Page 92 of By Your Side
I kissed her softly then—the kind of kiss that felt like a promise.
When I pulled back, her phone buzzed against the table. She reached for it, glanced at the screen, then read aloud in a shaky voice, “Ren says it’s going to be okay. He’ll call the police. He’s taking care of everything. He says it’ll all be over soon.” Her hand shook as she set the phone back down. I tugged her against my chest again, pressing my lips to her hair.
“Then it’s over,” I said. “It’s over, and you’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
She melted into me, and for the first time all morning, I felt her body loosen—like she was finally letting go of the weight she’d been carrying.
Paige didn’t move for a long while. She stayed tucked against me, her head beneath my chin, my hand stroking up and down her arm in slow, steady lines. I could feel the tightness in her slowly easing, like she was letting herself borrow my strength until her own came back.
The house was quiet except for the faint hum of the heater keeping us warm. A soft thump broke the stillness, followed by the sound of claws clicking on the hardwood. Ozzy padded in from the kitchen, tail flicking as he hopped up onto the couch like he owned it. He gave a single, judgmental meow before curling himself into Paige’s lap, settling there with all the weight and authority of a creature who knew he was welcome anywhere and had found a new friend. He’d been asleep in his cat tree when we got here last night, and I’d closed the bedroom door behind us.
The smallest laugh broke out of her, muffled against my chest. She ran a shaky hand over Ozzy’s back, her fingers smoothing his fur. “Hello there, cutie,” she whispered.
“He knows quality company when he sees it,” I said, brushing a strand of her hair back from her face.
Ozzy purred, and it was loud, like he was determined to drown out every rough edge left in the morning. Paige’s shoulders eased more, and her hand lingered on his back as she tilted her face toward me.
“You always take care of everyone, don’t you?” she said softly. “Your brothers. Me. Even him.”
I met her gaze, the way her eyes shone, tender and raw. “I don’t know any other way to be.”
Her lips parted like she might say something, but instead she reached up, her palm warm against my jaw, her thumb brushing the spot Eli had hit. The touch was gentle, reverent even. “Does it hurt?”
“Not compared to the thought of losing you,” I admitted, my voice low.
Her breath caught. Then she leaned in, kissing me with a softness that was nothing like the heated urgency we’d shared before. This was slower. Deeper. The kind of kiss that held weight, that carried everything we hadn’t yet said out loud.
Ozzy stretched in her lap, his purr vibrating against us both, as if even he knew we’d crossed into something that would last forever.
When we finally broke apart, her forehead rested against mine, our breaths mingling. “I don’t know how to do this,” she whispered. “But I want to try. With you. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” My hand slid down her back, holding her close, sealing the moment. “That’s all we need.”
We stayed there, tangled together on the couch, the sunlight warming the room, Ozzy’s purr thrumming steady between us, as if the world had finally slowed enough to let us just be.
Chapter 32
Paige
It had been a few weeks, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I was happy. The girls were okay. Therapy was helping. They went twice a week—together sometimes, separately when they needed it—and even though it broke my heart to see them walk into those offices with brave little faces, it gave me peace to know they had someone safe to talk to. Someone who wasn’t as close to the situation as I was. Someone who could help them untangle the mess Eli had left in their lives.
Noah checked in constantly, calling from Portland between classes and sending me memes when he thought I sounded stressed. He was okay. He’d been taking the breakup in stride, and every time we spoke or texted, he seemed a little steadier, a little more sure of himself. It was reassuring to see him finding his own way back to happiness, slowly but surely.
Briar and Lark were finding their footing again, a little more secure every day. And me? I was trying to believe it was really over.
Ren secured a restraining order against Eli and said it was airtight. He’d also found out that the truck that followed Briar when she snuck out was just a random kid from the area, drunk after hanging out at one of the bonfires. He swore he had no bad intentions toward Briar, but there was no way to know if he was telling the truth. Hunter had told me about the truck after things had settled down and how he and his brothers had been keeping an eye on me and the girls. Sometimes I could hardly believe how lucky I was to have him in our lives.
Even though Eli had dropped every legal filing against me, he still had his businesses and was actually working to get them up and running again. Danielle had filed for divorce and moved back in with her parents, putting some distance between herself and the mess he had left behind. The fallout was complicated, but everyone seemed to be finding their own way through it, piece by piece.
There were still whispers in town. People loved a good story, and this one had everything: heartbreak, betrayal, scandal, a parking-lot make-out session, and a bar that had nearly gone to ruin before coming back shinier than ever.
But none of that mattered, not really. Because every night, when I locked up the tavern, Hunter was waiting for me. Not out of obligation, not because something needed fixing, but because we wanted the same thing: for us to end our days together.
I leaned against the bar now, the soft thrum of the jukebox filling the background with something slow and sweet, and looked around at what I had. The Twilight Tavern finally looked like the place I’d dreamed of owning. But it wasn’t the bar that had me smiling.
The door swung open, that familiar creak of the hinges, and in he came—broad-shouldered and smiling. His face told me more than words ever could—and I knew that the worst was behind us. For once, I didn’t have to fight every battle alone.
Hunter slid onto a stool at the far end, where he always sat when the night was quiet, and I made my way over like muscle memory.
