Chapter 22: It's All Or None

Mayor Tony Ross has been making the rounds around Horace in the past weeks lending a helping hand and reminding residents that life will get back to normal. "We are a strong community, and we are working together to make this a great town, a town we are proud to call home."

Lying wrapped around Shelby was becoming one of Austin's favorite things. Where he usually wanted to get up and leave, he could get used to spending nights with her in his arms. He had even rushed back from L.A. just so he could be with her, and he never did anything like that. When he felt her fingers tracing his arm, he smiled against the back of her neck.

"I didn't expect these," she said as she continued to work her way up his arm.

"I mostly did it to piss off my dad," he admitted.

"Something so permanent? That seems really extreme."

"I don't do things halfway," he mused. "It's all or none."

And it had been that way since he could remember, even before he was in the entertainment business. He remembered