Page 69 of Where We Burn


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But what I do know is that I’m not playing games.

Not with her.

Not with this.

She needs to know what she is to me. She needs to know that this isn’t just a fling, a distraction, or something I’ll forget once the sheets cool. She’s it for me, always has been.

There’s a fallout coming, and I know that. Travis won’t take this lying down, and I’m not naive about that. But for the first time in a long while, I’m trying not to let the fear of what might happen dictate what will.

I drive up the snow-covered road, my truck tires crunching over ice and gravel, like they’re announcing my arrival to the whole mountain. The driveway appears just as the last light fades behind the hills, and I’ve never been more grateful to see my place sitting quiet and still. I’m running on empty, and the last thing I need is to plaster on a smile and pretend I’m not carrying around this crushing weight in my chest.

I kill the engine and jump out of the truck, raking a hand through my hair before sliding my hat back on and taking a deep breath. I need a minute. I need to gather myself and figure out where to even start and how to tell her I’m all in without sounding like a desperate man who only just figured out he’s in too deep. Because I know she’s feeling this uncertainty too. She has to be.

I trudge through the snow and glance up at the sky, where the clouds have cleared for now, and a handful of stars are starting to peek through above the ridge. It’s peaceful enough tonight, but I know better than to trust it. Rosewood winters never give a damn about timing, which is something my family knows about all too well.

The second I step through the door, that familiar calm should hit me like it always does. But tonight, the house feels wrong. Normally,I’d walk into the chaos of Piper battling the stove, her awful cooking filling the kitchen with smoke, and her laughter echoing over whatever country song she’s got blasting from her phone. I’d step in and take over like always, and she’d let me—no arguments, just that grin of hers that says she knows she can’t cook and doesn’t care one bit… not as long as I’m there beside her. But now there’s just silence.

“Piper?” I call out, already bracing myself for something I don’t think I want to feel.

When I hear a quiet rustle from the living room, I turn, heart thundering like it’s trying to break free from my chest, and there she is. My raven-haired beauty is standing before me, looking both stunning and broken all at once. Piper’s long, dark hair spills over her shoulders, and her posture is completely stiff, but it’s her eyes that undo me. Her green eyes, which are usually bright enough to set the world on fire, are now dull and distant.

She doesn’t look happy to see me. In fact, she looks like she’s already halfway out the door.

Next to her are her bags, packed and lined up neatly beside the couch, and when my gaze shifts from them to her, it feels like the floor’s been ripped out from under me. This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go. We had one more night together before I was meant to drive her back to her sister’s.One more night to stretch this thing out for just a little longer.

But this isn’t a surprise or miscommunication.

This is deliberate.

This is her leaving me.

“What’s going on, darlin’?”

The woman who owns my heart and walks through life like she doesn’t give a single fuck about anything looks fragile in a way I’ve never seen.

“You packed up a day early for a reason?” I ask, stepping toward her slowly. “’Cause I’ve gotta be honest with you, I’m a little confused.”

“I thought you’d be back sooner,” she whispers. “I thought we’d have time to talk.”

My stomach sinks deeper as panic rises in my throat. “What do you mean?”

“Violet’s coming to pick me up.”

“Well, call her and tell her to stay home.” I grab my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and shove it toward her like it’ll fix whatever’s happening here. “Call her, Piper.”

“I can’t,” she says, barely more than a breath. “She’s already on her way.”

That gives me what, fifteen minutes to figure out why the woman I love is walking away from me?

“Fine,” I bite out, trying to hold it together while everything inside me cracks wide open. “Can you at least tell me what the hell happened between this morning and now? Because after the way you woke me up, after the way we were… it sure as hell feels like you’re sending a guy mixed fucking signals when he comes home to find you with a foot out the goddamn door.”

“I was leaving tomorrow. It’s just one day early.”

“I don’t care about the when,” I growl, tossing my hat to the floor and stepping toward her. “I care about the why. What’s got you running from me like I’m something to be afraid of?” She takes a breath, tears gathering in her beautiful eyes. “I don’t deserve silence, Piper, and you’re not the girl who gives it. So please talk to me.”

“Travis came by today.”

“Did he hurt you?” The words explode out of me, and I’m already scanning every inch of her for bruises, cuts, anything that would give me a reason to hunt my boy down.