The shift was abrupt.His hands left my body, moving to brace against the door on either side of me, his weight easing back.Away from me.
The loss hit all at once.More than disappointment.More than the frustration of being left unsatisfied.This was something deeper.Something a bit like grief.
“We have to stop,” he groaned.
I blinked up at him.“Pardon?”
“This isn’t right.”The conviction in his tone knocked the wind out of me.
I planted my hands on his chest and pushed.He didn’t move an inch.
“Don’t be angry.”His voice was smooth, but it wasn’t a request, it was a command.And it did absolutely nothing to help with the heat still pooling between my thighs.“I didn’t say it wasn’t good.I said it isn’t right.”
The distinction landed in my chest and squeezed.
He wasn’t pushing me away.He was holding a line that had nothing to do with me.That was either the most frustrating thing I’d ever heard, or the most decent.I hadn’t decided which yet.
“Look, I’m not that guy.This”—he motioned between us— “isn’t something I do.I’m not saying I haven’t in the past, just that I don’t anymore.I can’t be that guy.”
“I don’t know what kind of guy you think this makes you.Or what kind of woman that would make me, but this isn’t my usual move either.”My mouth hardened around the words.“Merde.Now I feel like the pathetic one—worse than Celeste.And that is genuinely embarrassing.”
“I’m the one who should be embarrassed.”His voice dropped, and the raw honesty in it caught me off guard.“I don’t want you thinking I’m the deadbeat they’ve made me out to be.”
That vulnerability pinched something tighter in my chest.“I didn’t think that.”
“Yeah, you did.”He smiled, but it wasn’t the flirtatious smirk from before.This one was tired and a little broken.“But it’s okay.Hell, they’ve practically convinced me of it too.Apparently, all it takes is the right opportunity and I jump to prove every bad thing they’ve ever said about me.”
He raked a hand through his hair, and for a moment, every bit of his internal war was written on his face.“You didn’t feel wrong.Hell, you feel fucking amazing.But I can’t do this.Not here.Not right now.”
Anger hit me fast, but it wasn’t aimed at him.It was aimed squarely at Eric, and not just for the warnings, but for his role in making a man this honest feel this rotten about himself.
“Did I miss something?”I searched his face.“We’re both consenting adults, perfectly capable of being discreet.And I know you’re just as into this as I am.”My gaze flicked down to his massive erection, still tenting his pants.“I’m not imagining things, am I?”
When I looked back up, his eyes were already on me.Hunger mixed with regret, and something else.Something painful.“You weren’t out there?”
“No.I just got here five minutes before I stumbled across your moment with Celeste.”
“Shit.”He pushed off the door and strode to the other side of the room.
“Seriously.What’s going on?”
“Eric and Jamie are getting married.”His tone was bitter and not at all what I expected.“They just told everyone before I came in here.”
“Oh, shit.”I wilted against the door, all the heat draining from my body.“And that’s why Celeste was offering to cheer you up?”
He nodded, his expression grim.
“Why do they all think you’re still so hung up on Jamie?”
“Because I am.”The words sank deeper than they should have, more painful than made any sense given that I’d known this man for all of twenty minutes.“And I’m ridiculously obvious about it.I’m a lovesick loser.”
“Well.”I raised an eyebrow.“You sure know how to stroke a girl’s ego.”
“Fuck.I’m sorry.”He hung his head.“You’re gorgeous.Kissing you was the best goddamn thing I’ve done in a long time.But my mind’s in the wrong place.It wouldn’t be right to take things any further.”
That was it, I’d heard enough.I crossed the room to him, closing the few steps back into his orbit.
“Dylan?”I waited until his warm brown eyes found mine again.“You’re not a deadbeat or a player or a loser.”Someone had to tell him the truth.
