I couldn’t take it anymore. I moved quickly, pulling her up to straddle my hips. My hands found her face, and I forced her to look at me. “You are not fucking broken, bluebird. The fact you think that? God, it breaks my fucking heart. You’re perfect the way you are.”
Cleo’s eyes were closed as she pushed at my chest, trying to break free from my hold. “Stop, let me go.”
“Not until you listen to me?—”
Fresh tears fell as she tried to stand, but I needed her to understand this. To hear me. “Grady, please…”
“I will fucking kill anyone who made you feel like you aren’t enough?—”
“Goddammit, Grady. Fucking let me go!” Her nails dug into my shoulders, voice breaking as a ragged scream tore through her throat.
Cleo moved the moment I let go, clambering away from me. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. What the fuck was happening?
“Tell me what you need, Cleo. Talk to me, baby,” I pleaded.
She closed her eyes, hands pressed tightly to her chest as tears fell. Every instinct told me to go to her, but what if I made it worse? She was barely holding on as it was. “I can’t?—”
Before I could think about it further, I slowly moved forward. Cleo was lost in her head. It was like I didn’t exist at all.
Reaching up, I gently plucked her hands away. She resisted at first, but the moment I laid her palms flat on my chest so shecould feel the steady beat of my heart, she paused. “Breathe with me,” I whispered, sucking in a deep inhale. I waited for her to follow, but she didn’t, keeping her eyes squeezed shut. “Come on, bluebird. Breathe with me.”
On the next inhale, I felt Cleo’s body shakily comply as the pain and anger she held onto melted away. She shuddered through each long breath, but took them in stride. I did my best to keep my tempo even, giving her something steady to focus on. “One more,” I said, guiding her through another. As we let it go, she finally opened her eyes. They were still wary, but they weren’t wild.
Neither of us spoke, too afraid to dispel whatever this was between us. Our gazes dropped to where her hands lay flat on my chest. I expected her to pull away, especially after she shied from my touch moments ago. Instead, her fingers curled into the fabric as if she was trying to claw through my skin for a better hold. Through our shared breaths, we’d drifted closer somehow. I didn’t remember moving, but needing to be near her was an instinct I couldn’t ignore.
She may not have said the words, but somehow, I knew she loved me. I knew she loved me despite my fuck-ups, despite my faults, despite the years and broken promises. I could feel it in my soul.
“Grady,” she whispered. Her voice was raw, broken.
“Bluebird,” I said back, shifting forward until our knees brushed. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “Not right now.”
“How can I help?” I asked, resting my forehead against hers. “Tell me how to help. I’ll do anything?—”
“Kiss me.”
The words hung between us, echoing through my head like the ringing of a bell. God, I wanted to. I wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to love her. I wanted to make up for lost time and erase every bit of pain I had ever caused her.
Her grip on my shirt grew tighter as she repeated herself in my silence. “Kiss me, Grady.”
“I’m so scared to hurt you, Cleo.” My hands ran up the smooth, exposed skin of her thighs until they rested on her hips. “I want to so badly, but?—”
“I’m not going to run away again,” she said earnestly. “Give me another chance.”
“Oh, baby,” I whispered, curling my fingers through her belt loop. “I don’t deserve you.”
We moved at the same time, closing the distance between our mouths in a clash of tongues and teeth. Unlike before, her arms wound their way around my neck, deepening the kiss until I no longer knew where I ended and she began. I couldn’t get enough of her. Her taste, her scent, the subtle way she fought for dominance, it was all intoxicating.
“Would it be forward to ask you to come home with me?” I murmured against her lips. “I don’t want to let you go now that I have you in my arms.”
“What about Charlie?” she asked between impassioned kisses.
“She’s at the house with your family.”
Cleo pulled back, a single eyebrow cocked. “What do you mean?”
I sat back on my heels, trying to ignore the way my dick was straining against the zipper of my jeans. “Well, I couldn’t leave her at home alone. It’s just the two of us.” I shrugged. “So, she’s my wing-woman, I guess.”
