"For what?"
Choosing me.The signs are slow, deliberate.First.
"Don't thank me for that," I tell him, and mean it. "If I could go back, if I could change things... it would always be you first, Tank."
He brings our joined hands to his chest, right over his heart. I can feel it beating beneath my palm, steady and strong, and something in my own chest cracks wide open.
I bury my face in his neck.
This. This is what I've been missing. Not the sex—though that was incredible—but the connection. The feeling of being chosen, of mattering to someone who sees past the senator's stepdaughter facade to the girl underneath.
The sky's starting to go from hazy dusk to a deep, navy blue. We should move. Should get dressed before someone stumbles across us. But I don't want to break this moment. Don't want to go back to being their captive when I can stay here and just behis.
My phone buzzes in my discarded skirt.
I ignore it.
It buzzes again. And again.
"Shit." I reluctantly pull away from Tank, reaching for the fabric. My whole body protests the movement, muscles I didn't know I had screaming their complaints. Worth it.
The screen shows three texts from Kade.
KADE
Class ended four minutes ago.
Tracker says you're still on campus. Not moving.
You have ten minutes to get your ass on the road. Or I'm coming to find you.
"Fuck." I show Tank the messages. "This is going to cause World War Three."
He reads them, and I see the corner of his visible eye crinkle. His sweat-dampened hair is obscuring the scarred one. His hands move in a sign that's almost lazy.Probably. Worth it.
The laugh that escapes me is genuine, surprised. "Yeah. Definitely worth it."
I start gathering my clothes, wincing as Tank's come drips down my thighs. My panties aredestroyed—grass-stained and stretched—so I use them to clean up the slickness between my thighs as best I can and shove them into my pocket.
Tank's already dressed by the time I get my shirt straightened. He watches me struggle with my shoes, those dark eyes tracking my every movement like he's memorizing this moment too.
He gets down on one knee and takes my shoe strap between his massive hands, buckling it delicately around my ankle. My heart stutters a little at the gallant gesture, then he offers a hand to pull me to my feet with zero effort.
My legs immediately try to give out.
Rather than looking smugly satisfied like every other man would be that he'd fucked me so thoroughly I can't walk straight, Tank catches me with a look of pure concern.
"I'm fine," I tell him, slipping my arms around his neck. "My knight in shining armor."
Relief smoothes his visible features and he carries me through the trees, following the path back toward campus. The quiet between us isn't awkward anymore. It's comfortable. Easy. Like we've finally found our rhythm again after four years of silence.
Too bad it's probably going to get us both killed when we face Kade.
My car comes into view at the edge of the lot, the pink Audi gleaming in the street lights. And leaning against it, arms crossed, expression dark enough to curdle milk, is Kade. Standing in the shadows. Flicking that fucking lighter he's never without.
Fuck.
How long has he been waiting? It didn't take usthatlong to get out of the woods. Did he track me here the second I didn't respond? The GPS in this collar is apparently more accurate than I thought.
