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"We’ll survive it" I sounded ht had been torturous There was nothing worse than that necessary distance that I had to keep between the two of us All I longed to do was reach out and touch him Every inch of my skin prickled and ached for me to let him touch me I wanted his ar into , but I knew once I got it there was no way I was going to survive letting it go He refused to entertain the idea that we could have more, that he could be more to me than a hard and ready cock and every ti a bucket of icy water poured over ht outside the bar He just sood, and when he looked athe built his drea a little taste I was like a starving person that was offered a cupcake I wanted to lick all the frosting off and shove the rest of all the deliciousness in one as far as it did I kneasn’t going to understand that it had been more about me than it had about him, and I couldn’t bla hi hietting what I wanted from him fulfilled aveto be the girl thatand suspicion down to an art form drop that ever-present shield he held up to keep the world at bay That glimpse of Church unprotected and vulnerable would stay with ht not love me, but he trusted h to keep low That better than hazel color had lit up the night and nothing had ever made me feel so accomplished or satisfied The darkness that seemed to follow hiet that I was able to chase his shadoay for thatyou think a pillow fortress is gonna keep my hands off of you?" I jolted as he rocked the bike up off its stand and turned the motor over Clearly he didn’t want ive hi I didn’t really want him to keep me safe from was him

The drive to the small hospital took alh "city" was a bit of a stretch The town of Lowry looked like it could be the set of a family drama set deep in the heart of the south It was adorable, quaint, and looked like every single person living there had taken an oath to keep the streets clean and the h to be ironically cool The entire place could have fallen off the front of a postcard, it was that picturesque and pristine It al back in tiirl to h socity with a shbors There was a sense of coo anywhere without running into someone I kneas tickled pink by this actual small town, and I waved back at everyone who lifted their hand in greeting and srin as Church barreled down the narroay street I wasn’t sure if they recognized him and that’s why everyone seemed so friendly or if this was just the kind of place where strangers were friends until proven different If that was the case this place wasstructure In fact, the entire building looked like it would fit inside of the bar where I worked back home However, the inside was a bustle of activity and there was no shortage ofaround in colorful scrubs The outside ht not have been very impressive but the inside sure was

Church stopped at the information desk and asked where we could find Elave him a smile and proceeded to tell him that she rerowing up to look just like him, and that she knew his dad and was so happy when Julian decided to run for sheriff For all the forgetting Church had been trying to do it appeared that the people he had left behind had long memories The woman thanked him for his service, to which he blushed and stued,and already his accent ice as pronounced as it norht he cut himself loose when he enlisted and ended up on the other side of the world, but his roots ran deep no ht be

On the way to the room he was stopped twice h school together and that she was glad to see that he’d made it back home in one piece, and the second ti care of El to mean the world to her Apparently the older woman talked about the Churchill men like they were family Church didn’t bother to tell the man that they were fa as Elot hiot to the roorabbed Church’s elbow and pulled hi to give you a few minutes alone with her I’etout here in the hallway" I really needed to find a cup of coffee My sleepless night and the stress of wondering ould have possibly reportedspread a little too thin