“Please—”
“I can’t leave you alone. I couldn’t even if I tried. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, and I need you in my life, Phoebe. When the threat disappears—and it will disappear—you aren’t getting rid of me. I promise.”
Sniffling, Phoebe wipes at her face. “I don’t understand.”
“I promise to give you more. I just… Come home with me. I need you in ways I didn’t think I needed anyone.”
“Like how?”
She’s really going to make me work for this, isn’t she? “I like how you ask about my day. And then you tell me about yours. You want to know me, and you don’t let my grumpy demeanordeter you. I look forward to just seeing you. Being near you. You really are like the goddamn sun.”
“Really? You always seem pretty annoyed by it.”
“That’s kind of just my normal personality. I’m annoyed by default. But not with you. I want to know you, Phoebe. More than that, I want you to know me.”
“Then I need you to give me more than just snippets. You keep me at arm’s length, and it’s why I don’t think you’ll let me in enough to make it worth it. I’m scared you’ll change your mind, and it’ll be too late for me.”
Letting out a deep breath, I look into her eyes. “I’ll tell you why I said I can’t fall in love again. I’ll tell you how I got my scars, and you’ll be the only person besides Capone who knows about Jo.”
Phoebe’s eyes widen. “Really?”
“I’ve never told anyone before, but I mean it, Phoebe. I want you to know me. I need you to.”
Chapter Sixteen
Phoebe
Before going back to Tucker’s house, we stopped for tacos. I didn’t want any, but he insisted. Said it would help with my hangover.
It did.
I feel a lot better after eating tacos from a food truck in the parking lot of the grocery store. Never again will I pass them up.
Now, I lie in Tucker’s bed, my head on his chest while he plays with my hair. Both still fully clothed.
My stomach feels better, but I have a horrible headache. Between the dehydration from the hangover and the crying, it hurts to blink. But I want to know anything and everything Tucker wants to tell me.
I can’t quite wrap my head around everything right now. It hurts too much to think that hard. And my emotions are all over the place.
And I lied. I said I would fall in love, but the truth is, I already have. Even though Tucker never stayed after coming to my room, I still feel cared for. But hearing him tell his brother losing me wouldn’t hurt stabbed me right in the heart.
I want to believe he didn’t mean it. He says he didn’t, and I hope I’m not making a mistake acceptingit.
“Tonight, we’re just going to talk and sleep,” Tucker says. “No sex.”
“You don’t want to have sex with me?”
“I always want to have sex with you, but I know your head hurts. Besides, this is kind of a big moment for me.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Yeah, I do,” he says, his lips pressing against the top of my head. “You deserve to understand how I got… like this.”
I smile against his chest. I can feel a scar on his chest, and I want to see it. My heart aches to think it’s tied to the one on his cheek, and I’m a little unsure if I want to know how they came to be. How and who marred his beautiful body.
“Jo was everything to me,” he says, his voice vibrating his chest and tickling my ear. “I would have done anything for her, but she was the daughter of one of our rivals. My family is… you know… the mob.”
Leaning up, I look down at him. We turned out the lights, but there’s a sliver of light from the window that gives me enough to see the outline of his face. “What? Your family’s in the mob?”
