AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She jumped, and I closed the door, wrapped her in my arms again.
She was still. So damned still.
“Right,” she whispered, and it was clearly lip service, clearly part of that bullshit shield to keep me at a distance.
I shifted us, pinning her back against her SUV, cupping her cheeks, forcing those wide eyes to mine. “I like you,” I repeated. “And I want to see where this goes with you, sweetheart.”
A shrug. More shield. False confidence joining the party. “Sure you do. The sex is out of this world and—”
My fingers tightened. “Don’t make it just sex.”
The words were a sharp whip of sound when I’d intended to stay soft, to keep working myself through that shield of hers.
“Because”—deliberate gentle now—“it means more. You know it, baby. That’s why you’re panicked. That’s why you keep running away and avoiding me. That’s why even now, you’re looking for an escape route.”
Silence.
Eyes drifting from mine again.
“I can’t be in a relationship,” she blurted.
Something coiled tight in my belly, prickled along my nape.
“Because you don’t feel the same way about me?”
Maybe I’d read this all wrong. Maybe she didn’t like me in the same way. Which would fucking suck. Absolutely. I liked her. Bar none. I wanted her. And not just for quick fucks that didn’t mean anything.
Because they already meant more.
Because Iwantedmore.
Her face went gentle, and I relaxed, even before her words hit my ears. “I didn’t say that.”
“Baby,” I muttered. “You gotta clue the dumb jock in. Whatareyou saying?”
Her throat worked, eyes darting away and back. “You’re not dumb.” A breath. “I’m just not good at relationships,” she said. “I don’t bring an equal share. I work too fucking much and there are a million responsibilities on my shoulders—even more now, after the fire.”
I held her closer. “And I’m on the road for half the year and busy with practices and training a lot of the time when I’m home.” I tugged at a curl. “I love that your job is important to you and that you’re good at it. That’s sexy as fuck—how capable you are.”
Her lips parted on a shaky exhale. “Really?”
“Yeah, baby.Really.”
“And you’re beautiful and sexy and smart and I love that you can hold your own in any situation.” I ran my thumb along her bottom lip. “So, I’d be an idiot tonotwant to explore things with you. Something I’ve been trying to communicate with you for weeks now.”
Guilt on that pretty face. “Really?”
“Yeah, baby,” I said again. “Really.”
“But”—teeth pressing into her bottom lip—“what about when it goes wrong?”
Not if.
Butwhen.
My fingers on her jaw, drifting to her chin, drawing her face up, knowing whatever words I gave her wouldn’t be enough to make the uncertainty in her eyes go away. I’d have to show her. I’d have to work at it, to dig it out. Something I’d be more successful at if I could get her to stop running from me. “I like you, Rosie. A lot,” I added. “That’s not bullshit, and it’s not a line to get in your pants.Ilikeyouas you are.”
Her shoulders rose and fell on a breath and when she said, “I like you, too,” I felt like I was Thor (pre Asgard being destroyed and losing everyone important to him).
