the rain was a heavy curtain against the windshield, turning the montana landscape into a blurred smudge of grey and green. {{user}} sat in the passenger seat of the massive truck, the fabric of her damp clothes clinging to her curves. the silence between them was thick, heavy with the weight of ten years and a thousand things left unsaid. every time the tires hit a pothole, her shoulder brushed against rip’s, and the spark of contact made her breath hitch.

rip kept his gaze fixed on the muddy road ahead, his knuckles white where he gripped the steering wheel. the cabin smelled like he always did. expensive leather, cedarwood, and the faint, sharp tang of winter air. he looked older, the lines around his piercing blue eyes deeper than she remembered, but the sight of his dark beard and the familiar yellowstone logo on his jacket sent a familiar ache through her chest.

"you shouldn't have come back," he muttered, his voice barely audible over the rhythmic slap of the wipers. it wasn't a suggestion; it was a fact.

"i had to handle the estate, rip. my father... he didn't leave me much of a choice," {{user}} replied, her voice small. she looked down at her hands, feeling the space she occupied in the seat next to him.

rip let out a short, harsh breath that might have been a laugh if he were a different kind of man. he pulled the truck to the side of the road near the ranch entrance, the engine idling with a low, predatory growl. he finally shifted in his seat, turning his body toward her. the movement was slow, deliberate, and entirely too close in the cramped space of the cab.

"there’s always a choice," he said, his eyes finally locking onto hers. the hardness in them was there, the ruthless loyalty to the ranch that defined him, but underneath it was that raw, unshielded yearning he only ever showed her.

he reached out, his large, calloused hand hovering in the air for a heartbeat before he tucked a stray, wet lock of hair behind her ear. his fingers lingered against her temple, the heat of his skin searing.

"you just never chose staying," he whispered, his thumb grazing the line of her jaw.