Free Reckless Radiance by Kate Roth

hurt from his rejection, she whispered her response. "Yes, your heart’s beating."
    Her eyes met his and a breath rolled out of her.
    "Then how can you believe I am like every other man? I know you, Valerie. Whether you choose to accept that is up to you."
    The melody of his voice made her mind cloudy. He said his words with such conviction. She didn't know if she’d ever been that certain about anything. But she chose to believe him. He cared for her. He knew her. And both thoughts, instead of confusing or irritating—warmed her.
    Quiet filled up the space between them for a while and she couldn’t keep from looking him over as his eyes moved around the room.
    Valerie cleared her throat. “Are you going to stay?” she asked. Russell turned to her finally, looking relieved that the heavy topic had been dropped for now. His eyes danced across her face before he nodded. A wave of relief filled her.
    “If you want me to,” he said tentatively.
    Valerie smiled. “You should. I—like spending time with you.” Russell matched her smile and again she felt relieved. "We should go in to town soon and get you some clothes of your own,” she added.
    She saw his eyebrows lift and she breathed a laugh. "My dad's clothes barely fit you and I don't think explaining the bloody shirt with a bullet hole in it is a good plan so we'll go get you a few things."
    She saw him nod softly and their eyes met for a second. She was willing to let go of control for him. To not have to know everything and to just let life happen to her for once. Something about him was holding the majority of her fears at bay. Something was keeping her calm when she should’ve been running. She still didn't know just who or what he was but she knew she wasn't letting him go anytime soon.
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
    They spent their first full day together helping Valerie’s mother around the house and talking on the front patio like they’d known each other for years. She couldn’t explain a damn thing about the man except the fact he made her feel comfortable. Valerie’s dad stole Russell away to show him the barn. It was clearly his first step in initiating him, hopeful Russell would stick around to give him a hand in the coming days.
    Crisp air whipped around the front porch and Valerie curled into the fabric of her sweater. She felt the familiar buzz of her cell phone in her pocket and finally figured it was time to glance at it. She hadn’t so much as looked at the screen since she sent Henry what she firmly believed had been her final text.
    The shiny screen was scrolling with multiple messages. Henry had tried calling a few times and his texts went from frantic to threatening back to frantic and finally apologetic. Valerie didn’t bother looking through all of them before deleting the mass. Shit , she thought, noticing the other texts from Paige. She dialed her number quickly and waited to hear her friend’s voice.
    “Valerie?” Paige asked without a ‘hello’.
    She sighed and cursed herself again. She could only imagine how confused and scared Paige must be. Valerie had completely forgotten to let her know what was going on. She hadn’t even called in to the diner.
    “Hey. I’m so sorry,” she said.
    Paige let out a breath on the other end. “Are you okay?” she asked.
    Valerie rubbed at her furrowed brow and felt the guilt pricking at her stomach.
    “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
    “I didn’t hear from you after your date and then this morning Henry came in with some trampy looking girl. He gave me a bunch of bullshit when I asked if he’d talked to you. What the hell is going on?” Paige spouted off a mile a minute. Henry didn’t waste any time. The question of how much to tell Paige brewed behind Valerie’s eyes.
    “Henry and I got into it because of Russell,” she started. She heard a noise from Paige that almost made her crack a smile. “And I kind of just got in the car and took off to my mom and dad’s… with