Against her better judgment, Tabitha had started believing in heroes again.

“Here is good.” Tabitha hopped off her bike at the intersection between the main road and the one that led down the street to her house. “I’ll just ride the rest of the way by myself.”

“I don’t care what your house looks like, Tab,” Wyatt said as he rode up next to her and put his foot down. He leaned his arms against his handlebars. “I remember when we first drove out to the trailer park to get Clay’s stuff. He wouldn’t even let me go in and help him gather it all up. Like it mattered to me. Best buddies don’t give a shit ’bout things like that.”

Tabitha laughed and let her bike fall into the dirt. She pulled her backpack off and dropped it on top of it because she wanted a few more minutes with him. “I know. It’s not that. I promise.”

“It’s still a pretty long ride back to your house.” Wyatt gave her a stern look. “Lemme go with you.”

She shook her head and gave him a smile. “Nope.”

Wyatt stepped off his bike and let it fall next to hers despite the fact that it was new and had a perfectly good kickstand. Then he stepped into her personal space, making her feel even shorter than usual, because he was so very tall now. She instinctively rubbed her scarred palm, because being so near him made her feel breathless.

“Why are you always doing that?” Wyatt reached down and grabbed her hand like he had in the gym. “Whenever I get close, you start rubbing your hands, and I noticed you don’t do it when Clay or others are next to you. Is there something ’bout these scars that make you think of me?”

Tabitha looked away rather than pull her hand out of his as she internally cursed his cop breeding that had him noticing everything. Very little slipped past Wyatt, and she didn’t know if it was genetic or something the Conners were trained with since birth. He could break down walls and sniff out weaknesses better than anyone she’d ever met.

He rubbed his thumb against her palm, making her shiver in response. He was quiet for a long moment before he asked, “Are they somehow my fault? I know you got them the same time as my fight with Clay and—”

“They’re not your fault,” she assured him before he could finish the thought, because she didn’t want to think about that fight. “Y’all are friends now, and I’m happy for it.”

“I had to bully Clay into being my friend,” Wyatt reminded her, giving her a long, hard look as he squeezed her hand. “And even now he forgets half the time, but I ain’t gonna give up on him, even on the days when he wants me to.”

“Yeah, well, it’s hard for Clay to trust people. He’s always waiting for them to betray him.”

“Sort of like someone else I know.” Wyatt used his hold on her hand to pull her closer. “I’m not going away, Tabitha, and I’m not giving up.”

“Wyatt—” she started, wanting to tell him all the reasons why he shouldn’t be wasting his time on her. Then he laced his other hand through the hair at her nape and her breath caught with the collision of nerves and excitement. “Don’t—”

“Tell me you don’t like me.” Wyatt lips were a breath away from hers, his light eyes bright in the moonlight as he studied her intently. “Look me in the face and tell me you don’t think ’bout me at night.”

Tabitha opened her mouth, but the words were trapped in her throat. She did think about him, all the time, and lying to that extreme was going to be one of the hardest things she’d ever done. She was still fighting the horrible war with herself when Wyatt used the hold he had on her neck to pull her closer. Then he kissed her, with her mouth still parted in an attempt to tell a lie that was so far opposed to what both her heart and soul were crying out for that it felt like a betrayal to even think about saying it.

The feel of his lips against hers was electric. The jolt of it reminded her of the time she shocked herself trying to plug the vacuum cleaner into the broken socket in her mother’s bedroom. She actually shuddered from the sensation. It was so startling, her hands went to Wyatt’s shoulders for support, but he misunderstood the action as one of trying to shove him away. Usually that would’ve had him backing up, but this time he just tightened his hold on her neck.

He pushed his tongue past her lips without permission, but Tabitha didn’t complain.

In that moment it felt like nothing in the world existed but the two of them. It was as if time came to a standstill, and the world stopped spinning, and all she had was Wyatt. His lips were hot on hers, and his tongue was brushing against her tongue, and she wanted so much more of all it she stood on her toes to get closer. She put her arms around his neck and opened her mouth farther in invitation because it felt so amazingly good she had to ask for more.

