My eyes met Ty’s. “I was pretty fucked up after it happened. I didn’t want to leave my apartment; I didn’t want to see anyone who was connected to him in any way. I lived in seclusion until Lincoln forced me out of the house one day and took me to see a therapist. She saved my life . . . truly, she did. I haven’t had that dream since I moved to Montana . . . until tonight.”
Ty looked down and then back up at me. “Do you think it was because I was here?”
My eyes widened in shock. “No. Not at all.”
Honestly, I had no idea if his presence had anything to do with the dream’s returning, but I certainly wouldn’t put that on Ty.
“Is it because you’ve moved on?”
“I haven’t moved on with anyone, and even if I had, I wouldn’t feel guilty. I know now I deserve happiness, and I know John would’ve wanted that.”
“But you have moved on. You’re with Channing.”
Laughing, I rolled my eyes. “I’m not with Channing. For fuck’s sake, Ty, I went out to dinner and to a bar with him. Did a bit of dancing, and that was it.”
Something that looked like anger flashed over his face.
I studied him, narrowing my eyes. “Did Channing tell you something happened between us? Because nothing did.”
“You kissed him.”
I jerked my hands out of his, causing a sharp pain in my lower back. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “I saw you kissing him; then he followed you into your house.”
“Are you stalking me or something? Oh my God, was that you on the horse that night?”
Ty rubbed the back of his neck, then stood and walked over to the fire. “I happened to see you that night when he brought you home—that’s all.”
“Well, you obviously only saw part of what happened,” I said, slowly getting up from my sitting position while I ignored the pain and walked over to him. He put a few more logs on the fire. “What you didn’t see was him leaving a few minutes later, after he used the restroom. Nothing happened.”
“You don’t owe me any explanations, Kaylee.”
I stared at him. Confusion whipped around my head, making me feel dizzy. I wanted to hit him. This man was going to drive me insane. One moment he acted jealous; the next he acted like he didn’t care. Which one was it? Because I was sort of getting whiplash here.
“Then why did you bring it up, Ty?”
“I was only trying to help, by telling you it’s okay to move on.”
With a scoff, I grabbed his arm and made him turn around to face me. “I don’t need you or anyone telling me that. I know it’s okay to move on. The only problem is, the guy I want to move on with has zero interest in me.”
Ty’s blue eyes turned dark with lust, and a bubble of desire flitted through my stomach. I wanted him to kiss me more than I wanted my next breath.
Something in the air changed between us, and I knew he felt it as much as I did.
He took a step closer, his lips parted slightly, his eyes focused on my mouth, then up to my eyes and back to my mouth.
Kiss me, Ty! For the love of all things, kiss me!
Right as he leaned in closer, there was a loud cracking sound on the front porch.
Ty and I both turned to look. He moved away from me and walked to the front door while I closed my eyes and cursed internally. The universe was trying to tell me something. Maybe it was time I actually listened to it.
“Holy shit!” he gasped.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked, making my way over to him.
“I don’t know how much snow has fallen, but the weight of the snow on your porch roof caused part of it to collapse.”
“Collapse!” I shouted, looking out the window. He was right: the steps were now blocked with part of the porch roof and more snow than I had seen in a long time. “Well, shit, it’s a good thing I haven’t bought the place from Lincoln yet.”
Ty turned and looked at me, a smile on his face. He looked so young and carefree in that moment that I couldn’t help but smile back. Then we both laughed. Actual belly laughs at the absurdity of our situation.
It felt so amazing to share this moment with him. It reminded me of when we had found out Lincoln was pregnant. Ty had hugged me and spun me around, both of us giddy, knowing that we knew something neither Lincoln nor Brock knew yet. Lincoln had been only a few weeks pregnant and had fainted in the hospital after Brock had been hurt when a bull charged him after a ride for a charity at a local rodeo. They’d run a pregnancy test, and it had come back positive. I might have told the hospital a little white lie that I was Lincoln’s sister. That was how Ty and I found out about the baby.