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“I’m safe here.”With you.
“You’re my responsibility.”
Responsibility. It sounds so stale. So unwanted. Between Keena and Fallon’s dismissal, it strikes a nerve.
“Stop saying that,” I snap. “You make me feel like a piece of gum stuck to everyone’s shoe that no one wants.”
Davis flinches. “Fuck.”
Hot, angry tears burn the backs of my eyes. Resentment. Regret.
Davis smears a hand down his square jaw, stands tall and exhales. “Let’s get one thing straight. Here and now. You’re no piece of gum. You’re no burden. And you’re not alone. Not anymore.”
Not alone.My body fills with oxygen. Sunlight. For one brief minute, I can breathe again. For one brief moment, I believe.
“You’ll get your life back, Dakota. I promise you.”
A tear slips down my cheek. “It’s easy for you to say that. You have control. You’re not helpless.”
There’s a long silence before he responds. “I’m not as in control as you think I am.”
“Why not?” I close the gap between us. Like that night at Eden, my hopeful heart pounds. “What do you want, Davis?”
He makes a choked sound in the back of his throat. “I want you to be safe, Dakota.”
“I’m afraid.” Another tear streaks down my cheek. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“You’re not alone. You’re with me.” It’s a promise. A daydream. A husky breath that threatens to take me down.
I close my eyes and slide my palm up his bare, muscled chest. Just a touch. An impulse. His big palms mold to my shoulders and I wait for his lips on mine, but Davis presses me back, away from him.
Again.
Davis stares at me, his broad chest heaving in the dim light, his face unreadable.
Embarrassment heats my cheeks.
Stupid, horny, pregnant Dakota.
A summer fling. That’s all we were. He proved his point when he let me go six years ago.
It wasn’t love.
I force a tight smile, my stomach in knots. “I should go.”
Davis’s mouth is a grim line, strain around his eyes. “Koty, wait—”
Before I can lose my nerve, I spin around and rush for the door, refusing to look back.
“Goodnight, Davis.”
And thank you for being a perfect fucking gentleman.
I step into the hallway, my face aflame. Keena prowls near the stairs, and I frown at how unbelievably smug she looks.
When I’m halfway back to my room, I stop.
Fuck Davis Montgomery’s walls.
