“Like I said, it doesn’t matter.”

She squeezed my arm tighter, her words a whisp of terror. “You matter. You matter and you keep forgettin’ that.”

“I’ll take whatever’s comin’ to me.”

Disbelief twisted her features, and Mel pushed farther into my space. Like maybe she wanted to reach inside and shake me. “What’s coming to you?” she hissed, words nothin’ but razors.

“It was my fault. What the hell do you want me to do?” I finally asked, helpless.

“I want you to stay away. Every single time you go there, he has something else to hang over your head. Pretty soon, he’s gonna own you.”

“He already does.” The words were shards.

Visions flashed.

The lights.

The screams.

The pain.

My heart seized around the images.

My throat so damned tight I could barely breathe. “How am I just supposed to turn a blind eye? Fuckin’ how?”

“I don’t know, Rhys. But you have to. For you and your mama.”

Agony crushed me, and I dropped my head.

Only for the world to tilt when I felt the shift in the air.

A pulse of intensity went slicing through the room. A warm chaos that soothed and stoked.

This girl, who against my better judgment, I’d left trembling and crumbling after whatever fuckin’ thing had gone down between us in that bathroom yesterday.

I hadn’t seen her come out since.

She’d had me pacing the floors all night.

I’d even gone to the lengths of pressing my ear to her door like some kind of creeper.

Worried.

Listening for any intonation that she wasn’t all right and listening harder when I couldn’t hear her make a sound.

This girl who was wrecking me bit by bit.

Blowing up walls and demolishing sanity.

Wasn’t like I was all that known for playing it smart.

I lived large in the limelight to keep the rest in the dark.

But this girl threatened to draw it all out.

I looked over Mel’s head at Maggie who stood on the other side of the island just inside the room.

Frozen like she thought she’d walked in on somethin’ that she shouldn’t have walked in on. Something salacious. Something private.

Which it was, but not close to the way that she was imagining.

Looking at her nearly dropped me to my knees.

She was wearing a floral sleeveless blouse with spaghetti straps. She’d paired it with a sleek pair of black jeans and sandals, the girl making casual look queen.

I was bettin’ those jeans were to cover up where she’d been hurt.

My fingers itched.

Ached, really.

Desperate to fist around that high ponytail, so long that it still swished down her back in these lush waves.

Charcoal eyes slashes of dark, stormy secrets.

Lightning strikes.

Each flare created a crater that opened up to depths that I knew better than to go diving into.

Body a beacon.

A treasure that couldn’t be touched, and there I stood, the fool who was salivating to do it anyway.

Maybe I really was insane.

Unstable.

Prone to all sorts of treacherous things.

F-fuckin’-minus.

Mel slowly peeled herself from me and turned around, and Maggie jerked her attention from where it’d been locked on me and turned all of it on Melanie.

“Hey, hi, Melanie.”

“Hi, Maggie,” Mel returned, voice way too bright. “It’s so good to see you. It’s been way too long.”

Maggie looked at her as if she were worried. Taking her in. Searching deeper. Glancing at me for the hottest second in all of history. “I’m really sorry to interrupt. I was just going to grab some waters to take to Emily’s room. They’re almost out.”

“Oh, no worries. Come right in.” Another high-pitched peep from Mel. “How is that baby?”

“Beautiful.” Maggie answered it with a rush of awe. Like she couldn’t possibly answer any other way.

“Gah. I can’t wait to get some Auntie Mel snuggles,” Mel gushed and drawled. And they called me the exaggerator. “It’s been three whole weeks since I’ve seen her and I’m havin’ withdrawals.”

“I’m sure they’re both going to be excited to see you,” Maggie told her. “Honestly, I think Emily is still having some adjustment issues living in Los Angeles.”

“Well, that’s because she went and let your brother steal her away from where she belongs.” It was all a tease from Mel, and Maggie was smiling softly, fully understanding.

“I’m sure it’s really hard for all of you.”

When I couldn’t stand the way she was trying not to look at me for a second longer, I said, “Hey, Sweet Thing.”

I mean, fuck, I hadn’t seen her since she’d been falling apart in her bathroom, after I’d been zero-point-five seconds from giving in and kissin’ her like some kind of selfish wanker.

This time, it was Maggie’s smile that was faked.

It was kind of grim and tugging at the side in discomfort.

That attraction that constantly sparked between us washed in something ugly.

Like it was dirty and she was standin’ there thinking it was something wrong or illicit.

It was. Definitely. But not in the way she was thinking.

Apparently, all my flirting with Mel in the past, which was nothing but an act for us both, hadn’t gone unnoticed.

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