Page 63 of Never the Same

“Because I have to go find somewhere in this house where you’re not so I can breathe,” I grumbled, managing not to yell, but I wasn’t exactly Mr. Wonderful.

Before I became even more of an asshole, I whistled for Ranger, and he came sliding in and straight over to us. “Watch her. Don’t let her out of your sight, got it?”

Ranger howled, then hit my leg. He was clearly sensing I was in a foul mood, and a few paw taps wouldn’t undo the damage. I appreciated the effort, though.

I stepped around Hollis, careful of Ranger’s tail and making eye contact with her. But then she went and broke rule number one and reached for me.

I dipped my chin, jaw set, as I stared at her long fingers gripping my arm.

“I’m sorry.” Those two words from her were fragile and damn near split me in half.

“Please don’t do this to me,” I rasped, my stomach turning as painful memories from my past hit me hard.

“Do what?” she whispered.

“I don’t know how to handle you like this.” I met her eyes. “So I’m begging you, just stop. Stop being so nice.” I pulled my arm free from her touch. “So perfect. So everything I know I can never have.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Hollis

So everything I know I can never have. His words kept rotating around in my head, flashing through my mind like ticker tape.

Reed had done as promised and kept his distance after our post-sandwich showdown. Glimpses here and there. A protective shadow keeping me safe without coming near me. I’d been lonely and sad without sharing the same space as him.

I worked out alone. Showered by myself, of course. Ate the sushi he’d ordered for dinner with Ranger at my feet and without his dad in sight.

And now? I was in bed, tossing and turning, plagued by Reed’s parting words while also battling being aroused anytime I remembered his hand around my throat and his erection pressing into me.

We’d gone from nuclear hot in desire to nuclear hot in frustration. His dad was clearly his trigger, and I’d hurt him by bringing him up. Something told me I hadn’t known he had a bad relationship with his dad before today. Had I risked my memories by trying to save his father’s, though?

“I can’t sleep, how about you?” My eyes had already adjusted to the dark, so when I sat upright, I could easily make out Ranger on the bed with me. “Want a snack?”

He barked once.

“You agreeing with me, or are you upset I’m disturbing your sleep?” I’d only had Ranger to speak to all day since his dad wanted nothing to do with me.

His little howl told me he was tired, to leave him be.

“Okay, stay put. I’ll be right back.” I snuck out of bed and the room as quietly as possible and went to the kitchen.

It wasn’t empty like it was supposed to be. Reed’s presence filled the room from end to end. All six-two, handsome, muscular, and shirtless man.

He was parked behind a laptop at the table, and he was not going to be happy to see me invading his space.

His posture was deceptively lazy with one leg stretched out. The glow of the screen lit his sharp cheekbones as his eyes found me, sweeping over the oversized T-shirt I wore. Another one of his, of course. A small logo on the front, and a sideways American flag took up the whole back.

Too late to tuck tail and retreat now.

I came closer, and when his gaze locked back on my face, my pulse stuttered under the weight of that hooded, dark look.

“Why are you up?” Goose bumps raced across my arms as if the air itself carried some type of warning: Leave him alone.

“Right back at you.” He closed the laptop with an unhurried snap, sitting forward.

I leaned against the counter, folding my arms across my chest at the memory I had nothing beneath the cotton except panties. My skin heated, the movement suddenly less defensive and more revealing as he noticed the fabric shift against my skin. He glanced briefly at my thighs before pulling his eyes away.

The evidence of his frustration at my presence, along with my lack of pants, was obvious in the lines of his mouth and the hard set of his jaw.