Someone Like You (29 page)

“Dad!” Abby cried. “Dad, it's okay.”

Everyone in her family stared at her, but all she could see was Pierce. He stood in the pouring rain, leaning against the door frame. When he saw her, he straightened and met her gaze with a mixture of relief and ambivalence. “Hi, Abby.” He was beyond wet, he was soaked through. His navy hoodie and jeans were completely saturated. Raindrops dripped down from his dark hair into his face, slick with water.

“Pierce,” she said on a shocked breath. “Why are you here?”

“I had to see you,” he said, his voice weary. His bright blue eyes locked on her, even as the rain drenched him further. “I had to talk to you. I couldn't wait until the banquet. I'm going out of my mind.”

“You
are
out of your mind,” Jesse growled, “if you think I'm going to let you into my house after you've just insulted me and how you hurt my daughter.”

“Dad,” Abby said sharply. “Stop. Just let me talk to him.”

“I'll stay right here,” Pierce said, the rain coming down on him without mercy. “I won't come in, okay? I don't care. I just need to talk to you, Abby. Please.”

“I like watching him beg,” Fiona snarled from the back of the room.

“Oh stop it,” Carolyn said, looking from her husband to her older daughter. “Both of you. Come on, let's give them room. They need to talk.”

“You forgive him,” Fiona warned her sister, “and you're a fool.”

“Shut up, Fiona!” Abby snapped.

“Let's go,” Carolyn said, grabbing Jesse's arm and dragging him to the kitchen. She threw a glare at Fiona. “You too. Now.”

Fiona shot Pierce the dirtiest look she could muster, then followed her parents into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

“God, they both hate my guts,” he said.

“So what? Come in,” Abby said from a few feet inside the room.

“No.” Pierce shook his head. “I told your father I wouldn't, and I'm not.”

“You're soaking wet!” she protested.

“Yup. And that won't change if I come in. So instead of pissing off your dad any further and making a puddle on your carpet, can we just talk, please?”

She stepped toward him. A roll of thunder boomed, and a flash of lightning lit the dark sky behind him for a moment. Drops slid down the sides of his face, ran off his hair into his eyes, and he blinked them away. “Go ahead,” she said. “I'm listening.”

“Everything I texted you yesterday, I meant it,” he began earnestly. “I was a first-class asshat, I was rude and obnoxious, and I got mean. I really thought I'd be doing you a favor to let you go, Abby. I know that sounds stupid and selfish, but at the time, it was what I thought.”

“I know all that,” she said softly.

He blinked. “You do?”

She nodded. “I knew it then. Go on.”

He stared for a long beat before continuing, “I was wrong, of course. I knew it the second you turned away. I didn't want to lose you. I just . . .” His eyes fell to the ground and he shoved his hands into the soaked pockets of his hoodie. “I didn't want to drag you into my shitstorm of a family.”

“I wasn't planning to date all of them,” Abby said calmly. “I was only planning to be with you.”

“That's not all . . . I was afraid after what my father told you about me, that you wouldn't want to be with me anymore.” His voice was low, somber. “So I pushed you away before you could do it to me.”

She swallowed hard. “If you would've just said that to me, I would've told you that you were being thickheaded. I didn't like what I heard, but it didn't make me want to stop being with you.”

His eyes lifted to hers.

“How about giving me a little credit?” she asked. “Or, giving me the option to make my own choice? You chose for me, for both of us. And you were so damn nasty.”

He winced. “I know I was. I'm so sorry for that. I was a flaming mess that night. I can't apologize enough for how I spoke to you.”

“You ever talk to me like that again,” Abby warned, “and I'll hand you your goddamn head. You hear me?”

His blue eyes blazed fire as he said slowly, “Talking in the future tense . . . implies there will be a future.”

“I knew you weren't just a dumb jock,” she said, mischief in her tone and on her features.

A short laugh escaped him as he stared at her. “So . . . you're saying you'll give me another chance?”

