Page 166 of Ranger's Wildflower

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The words are out before I even think about them.

Firm.

Final.

Behind me, I feel her go still.

Then—

“No.”

I turn.

Slow.

“Tessa—”

“I’m not sitting this out,” she says, stepping closer. Her voice isn’t loud—but it’s steady. “He came for me. This ends with me there.”

My jaw tightens.

“Not happening.”

Her eyes flash.

“You don’t get to decide that for me.”

“I do when it puts you in his line of fire.”

“I’m already in his line of fire!” she snaps.

Silence hits.

Hard.

Because she’s right.

And I hate it.

“I can help,” she adds, softer now. “You said he’s not thinking straight anymore. That means he’s going to make mistakes. I know him. I can read him.”

I step closer.

Too close.

“This isn’t a conversation,” I say, low.

Her chin lifts.

“It is to me.”

Damn it.

This woman—

“She’s right.”

Blaze.

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