Page 187 of Ranger's Wildflower

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“When?”

“When it catches up.”

I stare ahead at nothing for a second, jaw tight.

Then I look back at her.

“You want the clean version or the real one?”

A faint flicker touches her mouth. “The real one.”

Of course she does.

I nod once.

“Sometimes I can’t shut my head off. Sometimes I hear something out of place and I’m halfway to a weapon before I even think. Sometimes I go days feeling normal and then one little thing hits wrong and I’m right back there.” I pause. “Sometimes I don’t sleep much.”

Her expression changes.

Softens.

Not pity.

Thank God, not pity.

Just understanding.

“Is that why you’re always watching everything?”

“Part of it.”

“And the other part?”

I look at her.

No way around this one.

“The other part is you.”

Her breath catches.

I don’t take it back.

Don’t soften it.

Don’t look away.

Because it’s true.

Since the day she started walking past me like I wasn’t worth her attention, some part of me had been tracking her. Watching. Noticing. Wanting.

And now that she’s here, now that I know what it feels like to almost lose her—

Yeah.

There’s no pretending otherwise.

“Tessa,” I say, voice low. “You matter to me.”

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