How pathetic is that? That even my ex—the man I share a child with, the man I built a life with for a time—I never loved. Not the way I should have. Not the way I loved Cody.
I knew this was a mistake. Letting him back in, reopening a wound I’d convinced myself had healed years ago. It dredges up memories I don’t want, reminders of a childhood that hurt more than it should have.
But none of that stops me from watching as Sienna slips out the sliding glass doors, sneaking around to her car. And none of that stops me from taking a deep breath, standing up, and steadying my heart before I walk to the front door and pull it open.
Cody stands there, tall and shadowed beneath the dim streetlights, his face unreadable.
“What do you want?” I ask, exasperation lacing my words.
His eyes meet mine, and for the first time in years, I see it—the wound behind them. The ache that mirrors my own.
“Can I come inside?” he asks, his voice quiet. Then softer, “Please, Mae.”
I hesitate, my fingers curling around the doorframe. I should tell him no. I should walk away. But instead, I step back, holding the door open wider, letting him in.
The moment he steps into the kitchen, under the warm glow of the overhead light, I see it—his eyes are slightly red, a haze over them that wasn’t there before. And just like that, his words from all those years ago come rushing back.
"I don’t drink. It’s just not my thing."
But he clearly has tonight.
And I have no idea what that means.
He steps closer, the door clicking shut behind him as he crowds my space, his presence overwhelming, his body radiating heat. His chest rises and falls like he's barely holding himself together, his eyes dark with something raw and unrestrained.
“I had Uber drop me off here,” he says, voice thick with frustration. “I was prepared to wait all night for you to get home from your date with Axel. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if you showed up with him. I wanted to fight that fucker so badly.”
A surprised laugh escapes me, my head falling back against the wall. "Why do you even care that I was on a date, Cody?”
His jaw flexes, his hands finding my hips, pulling me flush against him. "I think you underestimate just how much it’s been killing me that you went out with him—after being with me. After letting me touch you.” His fingers tighten, his grip possessive, branding. “You underestimate just how territorial I am over people that feel like they’re mine.”
His hand slides up, cupping my cheek with surprising tenderness, even as his gaze flickers down my body, lingering at the curves the thin fabric of my dress does little to hide. When his eyes meet mine again, they’re burning.
Then, he leans in, his hard chest pressing against mine as his lips ghost along my throat, his breath sending a shiver racing through me.
“You’ve always felt like mine, Mae," he murmurs. "From the moment I saw you in that dusty rodeo parking lot I knew we’d be together somehow."
And then he’s pulling back just enough to meet my gaze, searching for something he already knows he’ll find. My permission. My surrender. It’s there. I need him just as much as he needs me.
His mouth crashes into mine.
His kiss is desperate, claiming—his tongue demanding as I melt into him, his hands gripping me tighter like he can’t bear the thought of letting go.
He pauses only for a breath, his lips still brushing mine as he rasps, “Tell me to stop.”
I shake my head. “I won’t.”
"Why the hell did you go out with him tonight?"
"Why does it matter? We had one night," I breathe, my fingers deftly working at his belt, unfastening it, then moving to his jeans. Because yes, it was supposed to be just that—one raw, passionate night. One final, reckless moment of closure.
But I’ve been drinking. And now he’s here, looking at me like that, saying things like that.
Maybe I don’t want closure. Maybe I just want him.
His hands clamp around my wrists, halting my movements with an iron grip. His gaze doesn’t waver, doesn’t soften. If anything, it digs deeper, demanding something I don’t know if I can give.
"Answer the damn question, Mae Beaumont."
