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He was in jeans and a white t-shirt, and before he’d gotten off his bike, he’d slipped his Aviators back in place. It was one of the most casual outfits he could possibly wear, but Solo exuded this certain kind of swagger, this effortless sex appeal, that made every single part of my body respond—especially my heart.
He was it for me. I’d known it for some time now. But with the possibility of it coming to an end, of Solo feeling differently, I made sure to memorize this moment, this picture he made, for fear it would be the last thing I got.
“You’re here,” Solo said, coming to a stop in front of me, and it took everything I had not to tell him I would’ve gone anywhere if it meant him finally talking to me. He’d hurt me, and while I wanted nothing more than to stand up, kiss his frustrating mouth, and tell him everything was okay, I needed more than that. I needed an explanation.
“I told you I would be.”
“Yeah, but I kinda thought you might ditch me. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I wouldn’t blame me either.” When Solo grimaced, I blurted out, “You were a real dick yesterday, you know that?”
Solo nodded then gestured to the empty spot on the merry-go-round beside me. “Do you mind if I sit?”
“No. But only if you’re going to talk. I’m not really in the mood for the whole there’s nothing wrong speech again.”
Solo didn’t say anything to that, but he didn’t need to. The fact that he sat next to me spoke volumes.
“Panther, I…” Solo paused and looked over my shoulder for a second, and I could see the wheels turning as he tried to work out where he wanted to begin. Then his eyes came back to mine, and the pain there nearly made my heart break. “I’m so sorry for what I said to you yesterday.”
I could tell by the tone of his voice that he meant it, but that still wasn’t enough for me. “Which part?”
Solo’s eyes widened a fraction. “Which part? Um…all of it? I’m pretty sure yesterday’s flight caused my brain to melt and word vomit to just pour out of my mouth.”
“Yeah, but it came from somewhere, Solo.” I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. “You’ve had bad days in the air before and never lost your shit quite so spectacularly. So, I need more than that. I need you to trust me more than that if you want this”—I stopped short of saying “relationship,” because I had no idea how he viewed us at this stage—“whatever this is to continue.”
Solo stared at me as though I was speaking in another language. But then he took one of my hands in his and wrapped his fingers around mine.
In the last couple of days I’d realized two very important things about Mateo “Solo” Morgan: he had the power to make my world feel complete and the power to make it fall apart, and that scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
“This,” Solo said, as he brought my hand up and placed it over his heart. “You mean everything to me. Everything, Panther. So much so that the thought of losing you has made me lose my brain these last couple of days.”
I sat there staring into his deep brown eyes, and as his words played on a loop in my head, I kept getting caught up on one thing in particular. “Why would you ever think you were going to lose me?” Solo lowered his eyes, but I wasn’t about to let him shut down, not now that we were finally getting somewhere. I raised my hand and cradled his cheek in my palm. “Tell me.”
25 Solo
I’D KNOWN THIS conversation was coming—and had been dreading it. It was ninety-nine percent of the reason I’d been a total shit this week. But I knew there was no way out of this. Panther needed to know about the conversation I’d had with his father, and I wasn’t quite sure how he was going to react.
If it was anything like me, it wouldn’t be positively.
“Solo?”
I took in a deep breath and entwined my fingers in his.
“Do you remember that morning I ran out to the grocery store? The morning of the pool party?”
The pained look on his face told me he did. “It’s kind of hard to forget. You left my room with a smile on your face and came back looking like someone had run over your favorite pet.”
“Not someone, your dad.”
Panther narrowed his eyes. “Okay, back up a second. What about my dad?”
Well, here goes nothing.
“That morning, I ran into him at the store.” I let my words sink in, and when it was clear Panther wasn’t about to say anything, I continued. “I’m not sure if you remember what I was there buying, buuut it wasn’t just beer.”
