Austin should have kept driving for another hour at least. Instead, he exited the highway at the Crispy Biscuit. If nothing else, it was familiar when he felt lost. And fine, it reminded him of Hayden.

He parked his truck then slumped forward, resting his forehead on the steering wheel as he attempted to give enough of a shit to get out and complete his checks before calling it a day. He had never been so exhausted or unmotivated in his life. Bryant, Doug, and James tried to convince him it was a lack of sex screwing with his testosterone levels or some shit. Though Austin was about to join Bryant as a card-carrying member of the born-again virgin club, he knew that wasn’t his problem.

His life of freedom and independence felt kind of hypocritical now that he wished, every day, Hayden had chosen something else for herself. Something that would benefit him.

It was the misery of those two competing parts of himself playing tug of war with his thoughts and feelings every minute of the day that had exhausted him and drowned him in misery. He couldn’t take anymore.

His cousins were right. He needed a distraction. To get back on the proverbial horse.

Some sick part of him wondered if this would be the night he finally caved in to Regina’s aggressive attempts at seduction. Something mindless and a little ruthless was exactly what he needed to scrub Hayden’s sweetness from his memory once and for all.

When Austin stepped inside the bar, he knew immediately that the night wasn’t going to go like he’d imagined only moments earlier.

Because up there on the stage where she belonged, was Hayden, strumming his aunt Leah’s prized guitar and singing her heart out. With her eyes closed, her face relaxed and open, she poured her own powerful emotions into lyrics that expressed her longing, determination, heartache, and more.

Austin could attest that was smarter than bottling them up inside.

He plopped into a seat with an unobstructed view of the stage despite how far it was from the bar where he usually sat. Despite that, it didn’t take long for Regina to spot him and approach.

“Can I get you something, handsome?” she asked without getting handsy or slinging any innuendo. She looked different tonight. Toned down, her hair and makeup seemed more natural and definitely more appealing to him. If Hayden hadn’t been in the room, reminding him of how gorgeous she was even if he couldn’t have her, he might have told Regina so, too.

She waited patiently to take his order. The only thing he was hungry for wasn’t on the menu. “Thanks, but I’ll pass on food.”

“Something to drink? Or are you just waiting for Hayden to finish up?” Regina asked with a surprising lack of cattiness.

“What? No. She doesn’t even know I’m here.” He supposed he should buy something so Charlie could afford to keep paying Hayden well. “I’ll take a Coke, please.”

“Wow. She got you that bad, huh?” Regina smiled. “I don’t know what it is about that girl, but every damn man that comes in here starts drooling over her. She’s been giving me some pointers.”

“I can tell.” Austin smiled, feeling kind of like a jerk for the way he’d thought of her in the past.

For the next hour and a half he nursed his soda. Even the sugar rush had nothing on how Hayden affected his system. He could have watched her sing forever. Except before he was ready, her show was over.

Austin drew the brim of his hat down, tucked his chin to his chest, and wormed through the crowd to put a fat tip in Hayden’s jar. Well deserved. He’d only made it a few feet away when she called out to him. “Wait! Where are you going?”

He kept moving, hoping she’d assume she’d mistaken someone else for him.

“I know those tattoos, Austin.” She ran after him and put her hand on his arm, making him jerk as shockwaves of instant lust buzzed through him. “Weren’t you going to say hello?”

“It would be kind of a dick move to make things awkward for you at your job.” Austin shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from grabbing her and stuffing his tongue down her throat. That might make an impression, but it would probably also get him slapped.

“Nah, it’s no problem.” She grinned. “You know, Regina’s actually not so bad. She’s just…misunderstood. She’s been pretty nice to me when I play here.”

“I actually meant that I figured you didn’t have any interest in talking to me since you never reached out.”

“Oh.” She rubbed her side, a habit that obviously hadn’t gone away though she seemed healthier, her curves fuller and her skin less pale. In fact, she seemed to glow. Her new life agreed with her. “I thought about it. It just didn’t seem like a good idea.”

“Because…?”

“Because it would have been too easy to let you talk me into coming back than staying just a little longer and a little longer.” She put her hand on her hip, daring him to deny it.

“Busted.” He shrugged. “That only makes me smart, right?”

“And a little sneaky.”

“Hey, honey, you need to fatten this boy up. I think he’s lost some weight since last time he was in and he didn’t let me bring him anything to eat tonight.” Regina smacked his ass as she ratted him out, then flew past with a tray full of orders. He supposed he deserved that.

Hayden cracked up, but sobered fast when she scanned him from head to toe. “You know, she’s right. It looks like you’ve lost what I gained. Are you okay?”

Hell no. He wasn’t fucking okay. Was she nuts?

Wait, was she okay without him?

