Page 68 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
“Rowan.” I felt the tears streaming down my face before I could will them away. If anyone asked, I’d blame the pain meds instead of the dread I felt in my chest. He’d been here when I’d woken up, but not long after, he told me he’d be back. But I hadn’t seen him since, and truly, I wouldn’t blame him for not coming back. I’d shot someone right in front of him. My insane ex kidnapped me and ruined his truck. I was more trouble thanI was worth, and I wouldn’t even blame him if he was finally starting to agree with me.
Payton let out a breathy chuckle and wiped my cheeks for me. “Oh, girl. I had to beat that man with a stick to stay out there. He went out because he saw some officers trying to come in, and you’d just woken up. He went out to keep them outside for a bit, and then I came in and told him to fuck off. Listing out your injuries makes him a bit homicidal, if you understand what I’m telling you,” she said, looking at me pointedly. I didn’t understand at all, but I nodded anyway, wiping my cheeks again.
“So…he’s not mad at me?” I asked, feeling dumber by the moment.
Her eyes widened. “Why the fuck would he be mad, Aspen?”
“I…his truck is ruined…and I shot my ex right in front of him.” I stared at her for a moment before it started clicking in my head what I’d known all along.
“He isn’t Sam, Aspen,” she said gently, just reaffirming the words I’d just thought. “He doesn’t care about the stupid truck, and he would’ve shot him for you if you had asked.”
A soft knock came from the doorway, and there he stood—my cowboy. He looked tired, but he was wearing a new shirt and jeans now. His black hat backward on his head and a gentle smile across his face. “Hey, little angel,” he said.
“Hey, cowboy,” I replied.
Payton stood from the side of my bed. “Okay, well, I’m going back to work. Dude, please remind your girl how obsessed you are, she needs a refresher because of her head injury,” Payton said on her way out of the room as she smacked her brother playfully on the shoulder.
He glared at her as she laughed, as if the vocal reminder of my injuries pissed him off. Knowing him, that may be true. With his sister gone, Rowan pulled a chair up beside my bed and sat init, leaning against the bed and taking my uninjured hand in his—as if he couldn’t get close enough.
“How ya feeling, angel?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’m a little tired, sore of course. But I’m here,” I whispered back.
He nodded, looking down at our hands. I followed his gaze and found myself staring at his knuckles where my name was inked forever into his skin. I tried to remind myself that I was allowing my anxiety to take hold of my feelings right now, but that wasn’t helping me not feel as if what I was feeling wasn’t true.
“Aspen, please listen closely to what I’m about to say, okay?” he said, gazing into my eyes again. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried with all of your might. You could crash my truck into a tree or drive it off into a gulley. You could burn my house to the ground with all of my things inside it. You could block my number and move to the other side of the country. I’d just buy a new truck, build a new house, and follow your fine ass across the world. I don’t fucking care about any of it, except knowing you’re okay.”
He reached up and wiped the tears that were streaming down my face again. “Fuck, I wish I could stop crying. This is ridiculous,” I mumbled as I let out a breath of annoyance with myself. “You’re spouting poetry at me and I’m blubbering like a toddler.”
He chuckled and then leaned over to press his lips tenderly against my own. “I want you to heal, feel better, and then you’re officially moving in.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up his free hand to stop me. “I will not be taking comments or questions at this time. I don’t want to hear any sort of objections. You’re moving in. I will edge you into infinity—days at a time, if that is what it takes. I’ll take Oliver’s truck and start moving inyour remaining belongings. You have no choice in this particular situation.”
I reached over, closing my hand atop his mouth so he’d stop talking long enough for me to get a thought out. “I was going to say that it’s a good thing I don’t have anything else to move in since you’re down a vehicle,” I said with a smile.
Rowan’s eyes widened for a moment before he quickly stood and came closer to me. Wrapping his arm around the back of my neck, he leaned down and kissed me. It was somehow gentle but overwhelming all at once. As if he was terrified to hurt me, but he needed me to understand how invested he was—how sure of this he was.
“Do you promise? No second-guessing or backing out when I spring you from this joint?” he asked, slightly breathless.
I giggled and nodded my head. “Nowhere I’d rather be, cowboy. Let’s do this.”
He was nodding his head and smiling as he leaned down, pressing one more kiss to my forehead. “Step one, force you to move in with me. Check. Step two, force you to wear my ring.”
I felt a blush take over my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. “Thank you, Rowan,” I whispered against his bare skin.
I felt his face burying into my neck as he inhaled. “Don’t thank me, angel. All I’ve done is love you. Which has been incredibly easy,” he whispered back.
Rowan eventually sat back down and updated me on a few things involving Wyatt, his friends, and a clean up that was apparently necessary in the motel room. I didn’t ask questions because I didn’t want answers. He did tell me that Sam was taken care of, and when I worriedly asked if I killed him, he kissed me again and told me I wasn’t capable of something like that.
I didn’t argue with him, even though I didn’t agree with him. I was capable of something like that. He never asked me why I’d shot Sam, but it wasn’t just to protect myself, like I’m sure he was thinking. It was for him. I didn’t tell him what Sam had whispered into my ear over and over again when he curled up behind me in the motel bed. How he’d said awful things about Rowan and what he’d do if I tried to get back to Rowan. What he’d do if he found out I’d run again only to be withsome rancher.The way he’d spat it in my ear as an insult, when it was anything but.
Rowan was a kind-hearted family man whom someone like Sam never could’ve related to or understood, for that matter. But it didn’t matter, not anymore. He was gone.
Once the doctor came in and okayed it, the local police came in to talk to me. I wasn’t sure what Rowan had told them, but they didn’t ask much. Just confirmed it was my ex that had taken me and run me off the road. I told them yes, and that seemed to be that. They said if I saw him again, to immediately call 9-1-1. The older officer gave Rowan a knowing look, though, and they left.
I was free to go under the supervision of Payton, who gave Rowan and me a thorough briefing on what to expect with all of my injuries. Mostly to take it easy the next few weeks and to not be so hard on myself. The most severe of which was my concussion and my broken ribs. I’d already been here for three days, two of which I’d slept through. Apparently, stress and anxiety will do that to a girl.
But I was leaving this place with its bleach smell and shockingly white walls—hopefully to never come back again.
Rowan had driven us home.He still had Oliver’s truck, thankfully. I don’t think Payton would have approved of bike riding for a while.