“I've been considering it,” she said. “But I need more to go on than apologies.” She put her hands on her hips. “Give me a good reason why I should take you back.”

Exhausted and desperate, water dripping down his face, he stared into her eyes, holding her gaze even as the cold rain battered him. “Because I'm helplessly in love with you.”

Her hands fell from her hips. She swallowed hard and gaped at him. “What?”

“I love you,” he repeated, louder this time. He licked the water from his lips and straightened up again. “I had to come here . . . to see you . . . to tell you that in person, with you looking into my eyes, so you'd believe me. I couldn't wait another hour to tell you.” He moved like he wanted to step toward her, then thought better of it and stilled. “I've been making myself sick this week, knowing how I hurt you, disappointed you. I promised you I wouldn't and I did. I
hate
that I did.”

“Me too,” she murmured.

“I'm very, very far from perfect,” Pierce said. “And I'll probably hurt you again, in small and unintentional ways, because I'm human. But I won't hurt you in the big ways, not like this. Never again. I can't. Seeing you hurt wrecks me, much less knowing I caused it. Because I love you.”

Even with rain dripping into his eyes, he saw his words were getting through to her. Saw that her eyes were shining now, glassy with tears, and the telltale flush was on her face.
God,
he thought,
please let her believe me
.

“Those are beautiful words,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “But how do I know you mean them?”

“You don't,” he admitted. “You have to trust me.”

“I did that already.”

“I know. And I fucked it up. But . . .” He shook his head and raked his hands through his soaked hair, brushing it back from his face. “All I can do is promise I'll do what I can to be the man you need. Because being that type of man is what
I
need to be. For myself, and for you.”

She sucked in a breath, obviously taken aback. “Don't change for
me,
” she said.

“I'm not. I'm changing for me. So I can do better. Be better. And I want you at my side.” His fingers twitched, as if he wanted to reach out and touch her, but he didn't. “Abby, I'm so in love with you. You . . . you're it. You're the one for me.” Again he ran his hands through his wet hair instead, pushing it back off his forehead with exasperation. “I've never felt about anyone like I do about you, so I'm not going to give you up without a hell of a fight. I've been fighting all week, and I'll keep doing it if I have to. Your sister was right, I'm begging here. That's fine. I'll beg. I screwed up, and you're worth it.”

Abby's eyes were wide and her skin had paled as she stared at him. The rain was like a sheet, coming down heavier than before. Raindrops slid down Pierce's face and thunder rumbled overhead. His eyes raked over her, searching for a hint of an opening. “I know I'm asking a lot of you. But please forgive me, Abby. If you'll just give this another chance . . . I know you're still mad at me, baby, and you should be. I know I let you down. But I swear to God, I mean every word I'm saying.” The same lock of hair, heavy and dark with rain, fell into his eyes again, and again he pushed it back and blinked water out of his eyes. “This week, I finally realized . . . well, a lot of things. I want to share them with you. But here and now, the bottom line is, I want you. I want
us.
I want a life with you. Only you.”

She could barely breathe. Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, she stared at him as the rain came down and his words sunk in. “Okay,” she finally said, her voice raspy. “All right. I forgive you. I believe you.” He reached out to touch her cheek. His hand was cold and wet, but she still leaned into his palm, nuzzling. “We still have a lot to discuss. To smooth out. But I'll give this another chance. I want us too, and I've missed you . . .” The rain came down and a crack of lightning lit the sky. She grasped his wet face with both hands. “The thing is, God help me, I love you, too.”

With a small moan of relief, he snaked his arms around her, yanking her against him for hungry, passionate kisses. His mouth was warm, demanding, possessing her and claiming her. Soaking her with his waterlogged clothes, he held her close to kiss her over and over as the rain drenched them both.

Finally, she pulled back. His hands stayed on her waist, unwilling to let go. She looked down at the front of her dress, now wet and clinging to her body. “Great, now we're both soaked.”

