“So it was Seth all along?”
Molly nods. “The guys were coming home after a night of drinking. Seth was drunk and hit your father’s truck, moved River to the driver’s seat, and they fled the scene. He had River believing it was him all these years.”
I lift my fingertips to my mouth, relieved yet still craving justice. “Do you think they’ll charge Seth? It’s been so long and at this point, it’s his word against theirs.”
“I don’t know, Leighton.” Molly sighs. “For now, I’m choosing to believe that asshole’s going to get what’s coming to him.”
Yawning, I rake my fingers through my hair. “I really want to see River. You think he’s home yet?”
“He should be. Guy was going to drop him off. They left shortly after me.”
“He’s probably exhausted. Maybe I should wait until morning?”
“Are you insane? Go. To. Him,” she says. “Now.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
River
I’m not ready to go inside just yet.
Guy’s red taillights fade to black under a blanket of midnight, but I’m sitting on the front steps, listening to the howls of the coyotes and the chirp of the crickets. Growing up, they always made me feel less alone on nights when all I had was myself.
The other side of that door represents a life I was prepared to leave behind today. Reclaiming it feels like it’d be kind of bittersweet, and I’m too exhausted to feel anything that intense again today.
Two headlights roll up from over the hill, and the car slows at the top of my drive before turning in.
Standing, I begin walking down the path to meet the car and see who the hell’s paying me a visit this time of night.
The car parks, shuts off the engine, and the lights go dim. A second later, the door opens and out steps Leighton. The second our eyes lock from across the yard, she runs to me. I scoop her into my arms, holding her tighter than I’ve ever held anyone in my life.
“You didn’t do it,” she says.
“I didn’t do it.”
“You’re innocent.” Leighton begins to cry, burying her face into my neck.
“I’m innocent.”
Taking her face in my hands, I kiss her sweet lips and wipe away her happy tears.
“You still love me?” she asks, her mouth grazing mine.
“I still love you.”
Wrapping her in my arms, I carry her to the house, kissing her neck as her hands rake through my hair. Taking her up the stairs, her body slides down when we reach the top, and I press her against the hall wall, ripping at her shirt until it’s tossed aside and pulling at her shorts until they’re lying at her feet.
Lowering myself to my knees, I slide her panties down her thighs and press my mouth against her sweet mound. She tastes like heaven and she’s all mine. Dragging my tongue along her seam, I circle her clit before sliding a finger inside.
Leighton moans, her hands splaying flat against the walls as she widens her legs and begs for more.
Devouring her, I show her no mercy, bringing her to the edge until she fists my hair and forces me away.
“I want the rest of you,” she says, breathless, our lust-filled gazes fastening.
Slowly rising, I tower over her, lowering my mouth to hers and leaving the taste of her sweet arousal on her tongue as she works my belt and shoves my jeans down. With my hand sliding along her outer thighs, I lift them against my sides, positioning her slick pussy right where it belongs. Gripping my throbbing cock, I slide into her, pushing deeper, harder, feeling the clench of her body followed by the sweet release and the look in her eyes that tells me she’s giving herself to me completely.
My hips jut, back and forth, my cock pistoning deeper inside of her with each thrust, unsatisfied unless I’m feeling every inch of her sliding down every inch of me.
“I missed you so much,” she breathes, her lips passing over mine and stealing another taste. “I’m never going to leave you again.”
“I love you, Leighton.” My lips move from her jaw to her ear to her neck before settling on her collarbone. “Never leave me again.”
“I promise.” She kisses my forehead, and I carry her to my bedroom, our bodies still connected.
It’s been years since another person has set foot in here, but tonight, I’m ready.
I’m ready to finally move forward.
I’m done treading the same old dark waters.
I want to love her. And I want to feel her love.
And more importantly, I want to feel worthy of her love because at the end of the day, you can’t give love fully if you can’t accept it in return.
Placing her in the center of my bed, I climb over her, creating a temple with our bodies … just the two of us.
Nothing else exists … no one else exists.
There is no world outside our door, nothing—and no one—to steal this moment from us.
The moment we finish, I roll to the side, pulling her over top of me and holding her. Since the moment she left, all I wanted to do was hold her, feel her skin on mine and let our hearts do the talking.
Kissing her forehead, I close my eyes, wanting to stay awake to bask in this moment a bit longer, but too tired to fight it.
But when the dog barks outside, I sit up, suddenly awake.
“What is it?” she asks, brushing her hair from her eyes and pulling a bed sheet around her swollen breasts.
Moving to the window, I spot a shiny black truck.
“Seth,” I say, my jaw clenched. “Stay here.”
“River, don’t.” She scrambles after me, tugging at my arms as I find my jeans in the hallway and try to tug them on. “Just ignore him.”
Ignoring her, I head outside, flinging the screen door against the house and charging at him with clenched fists.
“What the fuck, River?” he says, arms wide. “Fucking Brandt Hallifax? Buddy of mine at the sheriff’s office let me know you guys are running some kind of gambit against me, trying to get me to go down for your crime. Not going to happen. I’m not taking the fall for that. You left that man for dead, not me.”
“It’s over,” I say. “I know the truth. I know what you did that night.”
“You don’t know shit.” Spittle flies from his mouth when he talks. His voice may be calm, but the rest of him is shaking, filled with a cocktail of rage and fear. “You were nothing without us. Just some poor foster kid with dirty hair that nobody wanted. We took you in, gave you a family.”
“What family? You convinced Mom and Dad that I was some outcast monster before they died, telling them I’d done horrible things,” I say. “All so you could keep the inheritance to yourself like a fucking pathetic moron who couldn’t get off the tit long enough to support himself.”
Seth charges at me, his fist pulled back, but I dodge him, and he falls forward, landing on his hands and knees.
He’s been drinking, the stench of liquor wafting off his uncoordinated body.
Standing behind him, I watch as he steadies himself on his knees, but I can’t resist the urge to kick him when he’s down.
So I do.
And it feels fucking incredible.
He flies forward, landing on his face.