The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2) (22 page)

My childhood was not a good one, and I never knew what the word love meant until I was a teenager. I love Garrett, he’s my best friend. I love the guys, they’ve had my back forever, they’ve seen me do things that should have disgusted them, but instead they’ve always picked me up when I fall. I love the Thompson’s, without them, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I would be thirty-thousand times more fucked up and on the streets with a needle in my arm.

But you, you…you’ve taught me a different kind of love. One that I never hoped I would know. I didn’t dare, because I knew I wasn’t worthy and I knew that I wasn’t capable. Michelle, you blew that notion, that assumption, out of the water. It was gradual and it took me a while to realize what the catch in my breath, the double beat of my heart was whenever I saw you, but never doubt it’s not felt. Never doubt that it’s not there. I may not be conventional, and I may not be able to tell you the words in person yet—I’m working on it. I will always be a work in progress, and I need you to understand that.

I love you. I love everything about you.

I’m so sorry you wondered, because there should not be one sliver of doubt in your mind.

Jared

It was hard to see through the tears that clouded her eyes, and it was even harder to swallow past the tightness in her throat, but she did it. Shell picked up the phone and placed the most important call of her life, and when he picked up, she knew that everything wouldn’t be perfect all the time, but she knew that with him she could handle it. As long as he loved her, she could do anything in the world.

*  *  *

G
arrett didn’t know what was in the letter he’d handed Shell, and he didn’t wait around to find out. That was between her and Jared. He’d done what he could in trying to convince Jared that he needed to let the woman in his life know exactly what she meant to him. Other than that, he was staying out of it. Jared was the type of man to do what he wanted to do, and Garrett knew that. He only hoped he’d done what he should have.

Quietly, he made his way into Hannah’s room and shut the door. It was still very early in the morning; he’d flown all night but had managed to get some sleep on the plane. There was nothing he enjoyed more than to wrap up with her, though, so he was going to take complete advantage of the situation. He’d purposely packed a bunch of DVDs and some snacks in the bag he’d left out in the lounge area. They were going to relax if it killed them. They didn’t do much of it, always on the go, always trying to fit in this and that. He was going to lie down with her and make sure she rested, no matter how bored he got.

Taking off everything but his boxer briefs, he quickly got under the covers and pulled her to him. A sigh of contentment escaped him when Hannah molded her body to his and clasped his hand in her sleep. He couldn’t wait when this was where they would both be for longer than a few nights here and there. He rested better with her around; he felt more at peace and more at ease when she was around. Garrett wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he needed this—this grounded him in ways that other things never had. Without her, he could feel himself slipping into bad habits. He was drinking too much, and when that happened, he was an asshole. The relief of knowing that they only had a week of this left was astounding. Curling his arm around her head, he got as close as he could and inhaled the smell that was Hannah. His mind, heart, and soul finally at peace, he drifted off.

*     *     *

Hannah inhaled deeply, stretching against the sheets on her bed. Something was different from when she’d gone to sleep. It was warmer and she felt safe. Glancing down, she saw tattoos and a strong forearm around her waist. Sometime while she slept, Garrett had come in. With a smile stretching across her face, she ran her fingers over his forearm, tracing some of the ink there. She would never get over how much she loved that about him. Behind her, he jerked at her touch.

“Han?” His voice was deep with sleep, her favorite way.

“Yeah.” She rolled over in his arms so that she could see his face. “When did you get here?” she asked, reaching up to place a kiss on his jawline. It wasn’t smooth, so she knew he hadn’t been there long enough to shave.

“Early this morning. Shell let me in. Everything just happened to work out right, and I was able to meet the bus,” he explained, running a hand over his face to try and help him wake up.

“I’m glad you’re here.” She squeezed his hip and pushed her way closer to him.

He smiled against her hair, closing his eyes against the sunlight that was coming in between her blinds. “I was hoping to surprise you. I didn’t expect to fall asleep, but I guess I needed it more than I thought.”

She had the feeling that he didn’t sleep any better than she did when they were apart. This was taking a toll on the both of them, and she would be glad when it was done. They both needed a break. Hannah ran her hands up his stomach and chest before clasping her hands around his neck, burrowing her face into the space where his shoulder allowed her to fit perfectly. “You probably did. This hasn’t been hard on only me. I’m glad you were able to rest. What time is it?”

He turned so that he could see the clock and laughed. “Almost one in the afternoon. Damn.”

“Good thing this is a travel day, huh?”

“Well I had planned to keep you in bed all day anyway,” he threw out off-handedly. “Not like that,” he laughed when she smirked at him. “I brought a ton of DVDs, and I loaded my iPad with games. We are relaxing today.”

“Sex is relaxing,” she whispered against his ear, snaking her tongue out to try and tempt him.

“No, we always do that when we’re alone together.” He pushed her away. “And then you go away or I go away, and it sucks. We have a week left, we can last. We’re watching movies and playing games today.”

She pursed her lips and removed her hands from around his neck “If you say so.”

