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I gulped, thinking of a way I could explain everything to him without throwing Tara under the bus. “Um, yeah…we left the dance to hang out with some friends. It’s not a big deal, but Tara’s having fun, and I didn’t want to drag her home early.”

“Are you okay?”

I folded in my lips, hiding the smile he couldn’t see. “I’m okay.”

“Give me the address. I’ll head out now.”

Rambling off the address, I added, “Can you park at the end of the cul-de-sac? I don’t want Tara to see your truck.”

“Yeah,” he said. “See you soon.”

Fifteen minutes later, I watched his truck roll past the house, coming to a stop a few yards away. I slung my purse and camera straps over my shoulder and made the unsteady trek over to his vehicle in my too-high heels. The taillights glowed red as engine fumes wafted around me. My heartbeats kicked up speed when I rounded the side of the truck and yanked open the passenger door.

Reed was leaning back in his seat, an elbow resting on the console as he stared out the windshield. “You’re sure Tara’s all right? I don’t need to worry?”

Ungracefully, I hopped inside, my legs twisted up in the contoured dress. Reaching over to shut the door, I settled into my seat and snapped my belt into place. “She’s fine. She’s not drinking or anything,” I told him. “She was playing pool with Josh and some friends when I left.”

His gaze dragged over to me, eyes panning up the length of my body and landing on my face. “Why did you call me?”

My jaw tightened as I pulled away from his stare. There were a thousand different reasons why I’d called him, but I only gave him one. “This guy Eric got handsy with me and I freaked out,” I confessed, my cheeks flaming. “My training instincts fired, and I sort of…kicked him.”

I was too mortified to meet his eyes.

“Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I said. “All he did was grab my arm. I overreacted.”

“No, you didn’t. Nobody has the right to ever put their hands on you without your permission. Got it?”

When I finally glanced at him, he was staring at me with conviction, with earnestness. I rubbed my lips together and nodded. “Got it.”

Our gazes held for another beat before Reed put the truck in Drive and circled around the cul-de-sac before pulling out of the subdivision. I stared out the window at the coal-black sky and shadowy moon. Trees and houses streaked by, and my chest ached as we sat in silence. I wasn’t sure what to say, how to feel…how I was allowed to feel. There were so many things that needed to be said, but my tongue was tied in knots, and so was my heart.

A few minutes ticked by, and I frowned when Reed pulled the truck into a vacant parking lot that overlooked the lake. I didn’t move, didn’t speak. I just waited, silent and still, as he killed the engine and inhaled a deep breath. My pulse pounded in my throat when I slowly turned to look at him.

His head was tilted back against the headrest, his eyes closed.

“Why did we stop?” I wondered.

There was no response for a while, and I allowed the wordless beats between us to culminate into a crescendo. My breaths were a steady soundtrack, filling the space with anxious harmonies.

As we sat there, Reed lifted his hand from his lap and carried it over to mine. He took it inside his big, calloused palm, then intertwined our fingers together, squeezing gently, and I swore, I knew—this was the moment I fell in love with him.

My eyes watered as the feeling siphoned every last drop of hopelessness out of me.

It was a perfect, frozen-in-time blip.

The best one yet.

I stared at his profile as his eyes fluttered open, his chest heaving with emotion as his brows creased and his jaw tightened.

Reed finally turned his head to look at me as he brushed a thumb across my knuckles. “I needed a moment with you,” he said, every word braided with torment. “Just for a minute.”

My body trembled, caught between knowing I should remain in my seat but wanting to leap across the console into his arms. “You have me.”

It was a wicked lie. He’d never truly have me. These little moments were all we were allowed.

I let him hold my hand as twilight faded into night and stars twinkled above us like tiny lanterns. The lake’s surface sparkled in the distance, reminding me of the first time we’d met—when I’d been lost, and Reed had unknowingly saved me.