My heart aches to think about what they did to that poor young girl. How she was brought into Jennifer’s sick game, used and abused the way that she was. Rylan reaches for me, wrapping his hand around mine and squeezes my fingers.
“I want to kill them all,” he grinds out.
I smile sadly. “I know. They would deserve it, too. They are sick, Ry. So very sick.”
He nods, releasing my hand and I watch him unfold from the car. He walks around the hood and over to my side. I follow his every move until he’s right in front of me. He extends his palm toward me, slipping my hand in his, I allow him to help me to stand. Releasing his hand, I place both of my palms on his chest and tip my head back so that I can see his eyes.
“Let’s get it over with, Rylan. Just another hurdle to jump and be done with,” I whisper.
He lowers his head, his lips pressing against mine, but not kissing me. “We’ll get done. We’ll move on. Our lives will be nothing but goodness and happiness from now on,” he murmurs. I hum against his mouth. Loving, absolutely adoring the sound of that—of every single word.
Together, hand-in-hand we walk into the sheriff’s department and I make my statement. Rylan never leaves my side, he stays glued to me while I tell the sheriff about James, Jennifer, Jacob, and Emily.
“We’ve searched their homes,” the sheriff informs us once I’m finished with my part of the story.
“And?” Rylan grunts, the first word he’s spoken this entire time.
The sheriff’s officer lifts his gaze to him. “We found about a hundred burned DVDs, all with video footage of intimate moments with others.”
My stomach twists. “Of me?” I breathe.
Rylan growls but doesn’t speak. He’s waiting to find out the truth as well. Who has seen me having sex with James? The entire department? The entire town. Rylan’s hand wraps around my knee and I expect him to squeeze me hard, but he doesn’t. He gives me a gentle flex of his fingers and I turn my head to look over at him.
“Just a hurdle, sweetheart,” he mumbles.
I inhale deeply before letting out a heavy sigh and nod in agreement. It’s just another hurdle. Just something we have to go through before we can get to the sweet center of life’s cake. Looking back at the sheriff I wait for his answer.
“We didn’t watch them all. They’re labeled with girl’s names. They go back to when they were in college. Hopefully we’ll just be able to store them all away and they will never see the light of day,” he explains.
“How will that happen?” I ask.
“If they take a deal and this never goes to trial then there will be no sense in combing through the evidence. We should know fairly soon. They’ve already been arrested. Now we just let the attorneys do their jobs,” he says. “You’re free to go for now, if you move, please let someone know. That way we can get ahold of you if it does go to trial, or if we need more information.”
“Thanks, Wyatt?” Rylan asks as he stands. He holds his hand out for me again, and without hesitation, I take it. I want out of this building, away from this town, and I’m not sure if I will ever look back.
“Self-defense, corroborated self-defense,” he states.
“We are moving, but not too far, just to Fredericksburg. Going over there now to look at a few places,” Rylan offers.
I look up to him in surprise but don’t voice that surprise. The sheriff thanks us, and Rylan guides both of us out of the station. I don’t say anything, still shocked that he said we were going to look for places today. Rylan starts to drive, and I just look at him from the corner of my eye.
RYLAN
She’s watching me. She’s confused, and I know that I should explain some things to her, but I don’t. I want this to be a surprise. The simple rose gold band in my pocket is burning a hole. I want it on her finger, and I want her to have my last name as soon as fucking possible. I’m an impatient fuck like that.
Driving through the long stretch of green grass lined roads, I make my way toward the most romantic place that I could think of. It may not mean much to most people, but Enchanted Rock is absolutely spectacular.
I wish that we could climb to the top, but I’m not sure Channing could make it, and if she did it would be going against doctor’s orders. No way does she need to scale the side of a gigantic granite fucking rock after the night that she had.
Pulling up to the window, I pay the attendant and continue through the gates. The place is pretty empty today, though there are a few families milling around. Nothing like I’ve seen it in the past. Parking near the giant rock, I shift the car into park.
