll over so your back is to me. We’ll spoon through miles of canvas. You’ll be warmer because of it and maybe…just maybe…you might fall asleep.”
Kristen opened her mouth to protest, then thought, ‘Screw it.’ He was right. She needed more warmth and he needed his sleep.
She turned her back to him and he pulled her closer. The canvas of his bedroll bunched between them. She pulled in a breath, let out a sigh as her muscles relaxed. It didn’t feel bad, having Austin at her back.
Crazy, crazy times.
Snuggled up to a bull rider in the middle of the desert.
She hadn’t seen this one coming.