“I do.”

He was so adamant about it that she couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine, so do tell, what are we going to do first?”

“First,” he said as he got up and swung his legs over the bed. “You need to eat, so I’m going to go find us something and check on Shell.”

“Wait.” She sat up, surprise in her voice. “Why are you checking on Shell? Did something happen while I was asleep?”

“Jared gave me a letter to give to her.”

Fear gripped her heart. “It wasn’t a break-up letter was it?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

“I don’t know, Hannah,” he told her as patiently as possible. “I didn’t read it before I gave it to her, and I didn’t stick around once I did give it to her. I wanted to give her some privacy, just in case it was bad, but I think it was okay. Jared and I had a talk before I left to come here. I think I explained to him what she needed to hear if he does in fact feel that way about her. He asked me to give it to her. I’ve done that, now I want to make sure she’s okay.”

He was such a good guy, such a good friend. He would do anything for anyone that asked him. It was one of the things she loved most about him. “If she needs me, will you please let me know?”

“I will,” he told her as he put his clothes back on. “I have to see this through, though. I brought it to her; I want to make sure she’s okay.”

Hannah stood up from the bed and walked over to where he stood. She carefully twined her arms around his neck and pulled him down so that she could brush her lips over his. “I know, and I love you for it.”

That wasn’t exactly what he was going for, but Garrett knew he would take it, no matter what. “Be right back.”

It was hard for her to let him go in the other room and try to take care of her friend. It went against everything that she and Shell had stood for in their relationship, but she had to acknowledge that maybe that was a part of growing up too. Maybe Garrett could now give Shell what she never could—a glimpse into what it was like to be with Jared and understand him. She had to let them do this—not only for them, but for herself too. She had to trust that Garret knew what he was doing, and she had to trust that Shell would be okay if good news or bad news didn’t come from her.

*     *     *

“Hey,” Garrett started as he walked into the sitting area. Shell still sat in front of her laptop but looked up when he made his presence known. He watched her for signs of distress just like he would Hannah. Relieved, he saw that there were no red eyes, no puffy skin, and no tear tracks. “You okay?”

Shell chuckled. “If you’re trying to ask me if Jared broke up with me, the answer is no. He told me a lot of things in that letter that I needed to hear, and I’m thankful that you brought it to me.”

“Thank God,” he breathed deeply, running his hands through his hair. “I’m not going to lie. I was nervous.”

“How the hell do you think I felt when you gave it to me?”

He turned to the fridge and began rummaging around in it. “Well, at least now this doesn’t have to be all awkward. I told Hannah to let me come out here and talk to you about it because I felt like I had to. Really, though, I was afraid you were going to bust me in the balls if he’d broken up with you. You know, shooting the messenger and all that.” He spared a glance back at her.

“No.” She winked. “You’re safe.” She watched him for a few more minutes as he continued to make a huge amount of noise going through the fridge. “Garrett, what in the fuck are you looking for?”

“Some food, woman. What the hell do the two of you eat?”

She snorted at his frustration. “Normally we are stocked up, but the tour ends in a week. Neither one of us is thinking about food. If you want, I can get the bus to stop, run out, and grab all of us something.”

“That would be awesome, I’m starving.”

Garrett called Hannah into the main room, and they looked up the closest fast food restaurants to where they were. Within minutes, Shell had a list and they were stopping in the parking lot.

“Don’t forget my honey mustard,” Hannah yelled as Shell went to leave.

“For the hundredth time in five minutes, I will get your damn honey mustard.”

Hannah giggled as Shell made her way off the bus. “I love to make her mad. She’s so easy to rile up, but I’m glad to see that whatever was in that letter from Jared wasn’t bad. The one thing about Shell is that she can’t hide what she’s feeling. If it was bad, we would know. She even seems at peace.”

“I would agree with that,” Garrett told her as he grabbed his bag and pulled a DVD out of it.

“Do I even get a say-so in what movie we watch?”

“No, I came to you, and this time we do what I say.”

She wasn’t sure if she liked that at all, but there was something very cute about him being bossy this way. “Fine,” she sighed. “Can we watch it out here, at least? I don’t want Shell to be lonely.”

That was a concession that he was willing to make. Within minutes, Shell had brought their food back, and all of them were situated in the back lounge. Garrett and Hannah snuggled together on the couch; Shell lay out in the recliner. Garrett would never tell anyone this out loud, but it was the most relaxed he’d been in weeks. Here, in a dark lounge in the back of a bus, his wife snuggled to his chest eating chicken strips, a horrible action-adventure movie playing, and her best friend sitting to the side doing the same thing as the two of them. This was a huge departure from years past, but he knew with everything that he was, he would not change this for anything. If there was one thing that Hannah had brought to his life, it was stability, and he no longer had to be the life of the party. This was now the party, and he had never been happier. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss against her forehead. This was where he saw himself in five years, and he hoped with everything he had that she was with him all the time. It was selfish, but it was the truth.