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But I knew it was that which was causing him to fall down this dark hole.
“He’s wrong.”
He scoffed. “He’s not—”
“He is,” I snapped, not about to let him convince himself that the words of this man, who hadn’t been around for over half his life, should have any kind of an impact. “Disease is something we fight. Something that we wish we could live without. And your sister could never wish that about you. Despite the fact that you’re a little rough around the edges, and you curse… a lot… “ I smiled. “Grace loves you so much.”
He held my gaze.
The two of us locked in some kind of stare down, though I wasn’t about to let him win. I wasn’t going to look away until I knew the words had sunk in, but it was obvious he was struggling to hear my voice over the ones inside his head screaming that he wasn’t good enough for her. That he didn’t deserve to be the other half of her.
“We call twenty-four hours a whole day,” I tried again, reaching for his face and curling my hand around his jaw, pulling him closer. “But the truth is, for that day to be whole, one half has to be daylight, and the other has to be darkness. And that doesn’t mean that nighttime isn’t just as fucking amazing.”
He pulled back suddenly, leaping off the stool and walking away.
I thought I’d fucked up for a second.
Until he stormed around the end of the bar and straight toward me. He barely pulled to a stop in front of me, bending just enough to hook his hands under my ass and lift me up onto the bar, stepping in between them. We were so close I was sure I could hear his heart pounding inside his chest.
“I don’t know how the hell the universe decided a bastard like me deserved to have you show up with your fucking bat that day,” he rasped, the low whisper thick with emotion. “But God fucking help them if they ever figure out it was a mistake and try and take you from me.”
His eyes flickered around us, making sure we were alone. He was overwhelmed, that was clear, but this wasn’t exactly the place he wanted to let that shit free, and I understood. It’s hard to be vulnerable in front of people who have only ever seen you as a pillar of strength.
He wrapped one hand around the back of my neck and dragged my mouth to meet his. I wondered if there would ever be a day when my heart wouldn’t race when Hawk was around because it was beating as fast right now as it had the first day we met.
Maybe I should have been scared by the admission he’d just made.
Letting me know he was feeling this as intensely as I was.
Things between Hawk and me had moved quicker than I ever expected, given I’d spent the past few years building my walls tall enough to keep men out and my heart in. And yet, I’d gone from beating on one of his brothers to putting a large part of my future in his hands—all in a few weeks.
There was no denying this unexplainable fire inside me that roared to life when I was around him. It was invigorating and addictive.
He looked at me differently—like he saw me.
Not Missy the stripper or Missy the single mom.
Just Missy.
She was a person I’d smothered for a long time, disregarding her needs, her wants, her dreams. Hawk made her feel like maybe she mattered again, and suddenly, I was starting to see a future that stretched further than one paycheck to the next.
There was excitement.
And opportunities.
And him.
“All right, no christening the bar while we’re all here trying to work.” Gem groaned, a hard thump shaking the bar and forcing us to both pull back, though it was reluctantly.
“I’m gonna go help unload,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead before reaching for my waist and helping me down off the bar. “Though, I’m not againstchristening the bara little later.”
Gem cleared her throat. “I heard that!” But Hawk merely grinned at her as he slipped by and headed out the swinging doors. When they folded closed behind him, she turned back to me with a smirk. “You, girl, are fucked.”
I was.
There was no denying it at this point.
The threads were unraveling faster than before, and he was burying himself deeper into my heart.