Seemed like it.

“I think I’m going to head out. Been a long day.” He rubbed the back of his neck, then spun around.

“It was really…nice…to see you!” Hayden shouted over the packed room as he put some distance between them.

“You too.” He didn’t bother to turn around as he admitted it.

She had no clue how infatuated he was with her and he’d like to keep it that way, since they were doomed to be separated.

Austin crashed through the front door and staggered to his truck as if he’d slammed an entire fifth of something cheap and strong. It was Hayden. She was intoxicating and slightly poisonous if he let himself get carried away only to have to go through withdrawals again. He face-planted onto his bunk fully dressed and prayed exhaustion would lead him into dreams of the time they’d spent together soon.

So he jolted when, sometime later, someone rapped three times on the passenger side window of his rig.

He initially ignored it, figuring it was Regina, who definitely would not satisfy him tonight despite her recent metamorphosis and didn’t deserve to be used like that even if she could. Until he heard Hayden’s soft call, “Hey, are you still awake?”

Though he shouldn’t have gotten out of bed for her any more than Regina, since neither was good for him in the long run, he couldn’t stop himself.

Austin rose and unlocked the door. He cracked it open. Steam rose in front of Hayden from two takeout boxes she held up for him to see. “I owe you dinner. Mind if I come in and eat with you?”

His stomach growled, though whether it was in appreciation of the savory scent of her offering or for the woman herself, he couldn’t say. “Sure.”

He extended his hand to help her up and nearly cursed at the feel of her silky skin on his.

Despite the gap in their communications, they picked up right where they’d left off. Hayden eagerly told him about how she’d been keeping busy and the progress she was making in establishing herself. Austin updated her on the ranch and his cousins. He carefully edited out any mention of his own misery lately.

Still, she must have sensed something was off.

Engaged in their conversation, he didn’t realize they’d both finished their food some time ago until Hayden threw away her trash and crossed to where he sat on the edge of his bunk. She stood between his spread knees and looped her arms around his neck. Her fingers fanned out over the back of his head, which she massaged gently.

“What’s really going on with you?” She frowned. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks.”

She laughed softly then kissed him. It was just a peck, a closed-mouth brush of her lips on his. And it was enough to set him on fire.

Without thinking of the consequences, he leaned in and deepened the contact. Next thing he knew, she was in his lap, her knees planted on the mattress to either side of his thighs. She whimpered and ground herself against his obvious erection.

“This is a terrible idea,” Austin said.

“I know.”

He groaned. “I want to do it anyway.”

“Me too.” She grabbed the hem of her shirt then lifted her arms, whipping the soft cotton from her frame with a single, graceful move. It fell to the floor, forgotten.

He unhooked her bra fast enough to get a ticket, then peeled lilac lace from her before he buried his face in her tits. They definitely seemed fuller since the last time he’d had the pleasure of sucking on them. “Damn.”

“As much as I enjoy when you draw things out, please don’t torture me,” she whispered between frantic kisses. “I need you. Now.”

Good thing, since he wouldn’t have been able to take his time, even if she’d begged.

“Get those jeans off,” he ordered as he set about unbuttoning his plaid shirt and unbuckling his belt.

Hayden was gloriously naked the next time he looked up. She looked amazing, even more beautiful than before, with the last hints of trauma erased from her body. Her ass would now make perfect handfuls for him to squeeze or spank while they fucked.

“Come here.” He crab-walked backward until he was fully laid out in bed.

She followed him down. Though he wanted to spend all night kissing her, their tongues sparring, teeth nipping, and mouths gliding across one another, it wasn’t very long before making out wasn’t enough to satisfy either of them.

Instead of pressing her back and looming over her, pounding into her as he had plenty of times before, he rolled to his back and helped her straddle his hips. “This is all you. Take what you want. Ride me, baby.”

Maybe if he handed her the reins, she would realize he wasn’t trying to hold her back or tie her down. All he wanted was to share the adventure with her.

She braced herself with her palms on his chest and told him exactly what she craved. “Put your cock in me. I can’t wait to hold all of you again, to feel you inside me, stretching me.”

Fuck yeah. They’d be lucky if he didn’t shoot his load all over her stomach if she kept talking like that. Her newfound confidence ratcheted up his already insane attraction to her.

Maybe she’d been taking lessons from Regina, too.

He reached between them and aimed his dick so that their bodies aligned perfectly.

Then she descended, sheathing him with her soaking wet, hot-as-fuck pussy.

Unleashed, she was spectacular. He saw a side of her that she hadn’t fully embraced before, and he fucking loved it. Hayden moaned as she worked him inside her with quick flicks of her hips. While she was busy taking care of that, he touched every part of her on display for him alone. He cupped her breasts and brushed his thumbs over her tight nipples, stroked her belly, and teased her clit, studying the subtle differences in her shape since the last time he’d held her.

