Page 83 of Wild & Worthy

I look up at him, and for just a second, something shifts in his expression, and the teasing fades. His grip at my waist tightens slightly before he covers it with another grin. “Aww. You missed me.”

He spins me out before pulling me back in, his hand settling firmly at my waist. A shiver runs up my spine the second he touches me again, and I hate how much I’ve missed even something this simple.

“Your ego is bigger than Montana.” I grin up at him because, God help me, I did miss him—more than I want to admit. “Thank you for the burger,” I mumble.

His expression softens. “Anything for my girl.”

Something about the way he says it makes my pulse quicken. We just look at each other for a second, everything around us seeming to fade away. Then his mouth tips into a grin again, and he spins me out beneath our joined hands. I barely have time to laugh before he pulls me back, harder this time, until I land almost flush against him.

The teasing is gone from his face when I look up. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Addie.” His hand tightens slightly at my waist. “And I’m sorry you were worried. I should’ve texted you. But I knew if I did, I’d run straight out of there and come find you.” My chest squeezes at the sincerity in his voice as he brushes his knuckles softly over my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Addie. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

My heart thumps almost painfully against my ribs. I glance past his shoulder toward the crowded room, suddenly very aware of how intimate this must look. “Someone is going to see,” I whisper. It’s supposed to sound like a warning, but instead, it sounds more like a question.

Chace doesn’t even glance around the room. Something in his expression settles, as if I’ve just made up his mind for him. His hand leaves mine and slides around my waist, pulling me even closer until there isn’t an inch of space left between us. Then he cups my cheek, his thumb brushing slowly beneath my eye as he looks down at me. “I simply don’t give a fuck anymore, Addie.”

My breath catches.

“I’m done hiding this. You’re mine, and I want every damn person in this room to know it.” His gaze never leaves mine. “Eli can be pissed. Everyone else can gossip. Fuck ’em all.”

My heart is beating so hard I can feel it everywhere.

Then his expression softens, and when he speaks again, his voice is quieter. “Because I’m in love with you, Addie Dawson.”

The music is still playing. People are still talking and dancing around us. Somewhere behind him, glasses clink, and someone laughs, but all of it fades until there’s nothing left except Chace standing in front of me, holding my face in his hand like he just handed me the most vulnerable piece of himself and has no idea what I’m going to do with it.

He loves me.

Chace Walker, who has spent his entire life running from anything that makes him vulnerable, just stood in the middle of this crowded room and threw it all straight to hell.

His forehead drops against mine, and for the first time since I’ve known him, there isn’t a joke waiting behind his smile. No cocky comment. No easy way out if I don’t give him the answer he wants. “Say something, Addie.”

Does this man really think I don’t feel the same way? Like the last two months haven’t completely wrecked everything I thought I knew about myself. Like somewhere between bad country music, flat tires, morning coffee, and falling asleep wrapped around him, he didn’t become the person I needed the most?

I lift my hand to his face. “I love you too, Chace Walker.” My voice catches, but I don’t look away. “So much it fucking scares me.”

The smile that breaks across his face is barely there before his mouth crashes into mine. His arm locks around my waist and pulls me against him as he kisses me, hard and deep and without an ounce of restraint. I fist my hands in his shirt and kiss him back just as hard, not giving two shits who’s probably watching.

When Chace finally pulls away, his arms stay wrapped around me. He draws me against his chest as we fall back into the rhythm of the song, and little by little, the room starts coming back into focus around us. The music. The voices. The fact that we just kissed like that in the middle of my brother’s engagement party.

Chace presses his cheek against the top of my head, holding me close for another few seconds before his voice comes quietly beside my ear. “Thank you for loving me, Addie.”

My chest aches at the words; tears spring to my eyes as I pull back just enough to look at him. The man who sat under the stars and told me every ugly thing he was convinced would make me walk away. The man who lost his career, and the boy who lost his mother way too young.

I cup his cheek. “You’re worthy of being loved, Chace.” I hold his gaze so there’s no chance he can laugh this off or pretend I don’t mean it. “And if you ever forget that, I’ll keep reminding you. And if you still don’t get it, I will kick your ass until you do.”

Something flashes across his face, and his eyes turn glassy before he blinks it away. His mouth curves into the smallest smile before he plants another kiss on my lips.

Then his gaze shifts past my shoulder, and the softness disappears, replaced by something that looks almost amused. His arm tightens around my waist instead of dropping away.

“Brace yourself, Sunshine.”

Chapter thirty-two

Chace

This is how I die.

Eli is already making his way across the dance floor, murder written all over his face, and for about half a second I consider whether telling Addie I love her was worth getting my jaw broken.