Page 112 of Run
She shakes her head as he comes toe-to-toe with her. “Give me something, Sophie. Anything. I’ll take anything I can get. Feed me scraps!”
No one speaks as Sophie eyes him warily. “Why?” she whispers. “What do you want with me?”
With a bloody hand, Gino brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “I want you to make me laugh some more. I want to hear you reason some more about whether Kayce or Rip makes a better cowboy. I want to know what crazy things your students said to you today. I want to get close enough to count the freckles in your eyes.” He somehow steps even closer. “And I want you to know that you are absolutely worth the trouble.”
My hand is on my throat as my eyes dart to Lizzie’s and see she is in the same position as me. I vaguely register Ethan dipping down at my side as he whispers “Breathe” in my ear.
There is a long stretch of silence as we all wait anxiously.
Oh, Soph, please don’t push this one away.
Steeling herself, Sophie clears her throat, looks down at the ground, then back up at Gino. “You’re an idiot,” she declares, before stepping forward, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling his lips down to hers.
Knox cheers as Tommy whistles, and Lizzie and I almost collapse from holding our breath for so long. Beside me, Ethan says, “Nice.”
Sophie pulls away and, keeping her hand around Gino’s neck and not looking away from him, addresses Ethan. “Ari’s going home with you, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He snakes his arms around me from behind.
“Let’s go,” she says to Gino, who takes her hand and leads her away.
I immediately turn and face Ethan. “He better not hurt her, or I will gut him like a fish,” I promise.
“You and me both,” he replies.
Ethan slings his arm around my shoulder as we head toward his Jeep, and after a few steps he stops abruptly. He looks me up and down. “This whole night you’ve been walking around on your own. I didn’t even … It’s like you never even got hurt.”
I think about it. “Yeah. You know, I forgot about it myself, with all the drama.”
Ethan steps up to me and takes my face in his hands, kissing me sweetly. “Ariel Miller,” he says against my lips. “You amaze me at every turn. And I love the shit out of you.”
Oh, baby, you have no idea.
CHAPTER 37
ARI
“No! I said stop!” Ethan’s voice startles me awake.
“Ethan!” I jostle him, sitting up with his sleeping form in my lap.
“Don’t … Stop!” His hands fist the sheets and his face thrashes back and forth over my stomach while his legs kick at nothing.
“Wake up!” I shake him.
The door flies open and Fonz comes running in. “Ethan! Wake up, man. You’re dreaming.”
He grabs Ethan by the shoulders, rolls him onto his back, and shakes him hard until he gasps and shoots upright.
“It’s OK,” Fonz says, holding Ethan’s face in his hands. “It’s OK. We’re here. You were dreaming.”
“Ari?” He whips around and pats the bed sheets as he searches for me.
“Here.” I crawl to him. “I’m right here.”
He grabs me and curls his body around mine again as he mumbles something about bikes or cars. “Shhhh,” I soothe, running a hand over his face repeatedly. I look up to Fonz, then back down to Ethan, only to find him sleeping again.
“I’m gonna get him a bottle of water,” Fonz says. “I’ll be right back.”