“Rylan?” Channing asks, speaking for the first time since we’ve left the sheriff’s station.
I don’t respond to her. Instead, I climb out of the car, walk around to her side and help her out. Once she’s standing next to me, I slip my arm around her waist and tug her against my side. “We’re going to go for a little walk. We need some fresh air,” I say.
Honestly, I don’t know if she needs fresh air, but I know that I do. I seem to crave it more now than I ever did before I was locked up. Maybe it’s the stilted prison walls that makes me crave this free air, maybe it’s everything that’s been happening—hell if I know. The world smelled and felt different while I was on the inside. Now, freedom, it has a fucking taste to it. I love it.
“I can’t climb that thing, I tried in high school once. I couldn’t do it then, and I definitely cannot do it now,” Channing announces.
I chuckle, pulling her closer against my side. “I know, sweetheart. I don’t expect you to. I just, I set up some apartment appointments. They aren’t the best options. I wish that I could afford better for you,” I ramble. I’m nervous, so goddamn nervous that she’s going to turn me down.
Channing’s arm slides around my back and I feel her hand grip my waist. “I would live anywhere as long as I was with you,” she says in a soft voice.
I guide us toward the two-mile loop around Enchanted Rock. We walk in silence, her words hanging in the air. She would live anywhere with me. Goddamn, I hope that what she says is true. At this point, we’ll probably be living in her car. I don’t make shit for money, and we have a baby on the way. But, it’s just a hurdle, and we will jump it and come out on the other side. I know it—without a doubt.
Once we’re a bit down the trail, I pull her over to the side and off of the main path. There’s nobody else around and this seems like as good a time as any. Shoving my hand in my pocket, I pull the small box out and slowly sink to my knee. She gasps, I lift my eyes to hers just in time to watch her cover her mouth with her hand.
“Rylan,” her voice trembles.
I shake my head, my hair moving around me, reminding me that I probably should have had a cut. “Love you, Channing. I hope that you would be willing to live with me anywhere, always, and forever. Marry me, sweetheart,” I say, opening the box and cringing slightly.
The ring isn’t anything I thought I would give to the woman I love. I wish that I could buy her diamonds, but the fact is that I can’t. I don’t know that I ever will be able to, either. She’s quiet as her eyes water and tears fall down her cheeks. She slowly moves her hand off of her mouth and holds it out in front of me.
“Of course I’ll marry you, Rylan,” she breathes.
I take the ring out of the box and slowly slide it onto her finger before I stand to my feet. Cupping her cheeks with my palms, I hold her, lowering my face and pressing my mouth against hers. My tongue tastes her tears, my fingers feel her body trembling as she cries and it’s the best moment of my entire fucking life—so far.
Every day with Channing just keeps getting fucking better. The hurdles, those are just roadblocks, but none of them have stopped us from breathing, from moving through life together, from falling deeper in love with one another.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
RYLAN
We’re on the third apartment of the day. It’s just as shitty as the other two. I cannot put my family up h
ere. There are some really great places in this town, unfortunately, we can’t afford any of them, and it makes me feel like shit. Climbing into the front seat of Channing’s car, I rest my forehead against the steering wheel.
“Maybe I shouldn’t transfer here. Maybe we can just move to Burnet. I know we can afford something there, and I know that I can continue to commute with Wyatt,” I mumble.
“Do you think that’s far enough away?” she asks.
I grunt. Another planet isn’t far enough away from James and his fucked up family. But they’re gone, and they won’t be free anytime soon.
“Let me call Wyatt. Maybe we can meet up at his place tonight. This isn’t going to work out here though. I don’t want you to have to work, and if we move here it wouldn’t be an option, then when the baby comes, I don’t know what we would do because there’s no way that we could afford daycare,” I explain.
“Okay,” Channing exhales.