It wasn’t until she swallowed Wyatt’s low groan and felt his hand sneak around her back that Tabitha realized she was kissing him back. She didn’t have time to stop and wonder if she was doing it right, or if he was doing it right, because he forced her body tightly against his, and it shut down her brain completely. She was wrapped up in him, warm and safe and burning up from the strange buzz a simple kiss was able to create. Her fingers were in his hair, and she held on for fear he would pull away and rob her of the amazing sensations she was willingly drowning herself in.

Her heart was thumping so hard she could hear it echoing in her ears. Her breathing was sharp and erratic when they parted for one brief second, only to come together harder and needier when Wyatt pushed his lips against hers again as if he needed it as desperately as she did.

She was just having the thought of pulling him down onto the dirt right there on the edge of the street, because her legs didn’t want to hold her up, and every second they kissed had her strangely hungry to feel more of him.

Then the loud, jarring sound of a horn blaring had both of them jumping from the shock of falling back into reality without warning.

“Slut!”

Wyatt stiffened at the same time Tabitha’s stomach dropped with the icy surge of fear that spiraled through her system. The abrupt change from joy to fear was so startling she nearly blacked out from it.

She turned around, looking at Vaughn leaning out his window. His eyes were narrowed in malicious fury. “Now you’re giving it up when you’ve been locking your door on me for the past year?”

Wyatt turned around, and Tabitha could feel that his entire body was tight in fury. “What did you just say to her?” he growled in a voice that was so dangerous it startled her.

“Wyatt, don’t!” she said quickly and grabbed at his arm when he made a move toward the car. “Please.”

“Shit, it’s the sheriff’s kid!” she heard Brett say in the seat next to Vaughn before he held up his hands and gave her a look of complete disbelief out the front windshield.

Wyatt jerked his arm out of her hold and walked over to the car. He slammed his fist against the hood so hard they all jumped when the metal dented. “Call her a slut again. I dare you.”

“Drive!” Brett barked when Wyatt made a move toward the open window.

Vaughn slammed on the gas so hard, Tabitha screamed because they nearly ran Wyatt over. If he didn’t have such quick reflexes, he would’ve gotten hurt for sure. As it was, he jumped away and shouted, “Yeah, you better drive!”

“Oh my God,” Tabitha whispered as she stood there hyperventilating and choking on the dust from skidding tires. “This is bad.”

Wyatt turned on her with a wild, crazed look on his face. “Has that asshole been harassing you? Has he hurt you?”

She shook her frantically. “No.”

Wyatt narrowed his eyes. “Tab—”

“He hasn’t, I swear,” she said quickly before she went to her bike. Her hands were shaking as she picked up her backpack and put it on. “I have to go home. He’s gonna tell my mama and—”

“You are not going home.”

“What?” Tabitha turned back to him when she heard the hard determination in his voice. “I have to. I have to stop Brett from saying something.”

“Heck, no.” Wyatt’s shoulders were still tight in fury, his light eyes blazing. “You are coming home with me. We’re gonna sit down and talk with my dad, and you’re gonna tell him everything that goes on in that house.”

“Are you insane?” A crazed sort of laughter burst out of her. “The state would pick me up for sure.”

“That’s the thing, Tab. The state isn’t the enemy,” Wyatt said slowly. “They’re there to protect you. I know you’re not safe there, and I’m not gonna—”

“No,” Tabitha said, this time more firmly. “I am not bouncing around foster homes like Clay. My mama’s doing good and—”

“She ain’t doing that good. I saw her walking into Carl’s bar the other day.”

“That’s only on weekends!” Tabitha’s voice was shrill with fear. “She has a job now and—”

“Tabitha,” Wyatt started again, this time more slowly as he took a deep breath. “If you got guys there you have to lock your door to keep out, that’s not good. What’s to stop them from—”

“I’m not going home with you,” Tabitha said just as forcefully. “And if you tell your daddy, I will never speak to you again.”

Wyatt folded his arms over his chest as he considered her sharply. Then he shrugged. “That may be a sacrifice I’m willing to make. ’Cause I surely ain’t gonna sit back and let something terrible happen to you. I’d rather you hate me.”

“Then fine.” Tabitha got on her bike before she could change her mind. “I can’t stop you, but I will deny all of it. I ain’t letting the state ruin my mama.”