“Kira! Stop, stop!” And just like when we were kids, we’re battling each other for dominance. Kira pushes to wrench free of my grasp as I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her back as she lurches forward, the door handle rattling as she grapples with opening it.
“Kira! Fucking stop! You’re not going to talk to him!”
“You gonna talk?”
“He’s a volunteer in Amberwood. We met the day I went over there for the day, then he volunteered here.”
“And?”
“And we’ve become friends.”
“Friends.”
“Yes,friends.” Even though I know he wanted to see if we could be more. I don’t mention the heat in his eyes when he looks at me, or the way the earth seems to shake under us when he touches me, or that for the first time in my thirty years I feel seen, safe, and . . .whole.
“Friends don’t make you blush like that.”
“I’m engaged, Kira, I’m not sleeping with him.”
“You could.”
“Kira! For fuck’s sake.”
“I’m just saying, it’s not like limp dick is giving you any . . . with his peen or his mouth.”
“Okay, I’ve had enough. Time for you to go,” I say as I start to push her toward the door.
“Do I get to meet him?”
“Nope.”
Just as I open the door to shove Kira out, we come face-to-face with the man himself, all broad shoulders and muscular arms, his green eyes focused on me, his face softening, and I swear to god, all I see is longing reflected back.
“Rhys.” His name is a rush on my lips as I take in the healing cut above his eye, the fading black and blue, mixed with a gnarly green. His hand moves up to his face, a thumb dragging across his bottom lip slowly. He doesn’t notice Kira, despite how, any time we go anywhere together, all eyes are usually on her. She’s a freaking knockout.
Kira coughs, my eyes breaking from his to look at her. I find her smiling ear to ear, like she just found the most amusing thing in the world.
“Thanks for coffee, I’ll call you later,” she says as she leans in to kiss my cheek. “I approve of whatever the fuckthisis,” she whispers before turning her back on us and walking down the hallway.
Then I’m left alone with him. At least it feels that way in a hallway with people passing and the bark of dogs around us.
“Was wondering when you’d be in.”
“Miss me, Dr. Owens?” he asks, his voice deep and husky, caressing over my body like velvet. My eyes dart all over his face, coming to a stop at those piercing emerald green eyes, then to the healing injuries.
Grabbing his hand, I drag him into my office, shoving his big body into the chair in front of my desk. He goes willingly, despite being so much bigger than me. I quickly shut the door behind me, moving back to him. I uncharacteristically crowd his space, standing between his legs as I tilt his head back so I can look at the injury.
The heat of his fingers twitching behind my knees nearly takes my breath away. It’s obvious he wants to touch me, but he’s restraining himself, and I don’t know whether to be happy or disappointed about that.
My hands delicately touch the side of his face, tilting it back slightly so I can look at his cuts and bruises, a million possibilities running through my mind. When his tattooed hands reach up, curling around both of my wrists, I see the damaged skinon his knuckles. Red and raised, the skin already scabbing, the surrounding area bruised and still slightly swollen. There’s only one way these injuries can happen, and it’s not from doing anything safe. I instinctively step away, his hands dropping to his thighs, along with his expression. “What happened?” I say, a bit of a demand laced in my tone. My heart thunders in my chest, my mouth dry as the desert.
Rhys’ eyes pinch inward, a look of desperation pleading back at me. “Please don’t be scared of me. I couldn’t take it if you were scared. I’d never hurt you, Bristol, please believe that much.” He says the words with such sincerity, such concern, that his voice breaks as he says my name. I don’t know how to explain it, or even if I could, but I know he’d never do anything to hurt me. I’ve never felt safer with someone, despite us not knowing each other for very long.
“I believe you. What happened?”
“There’s something you need to know about me, but remember what I said, okay? I’d die before I hurt you, before I let anyone else hurt you.”
I can feel my heartbeat in places it doesn’t belong, my throat, my ears, my fingertips. All the air in the room evaporates, like it’s holding its breath right along with me. I try to keep my expression neutral, but every part of me is freaking out. Everything I’ve felt for this man, everything I thought, and I didn’t realize he was keeping something so big from me. Rightfully so, considering his injuries. You don’t get those injuries randomly.
