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Kruger deflated. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll just let it go that this guy was ear-jacking a private conversation. Get your stuff. I’ll drive you to the police station.”
“I’ll drive him,” Arsen said, stepping up behind me. He was so close I could feel his body heat reach out to caress my back, and it took everything in me not to lean into him and sigh.
It made me feel like a traitor. Like I was caught in the middle between him and my best friend.
“Is this how you feel between me and Jess?” I blurted out. The sorrow made me feel so uninhibited that the words just spilled right out.
Fucking bro code.
Kruger’s expression pinched and then grew incredulous. “No!” he demanded. Then, “That’s completely different. You’re my brother. My best friend. Jess is my wife. My heart. And Arsen… isn’t.” He swallowed, his eyes filling with questions. “He isn’t. Right, P?”
A low rumbling filled the space behind me, and the hairs on the back of my neck lifted. “Maybe someone should let him finish his fucking sentences.”
Shocked, I turned to face Arsen. He was so close I actually startled when our eyes collided. I started to step back, but he caught my arm, keeping me in place. “You’re good where you are, princess.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach, and it took me a minute to realize I’d turned around for a reason. “You’re… different than I thought.”
“So are you.”
“We still don’t fit.”
“Oh, baby, tell me the parts that don’t fit, and I’ll saw them off so we do.”
I made a sound. I don’t know what kind of sound it was, but it was the only response my overloaded system could manage.
Arsen’s eyes flicked over my shoulder. “Give us a few minutes.”
“I’d love to say yes, bro, but… Actually, I wouldn’t love to say yes.”
Arsen glanced at me. “Tell him you’re safe with me, princess.”
But I’m not.
His thumb started stroking over the inside of my elbow, the hold he had on me not restraining but encouraging.
Did I ever mention I loved encouragement?
Glancing over my shoulder, I looked at Ben. “Just give us a few, okay? I’ll be out.”
“You sure about this, P?”
No. “Yes.”
“This still counts under bro code.” He reminded me.
“Yes,” I repeated.
I might not feel confident, but instinct didn’t lie.
“We’re getting an alarm system on the new place. Something to keep people from sneaking in,” he muttered on his way out.
The second the locker room door slammed behind him, Arsen’s fingers wrapped around my chin and gently drew my face around.
He said nothing, just stared, taking in my features as if he’d never seen them before. The attention was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, and it hollowed me out until I was empty and aching.
“I need you to finish that sentence.”
I shook my head.
