“Fin!” Ryan yelled.
Fin ignored him, focusing on outrunning the pain that was weighing heavily in her gut. Her arm was seized in an unbreakable grip, Ryan yanking at her bicep until she was forced to a stop. “Let me go!”
“I’m sorry,” he said, breathless. He wrapped his arms around her, and when her legs gave out, they sank to the ground on the side of the road.
Fin buried her face in his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt. “Why would you do that?”
“I couldn’t leave you. Not then. If Mike and Julie spoke up, I’d have lost you, and you were the only thing in my life that kept me going.” He rubbed her back as she cried, the tears tasting salty and bitter on her lips. “Breathe, baby.”
She inhaled his warm, male scent deep into her lungs. “Every time he hit you, every time he made you bleed, you let him because of me.”
“Oh God,” he moaned into her hair. “Don’t. You don’t understand. I told Kassidy to kick that ball. I was the one that was supposed to be looking out for her. I let him hurt me because that was my punishment for her dying. I was supposed to be her brother, and I let her down. Then you were there, so bright and happy just like she was, and I couldn’t let you go.”
“But you did. Eventually you let me go and you didn’t look back.”
His arms tightened around her. “Because I grew up and realised that someone as smart as you, with a heart as deep and as wide as the ocean, deserved someone who wasn’t broken to love you. I’m still broken, Fin, and I don’t know if that will ever change.”
Why couldn’t he see how worthy he was? Fin pulled away and looked at him. His eyes were dull and tired, filled with so much regret. I wasn’t enough for him. She shuddered as a chill swept through her veins. “I love you, Ryan,” she whispered, desperation edging her voice.
“I love you too,” he replied hoarsely.
Ryan kissed her. His lips were warm, his mouth hot. She could feel his heart hammering in his chest as she pressed against him. When headlights from a car flashed in the distance, she realised it was dark, and they were sitting in the gutter.
Ryan stood, bringing her with him. He brushed his hand down her dress, removing bits of dirt and grass that clung to her clothes. Even now, after everything he’d been through, he was still taking care of her, putting her above everything else—even himself. “Stop.”
Ryan stopped. “Are you okay?”
No. Her hands trembled. How could she ever be okay as long as Ryan wasn’t? He was standing there, patiently waiting for her to answer, his concern palpable.
Fin nodded, knowing that was what he needed to see.
Ryan trailed his thumb along her bottom lip, heat following its path. “We should go,” he told her, his eyes on her lips.
“We should,” she murmured, but Fin didn’t want to go to dinner now. She wanted to stay home. She wanted to feel Ryan hard and aching, feel his heart—his blood—pulsing deeply inside her.
“If you keep looking at me like that, we won’t be going anywhere except inside where I can fuck you hard enough to block out the entire world.”
Fin’s mouth went dry. The soft streetlight cast Ryan half in shadow, adding a dark intensity to the hard planes of his face. His wide shoulders and the tanned muscles roping his arms and chest were illuminated flawlessly. Her eyes fell to the waistband of his jeans, and her hands, now on his hips, eased the hem up slightly on his fitted shirt, baring a small sliver of skin. She skimmed her hand across his warm, taut stomach, letting her hand slide around his torso and glide up and over his back.
Fin looked up at him from beneath her lashes as Ryan shuddered beneath her touch. “I want you.”
He exhaled audibly, dipping his head and sweeping her lips up in his, their pressure hard and wild as her heart thumped madly. She dug her fingers into his bare skin and he groaned. “I want you too. All the damn time.”
Ryan grabbed her hand and dragged her back towards the car. Fin scrambled to keep up with his rapid pace. The driver’s door was still wide open, the interior light shining brightly in the dark. Without missing a beat, he slammed the door shut and continued around the hood of the car. His free hand dug into the pocket of his jeans as he strode purposefully towards the front door. Pulling out a set of keys, he twisted and tossed them towards her. She caught them by sheer luck.
“Open the door,” he ordered, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
With shaky hands, Fin turned towards the door. Standing behind her, Ryan bunched up the hem of her dress, his warm, calloused palms scraping along her thighs. She fumbled the keys as he settled his hands on her hips, pressing his hard length against her ass. Heat flushed her body when he leaned in and bit her earlobe. “Hurry up,” he breathed.