Page 54 of Dirty Fighter

“I figured.” The whole trying to hustle me off the island thirty seconds after his lips left mine was a pretty good indicator that he’d had second thoughts.

Even if I hadn’t.

I shrug, waving a careless hand through the space between us like I’m brushing aside a topic too trivial to occupy it. “It was the adrenaline. Getting caught up in the intensity of the moment.” I want to let him off the hook. Salvage what peace we found last night. “It wasn’t about us.”

It wasn’t about this thing I swear I keep feeling but should probably chalk up to wishful echoes from a time before my mother and I turned his life upside down.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t think it meant you wanted—” I stall out, searching the dim corners of the room for what this man could possibly want from me at all.

He didn’t ask for company.

He wasn’t looking for another friend. He brought three and had to send them away because of me.

He can’t fathom that he might actually need help packing up the cabin. And once his lawyers get involved, I truly hope that he never has to.

The only thing this man actually wanted… was for me to leave. And I refused.

Maybe that was a mistake.

Yes, I have reasons for staying… But I could have come back. Given Jason some time to himself.

Turning to him, I swallow hard at what’s in his eyes. Equal parts frustration, anger, and something else I don’t quite understand.

He leans closer, his voice going low. “Are you seriously going to look me in the eye and tell me you think I don’t want you?”

Jason

She blinks in stunned silence as I mentally berate myself for once again laying way more out on the table than I ever intended.

But no way am I going to let her lie to the both of us about what is or isn’t happening here.

“I don’t… Jason,” she whispers, slowly shaking her head. “A minute ago, yes. I could have. But now… I don’t know what you want. You said kissing me was a mistake, but if it’s not because⁠—”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you because you’re stuck on this island with me, Rowan.” I shouldn’t have wanted to. Shouldn’t have dreamed about it for a decade. Absofuckinglutely should not have acted on it. “Just like when we were stuck in my house when we were kids. I hate that I made you uncomfortable back then. And now, Jesus, you don’t have any private space here at all. Not your own room, your own bed… hell, not even a way to get off this damned island that doesn’t involve radioing Bruce and hoping there’s a window of calm long enough that sending a boat across the water is even an option. You have no place to escape.”

“Escape?” She pushes to her feet in front of me, staring in that direct way I’ll never get used to… even if I was going to have the chance. Which I won’t.

Her brows pull together. “From you? The most overprotective guy I’ve ever known. The boy who rescued me the night we met, made sure everyone at my school knew you were looking out for me even though I was the one making you uncomfortable in your own home… and just threw himself into harm’s way to keep me from getting hurt.”

I open my mouth to object, but she’s not done. “From the first day, you’ve been looking out for others… even strangers stranded at baseball fields. So honestly, I’m not sensing a significant threat here, Jason.”

I rub my neck. “Pretty girls stranded at baseball fields… not exactly noble.”

A ghost of a smile touches her lips.

“Jason, has it ever occurred to you that maybe this is my escape?”

My head comes up. She takes a slow breath and goes on.

“These last months have been a lot. Losing Ed. Navigating all the plans I’ve made for a future that isn’t going to happen… my job, the apartment I never moved into, the man I thought I’d marry.”

I don’t want to be jealous. But there is a part of me that can’t stand thinking about the life she and this doctor might have had together. I’m picturing the years they’ve already shared and wondering how the hell a guy with medical degree smarts could be so damn stupid as to let this woman go.

Oblivious to my sketchy train of thought, she looks around as the baby-fine hairs framing her face dry into perfect corkscrews. “So for me, this is a break from having to figure out how to rebuild my life from the ground up.”

I hear what she’s saying. And I get it. She’s telling me she’s ready for the peace this place offers. The break from dealing with her mother, and the life that’s waiting for her to find it once she leaves.

The last thing she needed was some asshole who’s never been able to shake his crush, putting some move on her when⁠—