I put my fingers under Emily’s chin, tilting her head up. “I love you.”
Emily’s dark eyes widen and if this moment wasn’t so dire, I’d laugh at her expression. I swipe a finger across her smooth cheek. “I’ve never said that to anyone and I don’t plan on it being the last time, either. I love you, Emily, and I’m telling you we’ll work this out.”
She goes to respond and I place a finger over her lips. “We’ll work this out.”
We study each other. She wants to say it back, I long to hear her utter the words, but not like this. Not tonight. We both deserve better than that.
“I’m going home tomorrow night,” she admits.
I sit on the bed and press my forehead to hers. “I know.”
“I didn’t mean to cost you this.” She barely touches the leather of my cut.
“Hey.” I force a smile. “I like kids, remember? And as you pointed out, if I work with them I don’t have to carry a gun.”
A tiny spark of amusement shows in her eyes, but it doesn’t quite diminish the sadness. “You really are good with kids. You joke, but you could do something excellent with them.”
A wall inside me adjusts and it’s physically painful. There’s no choice but to think of a different future now. A future without the club. “I’ll deal with that later. Right now, I’m worried about you.”
“I don’t know who I am anymore.” She scratches her arm and I frown at the red welt forming on her skin. “Life used to be simple and now it’s confusing and complex.”
I settle a hand over hers, preventing her from making the hive bigger. “You’re Emily. The girl who stormed into my world and changed it forever.”
“In a bad way.”
“In a great way.”
“I don’t know how to wrap my head around all this,” she says.
I don’t, either.
“Promise we’ll be okay,” she says.
“I promise.”
The front screen door squeaks open and our time is slipping away. I lower my head as Emily tilts hers up. A movement of lips. A bittersweet taste. A simplicity that has morphed into something increasingly complicated. Her fingers entwine in my hair, yanking slightly, holding on with the understanding that we’re on the verge of letting go.
“Oz,” whispers Violet from the hall. “Wrap it up.”
I take in Emily’s lower lip and the small gasp that leaves her sends a shock wave throughout my body. I pull away and our chests move in unison. Another fast, chaste kiss to her lips and I’m off the bed. “You have my number?”
She nods then reaches out. “Hand me your phone. I’ll give you my Florida numbers.”
I produce it from the back pocket and Emily types quickly. Boots stomp down the hallway. This is it. This is going t
o be the last time I see Emily for a while. She offers the phone back to me. “Here. It’s my cell and landline.”
“I’m going to need time to work this out, okay? I’ll call you when it’s safe to chat. It may not be until you get home.”
Because the first thing Eli’s going to do is trash the burner phone he bought her.
“Okay,” she says.
“Okay.”
“Oz.” Cyrus appears in the doorway and it takes every ounce of self-control to not kiss her again. Those big doe eyes are begging me to find a way to fix this now and stay, but unlike Chevy, I don’t know magic.
“You need to head home,” Cyrus states.