Locked In Silence (Pelican Bay 1)

It took just seconds to realize whose car it was.

And to recognize the slim body of the man leaning against the hood of the car, arms crossed.

Oh yeah, he was pissed. My headlights flashing across his pinched features were proof of that.

I put the truck in park and warily got out. I’d already seen more of pissed-off Nolan tonight than I’d wanted. It was an emotion I didn’t like on him, especially knowing I was the cause.

“Going somewhere?” Nolan said snidely at my approach.

I didn’t bother pulling out my phone to type him a message, because what could I say? He clearly knew what I’d been up to. I absently wondered how long he’d known I’d been following him.

“What is this all about, Dallas?” he asked, his voice going quiet.

Too quiet.

“Are you seeking redemption or something?”

I shook my head, though I wasn’t sure why, since I knew what he meant. It was a conversation that was long overdue.

Nolan straightened, but didn’t move toward me. Despite the fact that he wasn’t yelling, the anger was still rolling off him in waves.

“Is that it?” he asked. “You still see me as that weak, pathetic sixteen-year-old kid who let those guys do all that shit to him?”

I shook my head emphatically and dug around in my pocket frantically for my phone. I had to tell him I never saw him that way. That I never would.

Despair went through me as I realized I’d tossed the phone in the truck’s cup holder.

“You know what, Dallas? You can fucking go to hell. I’m not that kid anymore! You want to feel guilty for standing by and doing nothing back then, that’s on you. I’m not a fucking charity case.”

I could hear his voice catching and knew, despite his anger, he was on the verge of tears. Helplessness went through me with every word and I was just turning back to dash to my truck for the damn phone when he said, “Keep your damn pity. I don’t want or need it. I quit.”

Panic went through me at his words. Nolan was striding around the hood of his car and I knew if I took the time to get my phone, I’d lose him.

And I couldn’t lose him.

Not like this.

I reached him in two strides and grabbed his arm. I frantically pointed to my truck and then my ear, hoping he’d understand I needed my phone so I could talk to him, but he was too pissed to even notice the hand gestures. I began dragging him behind me toward my truck in the hopes he’d figure out what I wanted, but he fought my hold.

“Let go!” he bit out. “I’m done talking to you!”

I ignored him and dragged him to the hood of the vehicle. I pinned him against it and tried once again to tell him I just needed to get my phone.

“I know you want to get your phone!” he snapped. “I don’t care! Nothing you say changes things. Don’t you get that? Do you really think I didn’t see you?” He was huffing from his struggles, but thankfully, he’d calmed enough that I was no longer worried I’d inadvertently hurt him while trying to keep him from leaving.

“You were checking on me every goddamned hour, Dallas! I worked my ass off to show you I could do the job and you still kept waiting for me to screw up! Well, you got what you wanted. Are you happy?”

I shook my head in confusion, because I was still stuck on the fact that he’d thought I’d been checking up on him because I’d been waiting for him to fuck up.

“I’m quitting! It’s what you wanted, right? You regretted hiring me out of pity, but you felt too guilty to fire me. But I didn’t screw up! I did the job and I did it great. If you’d just gotten off your high horse long enough to see that-”

If I’d been able to talk, I would have told him to shut up before I sealed my mouth over his, but as it was, silencing him with a kiss was all I could do to stem the ugly tide of words that spilled from his lips.

Nolan gasped as I crushed our mouths together, but instead of pushing me away in a fit of anger or surprise, he stilled for all of two seconds and then he was kissing me back.

I’d meant the kiss to be a means to silence him long enough so I could figure out how to get him to listen to me. But the second his sweet flavor hit my tongue, I was a goner. Bringing my hands up to clasp his face, I held him still for an onslaught of kisses. His hands wrapped around my wrists, but he didn’t try to stop me. In fact, he returned every kiss I laid on him and eagerly opened to me when my tongue slid over the seam of his lips.