Layton let out a long sigh. “Shit, Reed, you’re going to have your hands full for three weeks.”

I laughed. “Nah, I already called Kevin. Now that he’s home for good, he’s looking for a job, so he said he could help out around here.”

“Damn, I owe him one. Tell him thanks for me. And, Reed?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what’s going on with Courtney, but I think something pretty big happened to her when she was younger. That night you, uh…well, when you were drunk and said all that shit, she got drunk and mumbled something to me that has bothered me ever since.”

My heart started pounding. “What was it?”

Layton took a deep breath and said in a whispered voice, “She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said that she’d begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t. At first, I thought she was talking about you until I really thought about it. I think she was talking about someone from her past.”

I felt my heart drop to my stomach. “Who did she beg to stop? And what did he do?” I whispered back.

“I don’t know. I’ve wanted to ask Whit so many times, but I don’t think she really knows either. She has mentioned that something happened to Court in high school and that she changed. For a few years, she hated all guys and wouldn’t date.”

I shook my head, thinking back to the conversation Whitley and I’d had in the hotel. “Yeah, Whitley said the same thing to me once.”

“Reed, just don’t do anything to push Courtney, or you know, piss her off.”

I let out a laugh. “I already promised Whit. I’ll take care of everything, Layton. Just enjoy your honeymoon.”

“Thanks, dude. Listen, they are announcing our flight. Have a fun three weeks,” Layton said with a laugh.

Bastard. I still couldn’t believe he and Whitley had set up Courtney and me like that. I hit End on my phone and put my head in my hands. I tried to figure out what in the hell I was going to do for the next three weeks. I was going to be alone with the only girl I’d ever loved, the only girl I’d ever wanted to be with, and the only girl who scared the fuck out of me.

I sat back in the chair and ran my hands down my face as I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. I flashed back to my mother sitting at the kitchen table, crying. I had begged her to stop crying, and she wouldn’t.

She’d just kept rocking back and forth, saying, He left us. He left us. He never loved us.

I’d vowed right then at the age of ten that I would never fall in love and risk hurting anyone like my father had hurt my mother.

Love sucks and does nothing but bring heartache.

Then, I’d met Courtney. She’d changed everything, and all I’d found myself doing was fighting the urge not to fall in love with her. The more I’d fought it, the more I’d fallen deeper in love with her. Now, all I wanted to do was take away the pain that everyone else had caused her. I prayed to God that I would never, ever be the cause of any of her pain.

I stood up and walked over to the elk stew heating up on the stove when I heard something. Both dogs jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. I turned and walked into the living room. The next thing I knew, Courtney let out a bloodcurdling scream. I quickly ran down the hall with the dogs leading the way. I threw the bedroom door open to see Courtney thrashing around on the bed.

Courtney was crying out, “Stop! Please stop! No…please, God, no. Please don’t do this again, Noah. Please stop!”

I ran over to her and tried waking her up. “Court…baby, wake up! Courtney…”

I gently started shaking her. Her eyes flew open, and she screamed.

“Courtney, it’s me! It’s Reed, angel. It’s just me. You were having a bad dream.”

She looked around, confused, and then looked back at me. The moment I saw the first tear fall, my whole world stopped. She began shaking her head and threw herself into my arms.

“No! They started again! The dreams started again,” she said in between sobs.

My heart was breaking, and I wanted so badly to ask her who in the fuck Noah was.

“Shh…it’s okay, Courtney. It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

She began crying harder. “He wouldn’t stop, Reed. He never stopped, even when I begged him.”

What in the fuck is going on? What is she talking about? “It’s over now, Courtney. No one will ever hurt you again, baby, I promise you.” I tried to hold back the tears I was fighting to control.

“Reed…” she whispered.

I squeezed my eyes shut and just held her until her crying stopped and her breathing evened out. It was then that I realized she had fallen back asleep. I slowly moved her body down as I held her close to me. I laid her back down on the bed, and I removed her death grip from around my neck before placing her arms down along her sides.

I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her beautiful face. She looked so peaceful, but not more than ten minutes ago, I’d never seen such fear on a person’s face as I’d seen on her innocent face.

I sat up and watched her sleep for a few minutes. I was going to do everything in my power to figure out who in the hell this Noah was, and once I did, I would hunt his ass down and kill him.

I stood up and looked at the two dogs lying near the side of the bed. “Y’all stay with her and watch over her,” I whispered. I turned and made my way out of the room. This time, I kept the door open.

By the time I got back to the kitchen, I was sweating, and my hands were shaking. “What in the hell is going on?” I leaned against the counter and tried to calm my beating heart. It felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest.

I stood there for a few minutes, trying to work it out in my head. What in the hell was Courtney talking about? I pushed away from the counter and turned the flame down on the stew. I stepped outside onto the back porch, and I pulled out my phone before hitting my mother’s name.

“Reed, darling! To what do I owe this honor? I just saw you last night at the wedding. Miss me already?” my mother said with a chuckle.

I smiled and let out a small laugh. Just the sound of my mother’s voice calmed me down, and my heart finally felt like it was starting to beat normally again.

“Just wanted to hear your voice.”

She let out a small sigh. “What’s wrong? I hear it in your voice. Is everyone okay?”

I slowly took in a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, Mom, everyone is fine. Just been a long morning.”