He glanced at how the material clung to her breasts and grinned. “I happen to think it's a brilliant look for you.”

With a snort, she shook her head. “Well for Pete's sake, get in the house. We have to get you dry. Don't want you to get sick, and you must be freezing—”

“Abby.” He pulled her close again and locked her in his arms. He gazed down into her eyes, searching, as the rain continued to hammer them both. “Do you really forgive me?” Rivulets streamed down their faces as another crash of thunder sounded.

“Yes,” she said.

“You're really willing to give me another chance?”

“I said I was. Don't question it so much. You have to trust me more too.”

Lightning crackled and brightened the darkness for a few seconds.

“You're right. But I need to know what changed. And where we go from here. Because I know I broke your trust, let you down.” He searched her eyes. “So I need to know if there's anything left. If you still trust me at all. If not, we don't stand a chance.”

She met his gaze, saw the concern and deep remorse, and locked her hands behind his neck. “I still trust you enough to try to build it back up. Because I understood why you were pushing me out the door. I knew you were hurting. People lash out when they're hurting. So hearing your apologies, you acknowledging what you did and fully owning it . . . that goes a long way.”

“And I promise, I swear, that's not going to happen again.”

“It can't. Or I'll be gone, for good next time.”

“There won't be a next time. I've learned from this one.”

“I hope so,” she whispered.

His hands, wet and cold, swept her now-damp hair back from her face. “I've got a much better handle on all that now. I'm going to be more solid from here on in. I'm a work in progress, but I want to do the work. I'll get there. I just want you with me as I do. Take the journey with me, Abby.”

She arched a brow and joked dryly, “You're not going to get boring on me now, are you?”

“Baby, that's just not possible.” He winked.

“Glad to see your ego is still fully intact.”

“Oh, I don't know about that, Coach. It took a good beating this week. And with good reason.” He kissed her lips, lingering to sip from them. “So . . . are we . . . okay?”

She nodded and pressed herself closer to him. “I think so. We will be.”

He blinked rain out of his beautiful blue eyes, but the look there was one she'd never forget. An incredible mixture of relief, elation, and devotion. It made her heart melt and then soar. It was an incredible feeling, to know the one you loved actually loved you back. That you wanted to be together, and were willing to do whatever it took to make that happen, despite obstacles.

“I love you so much, Abby,” he said, moving a lock of her wet hair back from her eyes. “I've never been in love before. You're the first . . . and, if I have my way, the only.”

She regarded him silently, her eyes traveling over his features.
The only.
She liked the sound of that. Her hand came up to sweep his darkly wet hair back off his forehead, as he'd just done to her. “I love you too, Pierce.” They held each other close as the rain came down on them, kissing for another minute before she felt his body shiver from the cold. Then she demanded, “Now get in the damn house before you catch pneumonia.”

He smiled radiantly at her, dripping and soaked through, his bright blue eyes twinkling with adoration and a hint of mischief. “I'll come in, but if I do, I'm warning you. You're stuck with me. Like, probably for the rest of your life. I have big plans for us.” His hands slid down her sides and rested at her waist. “So put me into your planner. In ink. Even write me onto your recently ditched clipboard if it makes you feel better. Okay, Coach?”

Her heart felt like it expanded ten sizes, threatening to burst from happiness. She caressed his cheek, thought of what could lie ahead for them, and smiled broadly, with excitement and joy. “Okay. You know how much I like plans, so I can't wait to hear about yours. Consider yourself in the planner
and
on the clipboard.” Again she linked her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his. “I'll even use the red pen.”

“Oooh.” His smile was downright naughty. “You know how hot your red pen makes me.”

Love the Harrisons?

 

Keep an eye out for

 

'TIS THE SEASON
,

 

on sale in October 2016.

 

 

And don't miss

 

MORE THAN YOU KNOW
,

 

the first book in the series.

 

Available now
from Zebra Shout.