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I finally had what I wanted, but I knew I couldn’t keep it.
I could never keep it.
* * *
CADE
I had to stop.
We had to stop.
But I couldn’t.
I couldn’t pull away from her sweet lips. I couldn’t move my hands off her tempting body. Most of all, I couldn’t separate my heart from hers. They were fused together, and no matter how much we tried to break them apart, they refused.
“Wait,” Aria said, pulling away, but I followed her, trying to seek out her lips again. I needed another taste. Just one more before the earth would come crashing down around us and we’d have to go back to how things were. In this silent, empty hallway, we could be whoever and whatever we wanted to be.
“No,” I growled out, pressing my lips
against hers again. This time, I slowed us right down and gripped her legs in my hands. I pulled her up and used my hips to pin her against the wall. She gasped, and I took my opportunity to dip my tongue into her mouth again.
I didn’t know how we’d managed to end up like this. It was inevitable, but we couldn’t have it. We could never have what we wanted, not while we had everything hanging over our heads in the way it was.
There was no way out.
“Mommy?” a small voice called a second before a door squeaked open.
Aria’s hands pushed against my chest, and I stumbled back, the opposite wall saving me from landing on my ass. She swiped her arm across her lips and narrowed her eyes at me. “That was the last time.” The conviction in her voice told me she believed what she was saying, and I grinned. How did she not understand we were meant to be together—
“I mean it, Cade.” The door opened fully now, but neither of us turned to look. “Do you want to go to jail? Do you want to lose your job?” My stomach dropped, my gut churning from her harsh words. “All it would take is a few words from your girlfriend, and it’d all be over. Everything would be over, and I’d…” She trailed off, her eyes misting over. “I’d lose you, Cade.” She pulled in a breath, but I could hear how stuttered it was. “I can’t lose you.”
“Baby,” I murmured, stepping toward her.
“Aria?” the small voice asked, and we both turned to face it. Asher was rubbing his little fists into his eyes and stumbling into the wall.
“Hey, sleepyhead!” Aria greeted, the smile on her face forced. She crouched down as Asher got closer and picked him up. “Mommy said you weren’t well last night.”
Asher laid his head in the crook of her neck as Aria rubbed her hand up and down his back and stood. She turned to face me, and I froze. She looked so comfortable with a child attached to her, and I couldn’t help wonder what she’d look like with our child.
Our child? What the hell was I thinking? I shook my head, trying to get rid of my thoughts, and stepped toward her. “Aria—”
“No,” she commanded, both her voice and face now telling me she really meant it this time. “That was the last time, Cade. We can’t keep doing this.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “Deep down, you know that. You know we can’t ever be anything but…”
“Friends?” I finished for her, hating the word with more passion than anything I had ever disliked. The thought of only being her friend again made me want to break everything I could, but I knew what she was saying was true. There was too much at stake for us to be together. Way too much.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “Friends.”
I didn’t say another word. I couldn’t, no matter how much I tried. She walked away with Asher, murmuring something to him, but I didn’t move from the spot I was in. I stared at the wall I’d pinned her against, and I pressed my fingertips to my lips, trying to savor the way her lips had felt against mine. Because she was right. All we could ever be was friends. There was no going back now, only forward, and if it meant I did everything I could for her without being what I really wanted to be to her, then I would. I’d show her I still cared, but I’d keep my distance.
And as if she knew what we’d been doing, my cell buzzed with a message from Willow.
Willow: Where the hell are you?
I didn’t open the message. Instead, I pushed my shoulders back and spun around to go down the stairs. Laughter rang out throughout the house from outside. I walked through the empty kitchen and into the backyard. As if my body hadn’t quite accepted what had happened, it sought out Aria. She was sitting with Asher on her lap, a small smile on her face as she spoke to Belle and Ford beside her.
“Cade! There you are.” Willow’s voice penetrated my stare, and I turned to look at her. “I thought you’d left me here alone.” She laughed, but I could tell it was forced, made to look like she was joking, but she wasn’t.
“I had to take a call,” I told her, stepping toward the table. There were two open seats opposite Ford and Belle, so I pulled both chairs out and indicated for Willow to sit.
