Not Dean, who wanted a polished wife to parade. He mistook my silence for forgiveness. Rookie mistake.
Not Isaac, who wanted an escape from his beige little life.
Not Taylor, who wanted vulnerability without the mess.
And certainly not Kelly—who should’ve said it the day she left me with that bastard of a father.
“I’m not a stray,” I say, even as something in me wants to curl into his warmth and let him pretend I’m worth saving.
“I know exactly what you are,” he murmurs, leaning in. “That’s why I like you.”
My pulse kicks hard.
He sees it. He knows it.
And still—still—he touches my face like it’s sacred instead of stained.
He pulls me up, hands framing my jaw, and kisses me with gentle intention—like tenderness is a choice he’s making on purpose. Then he guides me toward the bathroom. Hot water hisses. Steam blooms across the mirror like breath on glass.
He steps into the shower first, then holds the curtain open for me.
I pause. “This is… intimate.”
He arches a brow. “Terrifying, huh?”
“I don’t do tender.”
“I’m not asking for tender,” he says, tugging me in.
The water scalds in the best way.
He wraps his arms around me, presses his forehead to mine, and whispers, “Let’s just run. Get married. Blow this all up.”
I laugh—sharp in the small space. “Excuse me?”
“Think about it,” he says. “You and me. Fuck the world. Modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. Except smarter. Richer. Hotter.”
“And way less dead.”
“Exactly.”
I want to laugh again, but something about the way he says it doesn’t feel like a joke.
His hand slides down my spine, settles on my hip. “You think I’m kidding,” he says.
I look up at him. “Aren’t you?”
He answers with a kiss—hot, hard, consuming—and I realize I don’t care if he’s joking.
Because the idea of someone fully in on the lie, someone who sees the beast and feeds it, that’s the closest I’ve ever been to turned on.
“Say yes,” he murmurs against my mouth.
“To the fake proposal or the life of crime?”
He smirks. “Why not both?”
And right there, with steam in my lungs and his hands on me, something terrifying sparks.
