Page 47 of The Ache That Stayed

That did it. The pulse in my temple detonated. I didn’t think.

My fist slammed into the plaster behind her head, cracking the wall. Dust rained down, and a hole appeared where my fist was.

She flinched back—but her eyes never left mine.

I’d seen her angry. I’d seen her grieving. I’d seen her shattered. But I had never seen her look at me like I was a danger to survive. This was the first time I’d seen fear in her eyes. For me.

Fear, not fire. And it gutted me.

Fuck.

I scared her. I dropped my hand and stepped away. If I stayed there any longer, I didn’t know what the monster that had just shown itself would do.

She was already shaking, and that felt like a stab through my chest worse than any blade could inflict.

I couldn’t stay here.

Not near her.

Not after that.

Without a word, I turned and left. I could hear her breathing heavily and Callum calling her name. But this time I didn’t turn around. I ignored the impulse to go to her, calm her down.

Apologise.

I kept walking until I reached the bike and left. I rode until the cold nearly cut the fever out of me. It didn’t work. Before I knew it, I was back at the cottage. Like muscle memory knew where to take me before my mind could argue.

The front door slammed hard enough to rattle the frame. Roxanne stormed into the house like a wildfire, footsteps echoing sharp and angry across the wooden floor. I was already sitting at the kitchen counter, elbows on my knees, head down, trying to calm the monster inside me.

The moment she walked in, the air changed. It was like the monster retreated slowly but reluctantly back into the shadows.

Like her presence alone knew how to calm the ugliest parts of me.

Her scent hit me like a punch to the ribs, warm and furious.

She dropped her bag on the couch.

“What the fuck was that?”

Her voice cracked, partly from anger, partly from the adrenaline of me almost punching a hole in the wall.

I looked up. Her cheeks were red, chest heaving, and her eyes spitting fire like she wanted to throw something at me.

I deserved it.

But fuck me, she looked beautiful when furious.

“He. Touched. You.” I growled, enunciating each word.

“We are colleagues, dammit.” She let out a breath. “You scared him.”

“Good,” I said quietly. “That’ll keep him at a distance.”

“Learn to control your animal,” she snapped. “Or put a leash on it.”

My jaw flexed. “I barely touched you.”

“You punched a hole in the wall,” she fired back. “Next to my head!”