Page 290 of Wild Card 13

The ice was brutally cold through the wet fabric of my dress. My curls fell forward into my face. My bracelets clinked against the sculpture. One heel skidded in the growing puddle beneath me.

For one wild second, I was plastered against a frozen cat in the back of an old pickup, hair ruined, makeup fighting for its life, tights soaked, shoes possibly dead, and Ty Burns driving fifteen miles an hour through Northbend like we were escorting a dignitary made of questionable water.

The absurdity hit me in the chest and cracked something open. A laugh burst out of me. Real. Uncontrolled. Ugly enough at the edges to be honest. I tried to stop it, which only made it worse.

Ty looked in the mirror. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I gasped.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Are you crying?"

"Maybe."

"From the ice?"

"From my life."

His chuckle joined mine, warm and full and so familiar that it almost hurt. Betsy crawled down the street. Frozen Bento stared over Northbend in frozen disappointment. I clung to him and laughed until my ribs ached.

And in the middle of it all, the truth settled in deep.

I was in love with every version of Ty Burns.

The boy who had made me feel free.

The man who brought coffee without asking me to thank him for it.

The player who had learned restraint.

The grandson who made breakfast.

The teammate who got quiet instead of cruel.

The man who could drive an old truck fifteen miles an hour through town because a pregnant bride deserved to smile at a frozen version of her cat.

The realization should have scared me.

Instead, for one strange, shining second, it relieved me.

There you are, my heart seemed to say.Finally.

Ty pulled into the service lot behind North Line with the carefulprecision of a man carrying priceless glass, or several hundred pounds of melting cat. He parked near the rear entrance, cut the engine, and climbed out fast.

"You alive?" he asked, coming around to the tailgate.

I wiped at my cheek with the back of my hand. It did nothing. I was beyond repair. "Barely."

His gaze moved over me. His jaw flexed. "I am sorry.”

"Do I look tragic?" I leaned one hand on Frozen Bento's shoulder. "Do not lie."

"You look..." His mouth twitched. "Like the most committed woman in this wedding party."

"That's a terrible compliment."