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“Fuck!”
She fell too fast. She fell too hard too fast. This was what she got for being so egregiously out of practice, for years hiding out in her apartment like a nun or a monk or some other religious figure that knew better than to fall head over heels in love with their brand-new, fresh-out-of-the-box boyfriend after three weeks of dating.
She hadn’t even taken the cellophane off yet. Metaphorically speaking.
Tyler was going to think she’d lost her goddamn mind. Hell, she thought she’d lost her goddamn mind.
It had been four weeks since El Reno and three weeks since Tyler Owens had kissed her for the first time on her back porch, rain tapping the metal roof and lightning glowing in the clouds across the open fields.
Her rational brain was screaming at her. Three weeks was not enough time to fall in love with someone.
So there Kate stood in her childhood bathroom at 5 o’clock in the morning, gripping the edge of the porcelain sink and cursing at her reflection, her heart staring right back at her.
A soft knock on the bathroom door startled her.
“Kate?”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…,” she chanted under her breath, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. Maybe she had been hiding out in the bathroom too long.
As if caught, she rushed to open the door and came face to face with her very own cowboy. His hair was mussed from sleeping, and the white t-shirt he had evidently pulled on before climbing out of her bed pulled across his chest in the best possible way.
Kate let out a shaky huff, her wide eyes locking with his concerned gaze.
Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it, Kate Carter.
Smiling softly at her, Tyler moved to grip the edge of the door frame. “Hey, are you ok—“
“I love you,” she announced, seemingly not of her own free will. Her eyes widened even more, horrified.
Well, fuck.
His look of surprise was quickly joined by the tiniest smirk at the corner of his mouth. Kate wanted to live there and never leave.
After a beat that stretched across the state of Oklahoma in Kate’s mind, Tyler opened his mouth. “I—."
“Don’t say anything!” Kate shrieked, interrupting him and nearly tripping over her own feet as she scurried into her bedroom they had shared the night before. “Don’t say anything. Just—just stand there. Let me just…” She pushed him back toward the bed and let out a panicked breath, her eyes darting around the room frantically and looking anywhere but at her ridiculously handsome boyfriend’s face. “I need to move. I need to think.”
A crinkle appeared between his eyebrows, and Tyler opened his mouth again but seemed to think better of it. After patiently watching Kate pace across the tiny room, he tried again, reaching for her. “Can I just…?”
“Nope!” she replied with a pop of her lips, dodging his arms and resuming her pacing. The hammering of her heart echoed in her ears. “I shouldn’t’ve said that out loud. Why the fuck did I say that out loud??” She gestured wildly toward Tyler with a flap of her arm. “And with you in the room!”
To his credit, he didn’t laugh at her but the furrow in his brow remained as he studied her like one of their many storm systems: with uncertainty, patience, and no small measure of awe.
“I don’t know about you,” he began tentatively, unsure if she would interrupt him again, “but I’d prefer to be within earshot of that sort of information. Seems pertinent.”
Shaking her head, she continued pacing, her oversized t-shirt swishing dramatically around her waist, and mumbled under her breath, “This was way too fast. Way way way too fast.”
Bemused, Tyler’s eyes followed her as she moved across the room. “Did you just wake up this morning and…?”
“Pretty much,” she replied, pulling her hair off her neck and fanning herself. “And apparently, I’m incapable of keeping that information to myself!”
The gentle smirk returned to his face in response. Kate melted into a puddle on the floor at his feet.
He watched her for a moment longer before nodding once, as if deciding something, and gingerly stepped back. “Okay then, I’m just gonna….” Tyler took a seat on the unkempt bed behind him, the mattress giving slightly under his weight, and leaned his elbows against his knees. “Don’t mind me. Take all the time you need.”
Releasing her hair in a blonde, bouncy wave, she stopped and spun around to stare incredulously at him. “What are you doing?”
He shrugged. “I’m sittin’. This could take a bit.”
“What could?”
“I’m just waitin’ for you to realize that everything’s going to be alright,” he said nonchalantly, locking his eyes with hers.
