** Cade POV **

    The car ride to Tessa’s townhouse is quiet, but the silence is thick with an almost buzzing entity.

    Her fingers are curled around the takeaway coffee cup I made her before we left the café, cradling it like it’llfort and soothe her raw soul. Her legs are tucked beneath her, and her shoulder is leaning lightly against her passenger door.

    Every few seconds, I nce at her out of the corner of my eye to make sure she’s real, that she’s still here, and that she doesn’t need anything from me.

    –

    I pull up to Tessa’s and notice the porch light is off. It looks like everyone’s asleep or pretending to

    be, at least.

    I put the car in park and kill the engine, hoping to prolong her getting out and having a few more minutes alone with her, no matter if it’s in silence or if she wants to ravage my body. She doesn’t move to open her door right away, and my heart soars a little.

    She stares straight ahead, then says almost too quietly, “Today was a lot.”

    “I can only imagine,” I reply so as not to diminish her feelings, but I silently hope she borates so I can understand where her head is at right now.

    “But you made it feel…less a lot,” she says, sounding almost thankful.

    Then she looks at me with an emotion that’s equal parts a dare, an invitation, and simmering desire.

    I don’t move as her eyes darken, because I can’t. I’ll forget how to stop if I lean even half an inch closer to her. And that’s not what she needs right now. Not after the day she’s had.

    “You’re dangerous when you’re sweet,” she says, the corner of her mouth tilting, but there’s something darker behind it.

    “And you’re dangerous to my libido when you let your guard down,” I murmur, as I struggle to look

    away from her mouth.

    Neither of us is smiling anymore as we both try but fail miserably not to look at the other’s mouth, and the space between us suddenly feels smaller than it is.

    I reach out slowly and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, my fingers grazing her cheek as I go, causing my fingertips to tingle at the feel of her silky skin beneath them.

    She doesn’t pull away and leans into it slightly, her eyes half–mast and her breath hitching slightly.

    b19:50 /bWed, b3 /bSept bR /b

    Chapter 84: Cade & La POV

    God, she smells like cinnamon, strawberries, and the faintest trace of something warm and sultry.

    My thumb lingers under her jaw, causing her pulse to increase at the base of her neck. Everything in me says ‘don’t‘, but every instinct begs me for a taste. Just one. Only one.

    Her eyes flick to my lips once, fast enough to make it clear that if I kissed her right now, she wouldn’t stop me.

    But she doesn’t lean in, nor do I, as my eyes ping–pong between hers, and my mouth goes dry at the thought of tasting her again.

    Instead, I whisper, “Tell me to stop.”

    She doesn’t, only swallows audibly, and then blinks as if she’s trying to decide whether she should say ‘fuck it‘ or whether to pull the emergency brake on this runaway train.

    In a moment of disgruntled rity, I let my hand slowly drop back to the gearshift, causing her to exhale slowly before opening the door.

    Before she gets out, though, she pauses and says, “Thanks for not kissing me.” ulliHer voice is rough and unsteady, and I know exactly what that feels like. /li/ul

    Another man would have used her vulnerability after today’s apparent drama to his advantage. He would have kissed her senseless and whispered all kinds of things to her so he could get his rocks off, without thinking about the emotional toll it would take on her.

    But that’s not how I want to enjoy my girl. I don’t want her mind shackled to earlier events, and her emotions bogging her down, as I indulge us both in the pleasure that we both know is a given between us, only for her insecurities to run rampant afterwards that I’m only here for a good time,

    and not a long time.

    So I give her an answer that will settle her doubts but still promises a future for us: “Not yet, at

    least.”

    Her head whips around, but I don’t give her anything else–only a tender smile that vows that this is

    not the end of what we were just about to start.

    I watch her get out of my car and walk to the front door, slow and unsteady, her mind probably reeling.

    And once she disappears inside, and I’m sure she’s safe, I finally let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

    Chapter 84: Cade & La POV

    ** La POV

    Later that night, I’m curled up in bed. The house is quiet around me, and my lights are off.

    I’ve been staring at the ceiling for twenty minutes as Cade’s voice still echoes between my head and my heart.

    My phone buzzes on the nightstand, and I swivel my head in its direction. I should ignore it, it’ste, and I’m exhausted. But some part of me already knows who it is before I reach for my phone.

    A: iHeard /iiyou /iiwent /ifull ifire/ii–/iibreathing /iqueen todayi. /iiI’m /iiproud /iof iyou/ii, /iibut /iiI’m /ialso imildly /iconcerned about the structural isafety /iof ithe /iikitchen/ii. /i

    I blink and then snort. Of course, he knows what happened. Xavier most likely filled them in.

    iLa/ii: /iiYou /iispying /iion /ime inow/i?

    iAJ/i: iAlways/i. iThe /iionly /iidifference /iiis /iI itold /iiyou /iithis /itimei. /iismirk /iiemoji /i

    I should roll my eyes, and I should be annoyed. But I’m not. There’s something weirdlyforting

    about him watching from the shadows.

    iLa/ii: /iiYou /iiget /iiall /iiyour /iiintel /iifrom /iikitchen /iiappliances/ii, /iior /iiis /iithere /iia /iimole /iiI /iishould /iibe /iiworried /iiabout/ii? /i

    iAJ/i: iI’ve /iigot /iisources/i. iThe /iifridge /iisays /iiyou /iiwere /iimagnificent/ii, /iiby /iithe /iiway/ii. /i

    For the first time since this afternoon, Iugh, quietly and into the darkness of my room, but it’s a

    AJ: How iare /iiyou /iinow/ii, /iithough/ii? /i

    Lai: /iiI’m /iifine/ii. /iiMostly/ii. /iiI /iididn’t /iifall /iiapart/ii. /i

    AJ: No. You inever /idoi. /iiThat’s /iiwhat /iiscares /ime.

    I pause as I reread hisst message, scared of what he’s implying,

    Lai: /iiDon’t /ipsychoanalyze ime/ii. /iiIt’s /itei. /i

    Af: Then don’t be so easy to read. iYou’ve /igot this armor that everyone thinks is impressive. I just wonder if you remember how to take it off.

    Fuck. My throat tightens, but hot because he’s wrong. But because he’s closer to the truth than he’s probably aware of.

    iLa/ii; /iiAnd /iwhat if I don’t?

    b19:50 /bWedb, 3 /bSept RO

    Chapter 84: Cade & La POV

    iAJ/i: iThen /iiI’ll /iiwait/i. iI /idon’t ineed /iiyou /iito /iilet /ime iin/i. iI’ll /iifind /iimy /iiown /iiway /iithere/i.

    40%

    I stare at the screen in the dark with my heart racing. Not from panic or fear, but from him confirming he’ll fight for me so he can be part of my life, which is something I didn’t know I needed

    until now.

    I don’t text him back because, honestly, I don’t know what to say.

    Instead, I plug my phone into the charger, roll onto my side, and close my eyes.

    But AJ’s words stay with me long after sleep finds me, and deep into my restless dreams.

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