Reaching across the console, I wrap my fingers around her thigh, and I give her a squeeze. “Hey, sweetheart,” I call. Slowly, she turns her face toward me. I give her a smile and shake my head. “Hurdle, Channing. Nothing but a hurdle.”
That earns me a twitch of her lips and a nod. Starting the car, I head back toward Gallup. Wyatt will be able to help me, I know that he will. I know that I rely on him too much, more than I should, but I also know that he’ll always be there for advice.
“Would you be happy to stay close to Gallup?” Channing asks a few minutes later.
Thinking about her words, I clear my throat. “I would like to stay closer to Wyatt,” I admit. “My parents, not so much.”
“Yeah, me too. I like Wyatt and his friends,” she murmurs. “They feel like family.”
I lift my chin. “They do,” I agree. Wyatt’s friends all feel more like family than any of my actual fucking blood, aside from Wyatt himself. “Do you want to stay?” I chance asking.
Channing places her hand on mine. It’s cool, soft and gentle.
She lets out a long sigh. “I do. I think you need the stability of Wyatt, of the work you do together. I think you need these good people around you, and I do too. We have had some crazy shit happen the past few weeks, we need calm.”
Driving down the country highway, I look at the empty space around us, the grass and trees. I need the rural life. It’s not just what I’m used to, it’s what I need to be sane. Even though Fredericksburg isn’t huge, it’s big compared to Gallup. I don’t know if I’m ready for that, Channing is right. I need the stability of having Wyatt with me. Call me clingy or whatever the fuck, I don’t really care, I just know what I need. Wyatt and Channing are my rocks right now.
I think about the situation, the pros and cons the entire drive to Wyatt’s. When I pull into the driveway, I’m happy to see his truck parked in its usual spot. Climbing out of the car, I jog around to the passenger side to help Channing out. Together we walk up to Wyatt’s front porch.
The last time I was here, I was practically crawling on my knees begging my woman to come back home. Now she’s my fiancée. We haven’t talked about a wedding date yet, but I’m hoping she agrees with me, about doing it sooner rather than later. I need her to have my name, I need this baby to be born as mine, with my last name. I don’t know why I fucking need it so damn badly, but I do.
Channing lifts her hand, placing her finger on the bell and pushes down. A few moments later the door opens, and Wyatt is standing in front of us. He frowns as he looks at me, then his eyes soften when he sees Channing. He doesn’t say anything, just steps to the side and allows us inside of his home.
“I wanted to talk to you, well, we wanted to talk to you,” I mumble.
“How are you feelin’, darlin’?” he asks Channing.
I watch as she sits down on the sofa, looking up at him with a smile. Her bruising is still on her face but faded even from just this morning. I’m glad for it, I’m not sure how much longer I can stand to look at the marks James made on her gorgeous body.
“I’m doing well. Baby is fine, statement has been made. Then Rylan surprised me this afternoon.” She smiles holding up her hand.
Wyatt looks from her hand, then over to me and grins. “Congratulations.” His voice is soft and gentle, sincere.
“We went to look for housing,” I say, beginning to drop the bomb.
“And?” he asks when I’ve stayed quiet for too long.
I let out a heavy sigh. “And, we’re fucked. We can’t afford anything, not on what I make and I want Channing to be able to stay home when the baby comes, so we need to live off of my income only, even if she found a job and worked for a while,” I explain.
“What are ya thinkin’?
Clearing my throat, I look up to my cousin. “Housing is more affordable around here. I can probably find something up the road in Burnet, and you drive right through there on your way to the yard…” I mumble, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“What about everything around here, the people? Everything?” he asks.
Channing takes this opportunity to speak. “James, Jennifer, and Jacob are gone, at least for a while. Burnet is a little bigger, but we’re only ten minutes away. You’ll be able to work together still, which I know Rylan enjoys,” she offers. “The only people we would have to worry about are our parents, and honestly, unless they want money, they don’t really come sniffing around,” she shrugs.
