“Well, no one dumped pig’s blood on you, so I think we’re good.”
“The night’s still young,” she stated dryly.
Enzo laughed and shook his head. “Like I would ever let that happen.” He felt fiercely protective of his best friend. The girl had cracked opened his chest cavity and wormed her way into his heart ... brought him kicking and screamin
g out of the darkness and into the light. She’d done something few people could: gained his trust. He studied her as she beamed.
Her blue-green eyes sparkled and he could see the small flecks of green inherited from her father. Her thick hair tumbled around her slender, oval face in insane curls, and she glowed. Her full lips were tempting him. Bare of lipstick they glistened and glimmered a light shade of pink. Suddenly, he wanted to know what that lip gloss tasted like, what she tasted like.
“Enz?”
“Shhh.” He leaned forward and cupped her face.
She went still, but didn’t move away.
Taking it as permission, he pressed their lips together, and his world exploded around him. She tasted like sugar—sweet and addictive. He couldn’t get enough. He tilted his head for better entry and she gasped, allowing him to slip his tongue into her mouth.
It was akin to sticking his tongue into a light socket full of pleasure endorphins. Energy rushed through him weaving a seductive spell. His pants grew too tight, and his hunger for more flared. She whimpered, and he moaned. The sound of her surrender tasted better than any of the pleasure filled cries he’d wrung from other girls.
His heart raced, and his hand shook slightly as he brushed her hair away from her face. It was baby soft and smelled like flowers. He’d fallen into heaven. He lowered her body to the bed. Pressed chest to chest, their eyes locked and he knew he was in way too deep. I love her. The words jolted him from his lust.
He pulled back, breathing hard. “As good as this feels and as amazing as this would be with you, I just can’t. It would ruin what we have, and if I ever lost you, I’d lose my mind. You’re the only female I can trust. I need you to stay that. Do you understand? It’s nothing against you, and everything for you. I’m a bastard and I know it. You deserve romance, flowers, and a deep commitment. I can’t give you that, babe.”
“Who says it’s what I want?” she asked.
Smiling, Enzo brushed the stray strands of hair behind her ear. “It’s what every girl wants, whether they realize it or not. Trust me, I’m older and wiser.”
“Oh fuck you and your six months,” she replied with s shaky laugh.
Her eyes looked glossy and he knew if he saw a mirror, his would be the same. If he’d been a better person, someone capable of love the way she deserved, he would’ve continued. He cursed his bitch of mother and the way she’d twisted his dark soul. She broke something inside of him, and he would never be able to fix it. He rested his forehead against hers, and tightened his hold, knowing he would never again get to experience this level of intimacy with the one woman he loved as much as he was able to.
PRESENT
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Enzo said.
“You keep telling yourself that. But you’re the only one who believes it.”
“You don’t know—”
“No. I’m not going to listen to this tired old song and dance again. I know you better than anyone. I don’t need to know every detail of your past for that. You are more than what happened to you, Enzo. Whatever you did to survive doesn’t matter.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because I see the man you are, and the man you could be if you’d only allow yourself to be.”
Her words penetrated his armor. It stung. She’d always been the truth bringer, whether he wanted to hear it or not. “You make it sound so easy. You have no idea what I’ve gone through. It would make you sick to your stomach.”
“Then tell me,” she demanded.
“Why? So you can turn from me just like everyone else?”
“When have I ever?”
“I’m waiting for the day when you get sick of my shit,” he said.
“No, you’re pushing me toward it. It’s what you do. I’m going to end this conversation now, before we say things neither of us can take back.” She hung up.
He tossed his phone across the room. Spearing his fingers through his hair, he closed his eyes, feeling the rift between them begin.