She shook her head, adamant. “No, it’s not.”
He smiled at her, scooting to the edge of the bed. “Kate,” he said soothingly, “Katie, baby, yes it is.”
“How can you know that?” she asked, her voice small.
“Because I love you too,” he replied simply.
Eyes widening, Kate felt her heart skip a beat in her chest as he stared at her, the cowboy smirk gone. The sincerity almost killed her.
“You do not!” she breathed out, her response automatic and defensive. Her hand came up to rub against an invisible ache along her collarbone.
Tyler laughed in surprise. “I don’t?”
“It’s too fast!” she moaned, resuming her pacing.
“Kate,” he called firmly, sitting up in his seat.
She stopped at the sound of his voice but didn’t move toward him. She’d be the last to admit she found his assertiveness more attractive than she probably should have.
His eyes glowed as a brief smile flitted across his features, relief evident that he finally had her attention. “It’s not—would you come here please?”
He beckoned her with a wave of his hand into the circle of his arms, and she tentatively walked toward him like a lost boat toward a guiding lighthouse. She joined him to stand between his legs.
He continued, pulling her hand away from her chest and kissed her knuckles, “It’s not too fast if it’s true. Is it true?”
“Is what true?” she asked, her brow crinkling.
He smiled fondly up at her, his palms settling on the back of her thighs, and asked softly, “Do you love me?”
His question startled her. How she deserved this besotted man, she’d never know.
“I…well—,” she started before taking a breath and clearing her throat. Her voice was stronger this time (because while she might not deserve it, he did) when she answered, more confidently, “Yes.”
His smile widened. “Then it’s not too fast.”
“But I’m going back to New York tomorrow!” she replied, her voice cracking.
“That’s alright,” he said with another shrug and an easy smile. “I’m not gonna evaporate when you get on that plane. I’ll still be here.”
She shook her head, the panic returning. “But I’m the crazy girl that told you she loved you after three weeks. You should be running for the metaphorical hills right now!”
“I don’t run, baby,” he gloated, his showman grin coming out in full force. “I chase.”
She ignored him and his on-the-nose joke. “But I don’t know when the hell I’ll be back!”
“You curse a lot more in the morning than I expected, did you know that?” he joked lightly.
“Tyler!” she admonished with a moan.
He chuckled. “Jesus, Kate, what do you take me for? I’ll wait.”
“You’ll wait,” she repeated, raising her eyebrows.
“You bet your ass I’ll wait. ‘S Long as you need,” he said, his natural twang coloring his voice. His thumbs on the back of her thighs played with the hem of her pajama shorts.
“It’s only been three weeks!” she countered weakly. Her sensible brain continued to protest even as her body betrayed her, stepping toward him. His callused hands on her bare skin warmed her from the inside.
“So?” he answered dismissively. Then with a huff, he pleaded, “Please, Kate…can I please hug you or kiss you or something? You’re killin’ me here.”
She allowed him to gather her into his lap, her knees straddling his hips, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He pulled her into his chest and sighed contentedly into her neck.
“You called me ‘baby’,” she whispered into his hair.
“I did.”
“That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”
“That so?” he asked, hooking his chin on her shoulder and rubbing his hands soothingly along her spine. “Three weeklong relationships deserve pet names, don’t you think?”
“How does it feel like this after only three weeks?”
“I don’t know, baby, but it does,” he replied, pulling away and moving her bangs out of her eyes with his fingertips. He added softly, “You’ll be home soon.”
Kate smiled gently at him, willing her eyes not to tear up.
“You love me,” she said, trying the words on for size. Her arms hung loosely around his shoulders.
He smiled, his hand finding the back of her neck and his thumb settling against her jaw. “I do.”
“That’s really nice.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve known for a while.”
“You have?” she frowned, playing with the shirt collar laying against the back of his neck. “How long?”
Pulling her head toward him, he whispered cheekily before his lips finally met hers, “About three weeks.”