Page 169 of Bend

“You know you don’t have to earn your place with us, right?”

Her finger stills.

“That feels suspiciously deep for this time of night.”

I smile and brush some hair from her face. “I’m serious. You act like if you stop being useful, somebody’s going to ask why you’re still here.”

Her eyes drop to my chest.

“I don’t really know how not to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make sure I’m worth keeping around.”

I slide my hand to the back of her neck. “You already are.”

She’s quiet for a second before resting her cheek against me again.

“I’m working on believing that.”

I kiss the top of her head.

“Good. You’ve got time.”

Her hand slips into my hair, and I close my eyes, listening as her breathing slowly evens out and she drifts to sleep against my chest.

Yeah.

I could do this for the rest of my life.

Chapter Twenty

Echo

By the fourth morning in the paddock, I finally stop feeling like I’m borrowing somebody else’s job. Which is impressive, considering I woke up this morning wrapped around Wolfe with his arm heavy over my waist and absolutely no desire to move.

I’m still thinking about him more than I should be.

About how different he is when there’s no one else around. Softer somehow, even though Wolfe is already probably the gentlest person on this entire fucking team. Last night there was no rush in him, no need to prove anything or turn every touch into something bigger than it was. He was just warm and patient and so stupidly affectionate that I’m pretty sure he spent more time kissing me than doing anything else, like having me there was enough on its own.

And afterward was somehow worse.

The way he held me against his chest. The way his fingers kept moving lazily through my hair while we talked about nothing and everything until my eyes started getting heavy. The way he kissed the top of my head when he thought I was already asleep.

Kind.

That’s the word I keep coming back to.

Wolfe is kind in a way that doesn’t feel performative. He doesn’t make a big deal out of taking care of people. He just does it, so naturally that sometimes you don’t realize how much he’s giving until you’re already standing in the middle of it.

Apparently that’s dangerous as fuck for me.

Because somewhere between falling asleep on his chest and waking up with his face buried against the back of my neck, I realized just how easy it would be to get used to him.

Maybe I already am.

I push the thought aside and look down at the setup sheet in front of me before I can make myself emotional over a man who is currently twenty feet away drinking coffee like he didn’t spend half the night making my chest feel weird.