Page 85 of Leave

“Leann…”

“Just remember our deal.” She patted my chest and smirked. “Because I know they’ll all remember what they saw tonight.”

Then she turned on her heel and disappeared down the hall, heading back toward the club.

I closed my eyes and slouched against the door frame for a moment, my heart racing as my insides threatened to unravel. Fuck. Fuck!

Get a grip, Nolan—she’s going back to where Riley is.

That thought snapped me right the hell out of it, and I forced back bile as I damn near sprinted back into the club. I found the booth and all four of the ladies, but no Riley.

Where was—

Oh. Right.

I found the bar where we’d been in line a moment ago, and thank God, he was still there. He was next in line, casually scrolling through something on his phone.

I stepped up beside him, and he looked up, mouth open as if he was ready to speak, but then his eyes went wide.

“Hey.” He shoved his phone in his pocket and touched my chest, unaware that his hand had landed in the same place Leann’s had. “You okay? You look like you just ran the PRT.”

Did I? Was I sweating? Hell, probably.

I took his hand and kissed his palm. “I’m good. I’m… I think this place is a little warmer than I expected.”

His eyebrow arched. Oh yeah, he probably saw throughthatbullshit. We lived on a subtropical island, for fuck’s sake.

He snaked an arm around my waist. “Are you sure you’re okay?” His eyes asked what his mouth didn’t:Is there something you’re not telling me? Because we both know I can see it.

I reeled him closer and kissed his temple. “I’m fine. I think I’m just clubbed out.”

He grunted, partly in agreement and partly in what I thought was,I’m dropping this now but we’re talking about it later.

I just prayed I could find a way to dodge his questions later. I didn’t want to talk about this. Not now. Not ever. Not with the man I was leaning on harder than I had any right to.

Fortunately, the bartender picked that moment to call out, “I can help who’s next.”

“That’s us.” Riley loosened his hold on me and stepped up to the bar.

As he ordered, I took a few deep breaths. I could get through this. I’d be fine.

All I needed to do was get through it, get back to the hotel, take the longest, hottest shower of my life, and sleep for a few hours.

Then I’d feel close enough to better that I could get through the wedding and the rest of this trip. After that, we could get the hell back to Okinawa and our apartment and my cats, and I could get back to letting the five thousand miles of ocean between home and here soothe me to sleep every night.

Two diametrically opposing feelings clashed in me as I followed Riley through the hotel lobby.

One, my skin was absolutely crawling from the whole evening. I wanted out of these clothes and into the hottest shower I could stand until I’d rinsed away every memory and molecule still clinging to me from tonight.

The other? A deep, primal need for the man walking ahead of me.

I wanted the touch of someone who not only desired me, he gave a shit about me. He cared about what I wanted—not just getting me off, but if his touch was welcome at all. The need to draw him closer and the revulsion to being touched had my head spinning and my stomach twisting itself into knots.

In the elevator, he put a steadying hand on my back. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Just…”Want you. Want a scalding shower. Want to be alone. Want to fuck.Shaking myself as the elevator stopped, I said, “It’s been a long night.”

“It has.”

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