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I lay down and curl into his side, daring to rest my head on his broad chest. Cuddling and pillow talk after hooking up aren’t things we’ve done over the last week. I’m equally to blame for that—I did tell him he didn’t have to do the sweet boyfriend routine, but I want to do the caring girlfriend version right now. The second my head hits those broad muscles, I’m overwhelmed with a sense of calm. It is thicker and more muscular than the last time I used him as a pillow, but he’s just as warm and comforting as I remember.

“You were right, that night. I felt it too, when I kissed you.”

“Which time? When you were in my lap, or grinding on my thigh?”

“Jerk.” I give him a playful slap on his thigh, leaving my hand at the hem of his swim trunks. “And both.”

“Thought so,” he says, and I love the way his chest rumbles against my cheek.

I nuzzle into his chest, giving into the instinct I’ve tried so desperately to repress. My fingertips absentmindedly trace the floral tattoos on his thigh.

“I can feel you thinking, so before you ask, it was an accident in the garage.” I feel his thigh tense under my hand, realizing I’m rubbing that leg. “I was working on a car with Dad. I heard a creaking sound and realized the lift was starting to fail, and the car was falling off it. I pushed him out of the way in time, but… yeah. It all happened so quickly.”

This time it’s my entire body that goes rigid, and I feel my heart pounding in my chest. I know how deep his loyalty to those around him goes, and that’s so—exactly—him.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You’ve had weeks. Did you think it would bother me or make me think less of you?”

“Hmm.” His chest vibrates under me again and he cups my nape. I don’t have to see him to know that the wheels are turning in his head this time. Our connection was always that strong, especially when we could be close like this. “Because, right now, you’re doing exactly what I don’t want. You’re acting differently because of this. I wanted you to continue hating me. I never want anyone to treat me differently—especially you.”

Hate him?

I’m realizing now—or maybe finally accepting it now—that I don’t think I’ve ever hated him. I hated what happened. I hate what he did and said to me, but I’ve never hated him. This would be easier if I actually did, because I have no clue where we stand with each other now.

“So…” I strum my fingertips over his thigh again.

“Yeah, so…” He grabs my hand, holding it in his much larger one. “Where does that leave us?”

The way he says us—while his chest rises and falls with a long exhale—feels freeing because it’s finally out in the open.

Us.

There is still something between us.

“I don’t know, Sly. I really don’t. Nothing has changed. You broke my heart. You hurt me. I still have my own issues with this town. Even if I’ve patched things up with Sisi and Maribel, this place will never be home for me again.”

He hums, and I know he’s already thought of the same thing. I can feel it in the tether between us that was never dead, just hopeless and ignored.

With each beat of his heart, I let my resolve for boundaries and distance crumble. I want to keep my head glued to his chest because it’s the closest thing to home that I’ve felt in ages.

Not this town.

Not with my friends.

Not in my van or on the road.

It’s the warm valley in his muscular chest—where it feels like our thoughts pass from one to the other without having to speak—that feels like home.

“We can talk like you wanted to the other day,” I murmur against his warm skin. As in sync as we are, we do need to sort some things out.

I don’t see it, but I feel his body shift when he shakes his head.

“I’d like that, but no, not today. I’m not really in the mood for more talking tonight. Can we just stay here? Like this?” As if he read my mind through our rapidly healing bond, he holds me tighter and lets us both relish in this moment we needed. “I haven’t been this close to someone—this open—since you.”

I nod because I feel the same way. “Why don’t we go somewhere tomorrow?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“You said my van’s ready for a test drive?”