He exhales sharply and shakes his head.
“No,” he says, voice dropping into something raw. “No, I don’t want you to leave.”
My shoulders sag in relief.
He runs a hand down his face like he’s trying to pull himself together. “You got no idea what you’re doing to me showing up like this.”
Fear flickers through me. “In a bad way?”
“How the hell could it ever be bad?” he snaps, then catches himself. “Holley, sweetheart, you can’t just walk into my world without warning. It knocks the wind out of me.”
My chest warms in a way I don’t have words for.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He leans both palms on the car roof, looking down at me like I’m the only thing he can see.
“You’re here,” he says quietly, each word deliberate. “That’s all that matters now.”
He steps back.
I open the door and climb out. He watches every second of it, eyes trailing my face, my hair, the hoodie I’m wearing—his hoodie, still far too big on me.
Something in his expression melts.
“You kept that,” he says.
I tug at the sleeve self-consciously. “It was warm.”
“Looks better on you anyway.”
My pulse kicks, sharp and heavy.
For a man who claims he doesn’t do romance… he really doesn’t know the effect he has.
He reaches for my bag before I can stop him.
“Come on,” he murmurs. “Let’s get you inside.”
I follow him toward the clubhouse entrance, nervous energy buzzing through me. The noise of the compound fades behind us. His hand stays on the strap of my bag, the other hovering near my back like instinct he’s trying not to act on.
Inside, the hallways are quieter than I expected. Not sterile—just solid. Purposeful. The kind of place built around loyalty and rules I don’t know.
“You good?” he asks gruffly, glancing over.
“I think so.”
“You sure?” he presses.
I nod. “I just… don’t know where I fit here.”
That makes him stop walking.
He turns fully toward me, blocking the narrow hallway with his body, towering over me in that way that should intimidate but doesn’t. Not with him.
“You’re with me,” he says simply. “That’s where you fit. That’s all you need to know.”
Warmth floods through me so quickly I nearly sway.