When she slid the final bit down his length and captured him entirely within her, they paused and locked stares. It felt so right, he didn’t understand how it couldn’t be perfect for them both. Not only in that moment, but in the morning as well.

He gripped her hips, encouraging her to fuck.

So she did.

Austin planted his feet on the mattress, and bent his knees so he could assist by spearing up into her even as she ground down on him. It wouldn’t have been possible to join themselves any more completely than they were at that moment.

He matched his pace to hers, cursing when she began a sinful figure eight swing of her hips that simultaneously rubbed her clit on his body and did spectacular things to his balls, which were now coated with her arousal.

“I’m getting close,” she warned him unnecessarily. The gradual narrowing of her channel, which squeezed his cock, was notice enough.

“Shit, yeah.” He redoubled his own efforts, pumping up into her as she met him more than halfway. “Come on me, Hayden. Let me see how much you missed my cock.”

She threw her head back, making her long hair sweep over his thighs. The reminder of her gentler side mixed with this new vixen side destroyed him. He tried to hold on, but couldn’t.

Luckily she was right there with him.

Austin knew when she came because her pussy clamped around him with rhythmic spasms that accompanied his own orgasm, drawing every jet of his release deeper within her.

Oh yeah, and because she screamed his name loud enough for anyone within a two-state radius to hear. He couldn’t say he minded that everyone around knew how thoroughly they could please each other.

“Damn girl, get it!” Regina shouted from outside before her laughter mingled with deeper chuckles filtered through the rig’s walls.

Hayden didn’t seem to notice. She jerked and trembled above him as she wrung every bit of ecstasy possible from his dick.

When he’d finally finished flooding her pussy, Austin went limp. She collapsed on top of him, pressing her cheek to the spot where his heart attempted to beat through his chest for her. After they’d managed to catch their breath and his cock slipped free of her hold, he wrapped his arms around Hayden and couldn’t stop himself from offering, “Do you want to stay a little longer? Spend the night?”

“Would you mind? I was camping in the bus station after shows until Charlie found out. Now he lets me crash in the room over the storeroom out back on the nights I play here, but it’s not nearly as comfortable as being in here. With you.”

“Hayden…” Austin tried to suppress his protective instincts. She was a big girl, doing what she had to in order to survive.

“I know. It’s just for a little while longer, I swear. I’ve been saving up almost everything I make and looking at used campervans in each town I visit. After riding in here with you, I think it could be fun to have a home on wheels for a while.” She kissed his shoulder, then snuggled tight to him with a contented sigh. “For the first time in as long as I can remember, I really am happy, Austin.”

“I’m happy for you, Hayden.” It was the best he could do without lying.

It didn’t matter anyway because she didn’t hear him. She’d already drifted off to sleep in his arms. He did his best to stay awake and savor the moment, but all too soon the relief from spectacular sex and having her close overwhelmed him.

He slept straight through to morning.

And when he woke, Hayden was already dressed and freshening up.

So much for one more orgasm for the road.

“I have to get going if I’m going to catch my bus.” Her smile was rueful when she ambled close enough to straighten his sex-tousled hair. The gentle touches impacted him as deeply as her wild fucking had. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m only a call or email away.” He probably shouldn’t have said that. It would only prolong his suffering without her, but he couldn’t give up without trying.

She nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Hayden hesitated, then reached into her back pocket for a creased piece of rectangular paper. She handed it to him.

“What’s this?” He unfolded it and realized it was a check.

“I tacked on a bit for rent at your place and the food I ate and…well, whatever.” She shrugged one shoulder as if it didn’t matter, but obviously it did or she wouldn’t be bringing it up again when he’d forgotten all about it.

Austin thought of her spending the night on a bench outside a bus station while she scrimped and saved for a better life. He wanted her to reach her goal as quickly as possible.

“I don’t want that.” He tried to give the check back at the same time she extended her hand to squeeze his. Their fingers collided. He knocked the check out of her hand.

It fluttered to the floor between them.

They both stood there, staring at it. Neither one picked it up.

“You swore to me that you’d take it.” The strain in her accusation immediately warned him that he’d fucked up royally. Insulted her and wounded her pride. Told her that he didn’t think she was capable when that’s not what he’d meant at all.

Son of a bitch! “Hayden…”

“I’ve got to go, Austin. The bus leaves in twenty minutes. My show tonight is several hours north of here. You’d better go your way, and I’ll go mine.”

“Stay a little longer and I’ll drive you up there.”

“Nothing’s changed, has it? I’m sorry.” She reached up and kissed his cheek before leaving him.

Again.