“I can’t believe how freaking cold it is.” I pull my sweater tighter around me.

Wyatt cranks the heat in the car, and I shiver.

“I’ll get you to bed soon.”

“Promises, promises,” I joke. “If you don’t start putting out again, I’m going to find someone else.”

“You wish.” He grins.

Back to warm we go. Men are weird. “Worried much?”

Wyatt’s eyes shift back to mine. “Not at all. I give multiples.”

“Oh, please!” I laugh. “I’ve had better.”

“I heard you and Presley talking.” He clues me in. Wyatt’s voice shifts to try to mimic mine. “Oh, Presley. You don’t even know. Wyatt is so good in bed, I about died. He’s the best I’ve ever had.”

My eyes roll so hard I’m surprised they’re still in my head. “Idiot.”

I lean back, look out at the road, and try not to smile. He’s so stupid, but I know that I love him. I need to tell him and then get him to work through this.

“So you really like the name Faith?” Wyatt asks.

“Yup.”

“What about Isabelle? We could call her Belle,” he suggests.

I shrug. “The boys will still call her Belle and make fun of it.”

“Then I’ll make sure Zach and I mess with them until they stop.”

While that sounds fun, I’d rather not give her any chances of being picked on. I went to school hearing all kinds of fun crap about my name. Angelina doesn’t sound like a name that’s easy to twist into a joke, but boys will find anything.

“I’d rather not have them start off already making fun of their cousin.”

He nods. “Crickett?”

“Like a bug?”

Wyatt chuckles. “Okay, I like the name Emma.”

Hmm. I like that. It’s really popular, and Emma Hennington sounds pretty. Maybe I can keep it as a middle name. I still can’t seem to get my head to stop thinking of Faith, it’s as if it has been her name for as long as I’ve known about her.

“What was your comment about before?” I ask.

“What comment?”

He’s playing dumb, which he sucks at. “The one about Belle.”

“Just that what does it matter if Belle is her name?”

“Well, we live in Bell Buckle.” I shrug.

“No.” He looks over. “I live in Bell Buckle.”

Okay? I don’t know where he’s going with that, considering I was hoping we were going to live here. Maybe I really did misread everything.

“What the hell does that—” My words catch in my throat, and then I’m screaming, “Wyatt! Look out!”

“Shit!” He screams as he sees it too.

A massive buck is rushing from the woods and straight to the car. It’s going to hit my door.

“Fuck!” He yells.

Wyatt slams on the brakes, and his hand shoots out in front of me. I’m already flying forward.

My seat belt stops me, but the pain is instant across my lap.

I scream, trying to cover my stomach as everything slows to a crawl around me.

The deer drops his antlers, and I brace for impact, turning my body toward Wyatt. I know it’s not going to matter. We’re sliding toward the side of the road and straight toward the woods.

Wyatt tries to correct the wheel, but we skid over the wet ground. There’s no way to stop this.

The deer slams into my door, and the sound of metal and glass breaking fills the air.

Pain shoots through my arm as we continue to spin.

Another loud bang cuts through the chaos, but I can’t focus on anything but the pain that’s blooming in every part of me.

“Angie!” I hear his voice, but agony erupts from every inch of my right side as I’m slammed against the door, wrenched left, and then thrown forward against the dash in some twisted dance where someone else is pulling my strings.

My body violently shifts to the left before being thrust forward and against the dash.

My mouth fills with the metallic taste of blood and warmth trickles down my face.

The airbag deploys, and it hits me so hard that whatever air is left in my lungs is pushed out.

I can’t breathe.

It hurts so much.

Then everything is still and dark.

I try to move my body, but it doesn’t cooperate. I feel the blood sliding down my head and the way my lungs struggle to work.

I hear my name over and over, but I can’t open my eyes. I’m going to die here.

I know it.

Wyatt

“NO!” I SCREAM AS I watch her eyes shut. “Angie! Stay awake!” I scream, trying to get to her. She doesn’t move or acknowledge me at all.

I push my airbag out of my face and do the same to hers. I reach behind my back, grab my knife, cut my seat belt, and try to get the door open.

It’s completely mangled shut.

“Angie!” I push her head up. “Angie, baby, wake up.” She doesn’t move. I check for a pulse, it’s there, but it’s weak. I shift a little, and the car jolts.

We’re face down in a ditch.

Fuck!

My hands shift around her body, trying to see if I feel anything. When I pull them back, my fingers are covered in blood. “I have to get us out,” I say to her, but she’s unconscious, and I’m panicking. “I’ll fix this. Just hang on, Angie. Hang on. Please don’t leave me,” I beg her.

I hold pressure to her head as I try to figure out what to do. Using my other hand, I try to open her door, but it’s worse than mine. The deer slammed into her side, and the impact must have buckled the metal.

The phone sits on the top of the dash. How it got there, I have no idea, but I grab it and hold the speed dial button. My fingers shake, but I need to get someone here.

“Someone better be dead or dying,” Trent’s voice croaks.

“I need help!” I yell into the receiver. “I’m in a ditch on the road between our house and the Townsend ranch. Angie’s unconscious, and you need to fucking get here now! Get help! The car is fucking mangled, Trent!” My voice cracks as the panic rises. I have to get her out of this.

“I’m on my way!” Trent yells back. “We’ll be there in a minute, Wyatt. Just stay calm.”

My brother slips into Sheriff mode. I know he will get help, but there’s no calm here. The woman I love and my child are slipping away. I need to get her out of this car and to a doctor. I rip my shirt off, no longer feeling any cold, and tie it around her head, trying to keep pressure on the cuts hiding under her hair.

“God, I’m so sorry, baby.” I want to pull her into my arms, but I don’t. Even through my panic I know that the best thing I can do is keep her still. I count the seconds as I keep moving my hands around. “I’m so sorry I’ve been a dick. Just hang on. Please hang on, Angie!”

I’m such an asshole. I should’ve told her how I feel. Now, she might never know.

No. I can’t let myself go down that road. She’ll be okay, and I can fix this.

I’ll tell her. I’ll tie her to the bed and make her stay. I won’t let her leave me.

I love her.

Headlights and the rotating red and blues of Trent’s cruiser cut through the darkness, tires screech against the ground, and then doors are being slammed shut.