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He runs his fingers through his hair and closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath. “With Dad gone, I needed to help take care of my younger sisters.”
“You’re not their parent. You’re their brother,” I point out. “But, then again, I’m not close with my sister so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about,” I’m quick to add.
“You definitely know what you’re talking about. It wasn’t right how Mom used my sisters to manipulate me. I won’t be allowing it to continue anymore.”
I rear back from him, his words surprising the fuck out of me. The movement has his hands dislodging from my shoulders. I’m almost afraid to ask, but I can’t seem to stop myself, “What does that mean?”
“I need a change. I can’t keep doing this shit and working out on the rig. It’s hell on my body and while it’s good money, it doesn’t refuel my soul.” His hands grip my hips and squeeze as if what he’s saying to me is going to make me float away. He’s not fucking wrong. “I’m ready to chase my dreams.”
“Wow,” I whisper.
While I want to believe his words and leap, there’s a little niggling doubt in the back of my mind. Will he really be able to stop his mom from using the love he has for his sisters against him? That’s powerful leverage in her back pocket.
“Emma is about to graduate high school and then Miley only has one year left. The girls are almost completely out of the house. But I can’t do this anymore,” he confesses.
I nod as my mind spins. I hope he’s able to follow through. For him.
Kade glances around my room and a smile plays on his lips. “This place is great. You’re so fucking talented, Ink.”
His words wash over me and there’s no way to suppress the shiver that works its way through my body. I think I murmur a thanks, but I’m not sure because Kade grins which pulls my attention right to his delectable mouth.
The longer I stare, the more I swear I can taste him on my tongue. I’m not going to lie; I want to taste him again. I want to kiss him again.
I want it all again.
When I try and look away from him, he grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger. His touch is gentle as he uses his grip to make sure that I’m looking right in his eyes.
“I don’t think I could ever explain how much I missed you, Emery. I just need one chance and I’ll never allow you to feel like it’s a mistake.”
Warmth blooms in the center of my chest with his words. Before I can say anything, he takes my mouth in a demanding kiss. Everything from the night we spent together comes rushing back through me.
All the touches.
All the pleasure.
All the connection between us.
It’s still there and it doesn’t matter how pissed I’ve been for the last three months. Do I wish it had gone down differently? You better fucking believe it. But I can’t go back and change anything now.
It might not last, and it might hurt more in the end because of this, but I give myself into the kiss. I’m going to let go all the questions, the hurt feelings, and the raw edges for a moment. I’ve carried them with me for the last three months and it has been exhausting.
That doesn’t mean everything will be healed and forgiven. But I can do this.
I kiss him back, our tongues tangling together as the passion between us ramps up. When we pull apart, air sawing in and out of my lungs, he presses his forehead against mine and whispers, “I’ll make it up to you, Ink, and prove to you that I’m your man.”
All I can do is hope that he does exactly that. We’ll just have to see how it goes.
CHAPTER 8
KADE “DRILLER”
Knowing what you have to do and doing it are two very different things. Once you decide the right path in life, actually walking it can still be difficult. It’s a feeling I can’t shake as I head toward Mom’s house because I know what I need to do, what I’ve wanted to do for a long fucking time.
I’ve always allowed her guilt to stop me before. This time is different because the girls are older—almost out of the house entirely themselves—and I have a more important reason to keep both feet firmly planted on the shore than I ever have before.
There’s no way I would survive going months without seeing my woman. While she’s not ready to let me in fully and admit that she’s mine, there’s no doubt in my mind. It’s only a matter of time before I prove to her that she can trust me completely and that she’s my top priority.
The last three months felt like years were being taken off my life. While the guilt of how everything went down didn’t help matters, I don’t want to find out how much harder it would be to deal with the distance between us after fixing this shit with my woman and giving her a place in more than just my heart, but in my life as well.
