Read Against the Wind, Season 2, Episode 1 (Rising Storm) for Free Online

as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. A massive purple bruise spread across his left cheekbone.
    Her knees wobbled, and her stomach lurched. Oh, she’d had a long day, and she always needed time to center herself before a conflict. Tate could be sharp to the point of caustic, and she wasn’t prepared for him. They’d only seen each other from afar for months. Apparently he’d decided it was time to talk. “Um, hi.”
    He crossed his arms. “I thought we should talk.”
    She gaped at the dark bruise. “I heard that you and Tucker…”
    “Yes. We had a bit of an altercation.” His expression gave nothing away.
    She took a deep breath. “Are you all right?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Don’t you mean to ask if Tucker is all right?”
    “Both of you,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. Everything inside her wanted to run away, but she needed to face not only him but what she’d done. What she’d do again if given the chance.
    “We’re both fine,” he said, giving her relief. That was Tate. He might be pissed, he might even be mean, but he was always honest.
    In contrast, she’d been anything but truthful. “I’m glad you came by.”
    His eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
    She wrung her hands together. It was time to stop avoiding this conversation. “I’m sorry, Tate. It’s all I can say, and I want you to know that I really mean it. I screwed everything up. I should’ve told you it wasn’t working out, that we aren’t compatible, and I just chickened out.”
    “You chickened out?” Red spiraled across his high cheekbones.
    “Yes.” Oh, she deserved his anger, and adrenaline flooded her system.
    “You fucked my brother, Hannah. That’s a bit more than chickening out.”
    To hear Tate say the “f word” to her was almost as shocking as seeing the ugly bruise on his face. “You’re right, I’m wrong, and I’m sorry.” There really wasn’t anything else to say, and yet she felt like she should keep on trying. “It’s my fault and not Tucker’s.”
    Tate snarled. “Don’t even think of defending my brother to me. Right now and right here is between us. We had a commitment, and I kept up my end.”
    She sighed. “That’s just it, Tate. We had a commitment and not much else. I mean, why did you even want to be with me?”
    His gaze darkened in a way that used to intrigue her. “We’re the perfect match.”
    She shook her head. “We look like the perfect match. I mean, what a successful political family in Storm should look like, especially since I’m from a well-known family in the area. But we’re more than looks, don’t you think? Don’t you want to be with somebody who loves you no matter what you do? What job you take? How you look? With passion and craziness and everything else?”
    His eyebrows drew down just like they did when he was preparing his closing argument for a difficult case. “What the hell are you talking about?”
    Her stomach turned over. “If you don’t understand, then I can’t explain it right. But can you trust me? You and I weren’t happy.”
    “We weren’t sad,” he countered, his voice low.
    “We weren’t really anything.” She wanted so much to comfort him, but she didn’t know how. “I care about you. I’ll always care.” But it was more of a friendship or even a dream of what might’ve been, and not reality. “Someday you’ll find somebody, and you’ll understand.” She hoped.
    “Did I ever give you any reason to believe you couldn’t talk to me? That I wouldn’t work out problems with you?” For the first time, vulnerability shone in his eyes.
    “No, but you never really saw me. You don’t understand why I not only have but need the menagerie of animals at my house. They bother you.”
    “This is about your animals?” he asked, shaking his head. “Are you kidding me?”
    “No.” She coughed. “The animals and our different opinions about them is just one of the many things that don’t fit between us.”
    “And Tucker fits?