I reach for her hand before she has the chance to pull away.
I don’t miss the little gasp that passes her lips, her eyes dropping to our clasped hands like she needs to see it to believe it. I enjoy the feel of her soft skin against the rough coarseness of mine. Her hand fits perfectly in mine, like she was made for me.
She lifts her head to meet my eyes, and I find both surprise and confusion swimming in them.
I run the pad of my thumb over the back of her hand. “Thank you.”
Something passes between us, something I’ve never felt before. Something…more.
I rip my hand away, forcing myself to ignore her eyes that linger on me, the confusion, the rejection.
I shove the key into the ignition and start the engine feeling like the world’s biggest asshole.
It’s dark out when we roll back into town and rather than run the risk of her dad seeing me drop her off outside their house, she asks me to pull up on the corner of the street instead.
“Will anyone call the cops?” she asks.
I shake my head. “It was an illegal fight, not a single person should have been there tonight, including us. If anyone goes to the cops, they’ll be implicating themselves.”
“That’s one good thing at least,” she says, gazing out the passenger window.
“I bet on myself tonight,” I confess.
Her head snaps up to me. “You did what? Why would youdo something like that?”
“Told you, I needed the money.”
“H—How much did you lose?”
“Put on a grand. If I’d have won, I’d be taking home close to twenty.”
“Twenty grand?” she exclaims wide-eyed. “Oh my God. It’s all my fault.”
“You won’t find me arguing,” I say, though for some reason, I’m no longer angry.
“I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head as my eyes find hers. “Don’t have to apologise.”
“But I’m the reason you forfeited the fight. Why did you do it? There couldn’t have been long left and from what I saw, you were winning. Why not see it through? You would’ve won.”
“I put Dario on the floor and in the split-second he was down, I looked over to find those two assholes all over you. There was no way in hell I was gonna let them hurt you. We both know what would’ve happened.”
She shudders at the thought, and that thought alone is enough to make me drive all the way back there, hunt those fuckers down and make them wish they’d never set eyes on her tonight.
I don’t know where this primal need to protect her came from, but it’s there and I’d be an idiot to try to ignore it.
“You did good. Fighting back. It was brave.”
Her eyes drop to her lap. “I wasn’t strong enough.”
“You kicked a guy twice your size in the junk then glassed the other with a beer bottle, all on your own. That’s pretty fucking epic if you ask me. Remind me not to get on your badside.”
She laughs at that, and warmth spreads through my chest, noticing the cute little dimples on her cheeks when she smiles.
“I think maybe I was wrong about you,” she says quietly, picking at the edge of her fingernail.
“Yeah?”
