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“I remember when your dad gave this to you.” My eyes drop to the small crescent moon as I trace the edges of it with my finger. “God, you wouldn’t shut up about how pretty it was.” I chuckle, and she joins in. Then a beat of silence passes before I lift my gaze to hers. “All I remember thinking was how I wanted to get you a gift you loved as much as this necklace.”
“Benji…” Her nickname for me is soft on her lips. A litany as tears rim her eyes.
“You were my favorite person.” I swallow past the lump building in my throat as I release the necklace. “I wanted to be yours too.”
“You were mine too,” she confesses in a whisper.
The room around us disappears as gravity draws us closer together. She licks her lips and my gaze drops to follow the action. Inch by painstaking inch, an invisible chord pulls me toward her. Into her orbit. My breath comes in short bursts as my pulse soars. Our lips so close I all butfeelthem pressed to mine. And as I make the final move, as I close that final breath of space between us, reality pops our fantasy bubble.
“Anything new since I was here the other night?” Officer Asshat asks.
Kirsten sits straighter, her brows bending as his words sink in. She clenches her teeth, the muscles in her jaw tightening.
“Not now,” she mutters.
“Yes, now.” His eyes bore her profile. “Obviously, you haven’t shared with the group.”
She turns away from me to face him and I curl my fingers into a tight fist.
Why the hell is he here? What does she see in him? The pompous prick is an ass more often than not.
But what if she brings out his softer side? Hard as it is to believe, maybe his ego only makes an appearance when someone else threatens what he wants. Challenges him. If that is the case, why aren’t they together? Not that I want them together. But I’d be a fool to miss the chemistry between them.
Kirsten doesn’t have a boyfriend. Is there a reason why? If this asshole flirts with her daily and she welcomes his playful advances, why are they only friends?
“Travis,” she begs under her breath. “Please, don’t.”
He lifts a hand to her face and caresses her cheek with his knuckles. “They need to know, sunshine.”
Rage boils beneath the surface of my skin as he touches her with ease. As if they are lovers.
I fight the urge to yank her from his touch. My teeth grind to the cusp of cracking as I open my mouth. “What’s he talking about, sparkles?”
“It’s nothing,” she says, pulling out of his hold and scooting farther away from us both.
He shakes his head. “It’s definitely something, and everyone should be aware.”
“Should be aware of what?” Skylar asks.
Kirsten winces, then glares at Travis. “I hate you,” she mutters.
The corner of his mouth tips up in a cocky half-smile. “No, you don’t, sunshine.” He reaches out, pinches her chin, and traces the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip. “You hate what’s happening. You hate that I want to protect you.” He closes the distance between them, his lips a breath from hers. “But you could never hate me.”
She sucks in a sharp breath and swallows.
And for hour-long seconds, he captures all of her attention. It’s in those seconds I see exactly what I am up against. A man who wants her as desperately as I do. A man who hasn’t found the courage to take the next step with her. But a man who won’t let anyone take what he wants.
They may share an undeniable connection, but there is no mistaking the bond between us either.
Will I fight for her? Without a doubt, yes.
Will I come out unscathed? That remains to be seen.
He releases her chin and sits straighter, turning to face the group. “Kirsten has an admirer,” Travis says, his expression as sober as his voice. “And not the good kind.”
My eyes dart to her profile as she pales. One breath after another, her frame wilts.
“An admirer?” Lawrence sets down his wine and rests his elbows on his knees as his forearms cage Skylar in place. “You mean a stalker?”
