Page 130 of Snow

“I didn’t mean to crash like that. Last I looked at the time, it was like three in the morning.”

Snow offered a small smile. “The guys said you needed the rest.”

That wasn’t a lie, Nova thought to herself. She had been exhausted.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

Snow shifted his head slightly on the pillow and winced. “I’ve had better,” he said with a small laugh. “But I’ve had worse too. Right now, it’s just a really bad headache. The doctors said I got lucky. Just a bad concussion.”

Nova took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, lifting her hand and kissing the back of it. “Derek told me that you saved my ass.”

She swallowed hard. “You would’ve done the same for me.”

“Come here,” he told her as he gently pulled her closer.

“Gabe,” she protested softly as he practically tugged her halfway onto the bed beside him. “Stop. You’re supposed to be resting. I don’t want to hurt you.”

A quiet laugh rumbled out of him. “I’ve survived explosions, getting hit with a pipe, and military doctors. I think I can survive you lying next to me.”

She let out a small laugh as he carefully adjusted his arm around her. The warmth from his body heat instantly wrapped around her like a blanket.

His expression softened as his blue eyes held hers. “You didn’t have to do what you did. You could have gotten yourself killed getting me off that rig.”

Nova’s brows furrowed as if his comment had offended her. “Leaving you wasn’t even an option.”

“Nova—”

“No.” She interrupted him. “One thing I learned from you and your team is that you never leave a teammate behind.” Her voice softened slightly. “And we went in there as a team. So, there was no way I was leaving you there.”

For a moment, he just stared at her like she’d said something that hit him deeper than he knew how to explain. Then his hand slid gently against her cheek before he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

It wasn’t heated. It was just a slow, sweet kiss.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead lightly against hers, his fingers still brushing softly along her jaw.

“You’re something else, Nova Hart,” he murmured.

A small smile tugged at Nova’s lips as she looked into his eyes.

She wasn’t sure what the future held for them once all of this was over. But as she lay there in his arms, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, one thing became clear. Somehow in the middle of all the danger and chaos, this man had filled a place in her heart that had been empty for a long time.

◆◆◆

She didn’t know it, but the moment Snow opened his eyes and saw her sleeping, still holding his hand like she was afraid to let go, something inside him shifted in a way he honestly wasn’t prepared for.

He had spent most of his adult life keeping people at a distance. It was easier that way. But seeing Nova there beside him, wearing oversized Navy sweats, exhaustion written all over her face as she slept after everything they had just survived together, hit him harder than the pipe ever had. Because somewhere between the chaos on that rig, her stubborn refusal to leave him behind, and the way she looked at him like he actually mattered beyond the uniform and the job, this woman had quietly worked her way past every wall he had spent years building.

“Hey, Nova,” he said quietly, giving her hand another squeeze.

She looked up again; her eyes were soft, though rimmed with concern.

“What you said earlier. Did you really mean it?”

Her eyebrows pinched together. “What did I say?”

“Earlier, when you thought I couldn’t hear you.”