I chuckle. She’s spot fucking on with that too. Wyatt looks from Channing to me. “It’s that expensive? I thought since it was bigger it’d be less,” he mumbles.
Shaking my head, I lift my hand and run my fingers through my hair. “Cousin, we found a one bedroom that would eat up three-quarters of my monthly pay, that’s it and it was a roach-infested hovel.”
Wyatt laughs but it sounds strained, he lifts his hand and runs his fingers through his hair. “I guess it’s good we didn’t replace you on our shift,” he grins.
“Seriously?” I ask.
He lifts his chin. “Seriously. I didn’t want you to go.”
I take a step closer to my cousin and wrap my arm around him, slapping him on the back with my hug. “Thanks Wyatt,” I grunt as I take a step back.
“You happy and sober, that’s all I fuckin’ want,” he shrugs. “I think you got that handled though. Happy to have you stay on my crew at work. Happy to help out any way that I can.”
I smile up at my cousin. “Thanks. I’m happy as hell, Wyatt. Really fucking happy. Work tomorrow?” I ask.
“Be at the house bright and early,” he winks.
He doesn’t look like he’s the least bit affected by shooting a man, but I know him. What he had to do will plague him. He’ll think about it, and over analyze it. That’s just the man he is, even though James only had a few stitches and nothing else, it will still bother him, much more than it ever should.
CHANNING
We leave Wyatt’s, and I feel a million times better. I didn’t want to tell Rylan that those apartments were dumps. My little duplex isn’t the Taj Mahal, but it looked it compared to those places. I would live in any of them though if that’s what he wanted. I’m glad he didn’t though.
“Now we just need to find something bigger in the next town over,” I state as Rylan pulls into the driveway of the duplex.
He nods but doesn’t make a move to exit the car. He turns to me, his eyes focused and intense. I’ve never seen the determination in his gaze that is now swimming there, shining brightly. He seems ready for action.
“Marry me, next week? I get off early on Fridays. Marry me on Friday,” he demands.
It’s not a question, it’s a demand. My heart soars from his words. Ripping my gaze from his, I look down at my belly, then back up to his eyes. “Okay. Yeah,” I breathe.
He smiles, wide and his white teeth show straight and beautiful. “Channing Lindsay, I fucking love the sound of it,” he murmurs.
“Me too,” I admit.
Channing Lindsay has a special ring to it, and B
aby Lindsay does too. I wish I knew what I was having so that I could think about first names that would match the new last name. We make our way inside the house, both of us exhausted from the long day of disappointing house searches.
“What if I went into town tomorrow and got a list of places to look at in a low price range?” I ask.
He stops in the living room, slowly turning around to face me. He frowns, then smiles. “That’s right, you don’t have to work,” he points out.
I shake my head. “No, I don’t. Maybe I should go back to the diner, they would take me back, all things considered.”
Rylan quickly closes the distance between us. He wraps both of his hands around each side of my throat. His mouth quickly covers mine and his tongue invades my mouth—consumes me. I lift my hands, my fingers finding his shoulders for stability. I let out a moan and press my chest closer to his, melting into him the same way that I always do when his lips touch my own.
He rips his lips from mine, his eyes staring down at me, determined and focused. “You aren’t going back to work. You’re going to take care of you, and take care of our baby.”
My knees weaken when he says our baby, they do every time he says it that way. Our baby. I shiver, goosebumps covering my flesh. I love it, almost as much as I love him.
“Okay,” I sigh.
He grunts. “Fuck, how did I get so damn lucky? I’m the luckiest motherfucker on this goddamn planet,” he groans.
“I smile.”
It’s not him who is the lucky one. It’s me. I have a man who loves me, who cares for me, and who wants to take me and a brand new baby on. How did I find a man like him? How did I end up with him in my life. We may not have a lot of money or stuff, but we have each other and love. As sappy as it sounds, we have everything we need for the future.
Chapter Thirty
CONVICT: An Unfit Hero Novel Page 22