Page 109 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
“You just kissed me in front of the entire town, sweetheart. You know what that means, don’t you?” Dan asked, holding her close.
She rested her hands on his chest. “What?”
“It means we’re together again.” This time he kissed her.
“I can deal with that.” She gave him another smile and walked away, and he thought,There goes my heart.
“So, you and Leah,” Ryder remarked from the front seat as they drove to the after match.
“I like it,” Libby said from beside him.
“Me too,” Ryder said. “They’ve always been destined for each other.”
“Aww,” Libby said, leaning over to kiss Ryder’s cheek.
“You two are making me nauseous,” Dan said.
“Love you, too, little bro.”
His siblings could never take an insult.
“She’s good for you, Dan.”
“In what way, Libs?” he asked.
Dan liked his brothers’ partners, and this one was no different. Like the other women in his family, she was strong now. Independent and loved.
“I don’t know a lot about her, but I see someone who is searching for a place to stop running. She needs you to help her with that because I think you’re Deputy Dan, who is much loved, and you’ve never had to work hard for the love of a woman?—”
“I don’t know that he’s had to work really hard for anything except policing,” Ryder cut in.
“I have. You just don’t know about it,” Dan said.
“Yeah. Like what?” Ryder said.
“I have my demons, bro, but we all do. I just don’t bitch about them like the rest of you.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but Ryder didn’t take it that way. “I’m sorry you didn’t feel like you could talk to us about them.”
“I didn’t want to talk to you about them, and that’s the point. I sometimes like to deal with shit on my own.”
“I can understand that in a family like this one,” Libby said.
“It’s pretty cool, though, right?” her man added.
“The best, but back to my point about Leah.”
“Oh goodie, there’s more to that point,” Dan drawled.
“My point is that I think you need each other. You need your own person, Dan. Not family, but yours, and she needs that from you, if that makes sense. She’s had a tough life, and I think the two of you together, with Hudson, of course, can really build something.”
He wanted that, Dan realized. For the first time in his life, he wanted to have his own unit… family. His own people to love and protect.
Ryder sniffed. “Something in the air,” he muttered.
They reached the Circle Left along with the rest of those who were attending the after match. His family loved this place. The gingerbread house, they used to call it, since it was pink with white trim. Several stories tall, it was old and one of the original buildings in Lyntacky, and had once been a saloon. Plenty of the history was still inside the walls of the building.
They headed inside and found everyone talking over top of each other, and there was a beer waiting for Dan on the bar, courtesy of his mom, who was still with Callum.
