Page 50 of Fly Back to Me
Say something.
“Yeah, I do.”
He believes in us.
Relief pours from me, the breath almost too long that I nearly miss Cade walking in my direction. “You never explained the mace,” he states, worry fueling his tone. “Or the fact that you wanted to be walked to your car.”
I swallow roughly as I peer up at him. “Someone tried to hurt me once.”
His chest puffs with an inhale, eyes trained on me with an intensity that splits through the darkness. “I’m happy you saidtried.”
I nod, my gaze glued to the very man who allowed me to utter that sentence. Without him, there would be no “tried.”
Or no conversation at all.
“Me too,” I whisper weakly.
My eyes begin to swell, tears settling in the corner pockets. But when the first pelt of a rain droplet lands on my head, another crashes onto Cade’s leather coat.
And suddenly, we’re caught in a shower.
Cade seizes my hand, our slick palms cradling together as he jogs us to the spreading tree. Our laughs mingle with the pitter-patter, clothes rinsed generously until we’re taking shelter under the wide canopy.
His large arm snakes around me as his back leans against the bark, forcing my chest to mold to his side like another tattoo. My palm mindlessly rests on the damp fabric over his tight stomach, and I gasp when I swerve my gaze to his stranded Harley. “Is your motorcycle going to be okay?”
A playful vibration spreads under my fingers. “Yes. Motorcycles are designed to get wet.”
I grin through my own laughter, mildly kneading the steel ripples of his abdomen with my fingertips.
It’s not a carnal or sexual mission.
I just need to touch him.
Tiny flames kindle along my skin, the only buffer being my soaked bangs pasted to my temples. His free palm sheathes the top of mine, tenderly trapping it against his upper abs. But the gesture is dominant at the same time. Just like a hero. Everything wrapped in one.
A hand that yanked me out of the darkness at one time.
A hand that feels likehome.
My safe haven.
“What are your dreams, Olivia?”
My attention lifts to him, his damp tendrils scattered over his bandana above icy-blue eyes. Eyes I want to swim deeper in with every new detail I learn about the man who wears them.
The rustling of the rain floods my ears, the melodic noise steadying my heart to deliver an answer. “I want to write a book,” I begin. “Go to Australia. Learn ballroom dancing.”
His Adam’s apple rolls, his rough palm snuggling my hand tighter. “You can do all of that, Olivia,” he whispers. “Don’t letyour second chance at life go to waste.”
Cade
I imagine her mint eyes belong to the woman I saved all those months ago. Because this is what I would say if I ever got the chance to meet her.
If only.
My gaze drags to my motorcycle in the near distance, and the white feather sways through the current of the shower. Holding Olivia in my arms now, I’m convinced this nameless angel brought me the most fascinating person to ever grace my existence. Not just because she’s physically stunning, but because Olivia seizes chances. Moments. She’s confident and playful all at the same time.Strong.
Before my relationship with Jenna, I wasn’t a stranger to women flocking to me. But there’s this infatuation etched into Olivia’s stare every time I’m around her. Her appreciation is dug up from a place much deeper than the others. And as much as I try to make sense of all this—our serendipitous relationship—I can’t.
