Page 110 of Sing Me Home
“A hot thorn whose kisses make you moan,” he murmured with a smirk.
I shrieked again, adding a foot stomp. “Go unpay it!”
He had the nerve to boop me on the nose. “No.”
“That’s it! Ican’twith you!” I must’ve momentarily lost my mind because I grabbed his left nipple—which was hard to grip with a rock-hard pec beneath it, by the way—and pinched.
He tried not to react but a muscle jumped under his cheekbone, giving me at least a little satisfaction. But then a corner of his mouth curved up, sharp and fast, before he got it under control. He was laughing at me!
So I reached over and gave the other nipple a hard twist.
Quicker than a hiccup, he cuffed my wrists and spun me around, caging my back against his chest. His hulk-sized biceps locked my arms down like steel bands. Mouth pressed to my ear, he whispered, low and gravelly, “I love you. I know you struggle to understand what that means, so I’m going to tell you.” I tried to pull away, but my body betrayed me—racing pulse, trembling breath, skin lit up like a live wire. “Loving you means I’m not going to let you slave away for the next decade—punishing yourself—when you could be moving on with your life. Loving you means that if you hurt, I hurt. If you struggle, I struggle. It means you have me for life and that life can finally begin.” His nose pressed into the space right behind my ear, sending a ripple of goosebumps down my right side. “So just say thank you and we’ll put this behind us.”
I melted into him momentarily and his grip loosened.
Which gave me just enough wiggle room to lift my elbow forward and… ram it into his stomach. He groaned and released me. I whirled to find him bent over.
Well, good.
“If I wanted your help, I would’ve asked for it,” my voice trembled.
“You’re too stubborn to ask for anything.” He straightened, half-wincing, as he rubbed his abs. “Just be grateful I’m more stubborn. Somebody needs to save you from yourself.”
My jaw jutted. “Wow.”
My family was coming out of the race, sweaty and mud-covered. Jane patted the top of her head and a puff of dust rose into the air. They hurried away to their van.
I looked back at Cash. “Have fun making out with yourself on tour. Because I won’t be coming along.” I gave him a finger wave and strode away to catch up with my family.
He followed like a shadow. “Be serious. You can’t go two months without kissing me. My ‘thunder-crack kisses breathed’ you ‘back to life,’ remember?”
I halted, eyes blazing. He did not just throw my lyrics in my face. Again. I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm, pasting on a mask of indifference. “See you in October.” I shrugged. “Maybe. If I’m still around. Now that I have no debt, I might travel the world some more.”
Fear flashed in his eyes momentarily. But Cash was better at this cat and mouse game than me, and he always had been. “Nah. You’re tired of traveling and you’d miss me too much. See you tomorrow on the bus, Chuck. I’ll be saving you a seat. Because we both know you’ll be there.” His smolder made my bones sizzle. “You need me. Just like I need you. You know, since ‘the first time’ I ‘touched you, the ache quieted down.’ I’m ‘your soulmate. And that truth never died out.’”
I forced another cleansing breath. “They’re just lyrics. I’ve got thousands more.” I tapped my temple. “Like, ‘he can’t pass a mirror without giving a nod. Thinks he’s America’s answer to a six-pack god.’” Oh, that was good. I’d write it down as soon as I got to the car.
He snorted. “What’s a six-pack god?”
In response, I gave him another little wave, turned, and skipped away.
“Ten thirty a.m. Be there or be square!” he called.
“I love a good square,” I sang.
My family was about to pull out. I tapped on the glass and Jane opened the sliding door.
“Got room for one more?” I asked.
Dad smiled over his shoulder. “Lucky for you, it’s an eight-seater.”
“Why aren’t you riding with Cash?” Jane asked as I crawled over her.
“Reasons,” I said in a chipper voice.
I snuggled in next to Cate’s car seat. She looked up at me and smiled. I let her curl her tiny fingers around my pinky.
As we rode out of that parking lot, finally out from under the spell Cash always wove around me, it hit me for the first time: I was free. That debt had been a monster with its claws in my chest, breathing down my neck every hour of every day. And now it was just…gone. Maybe not in the way I’d wanted, but gone nonetheless.
