Page 73 of Reckless: Chaos

“Couldn’t I?” The bitter laugh tastes like old coffee. “The encryption methods, the way the systems were structured—they felt familiar. Like looking at code I could have written. Should have realized why.”

Ryker shifts, turning to face me fully. His knee presses against my thigh, grounding me in the present. “Listen to me. You are not him.”

“No?” I finally meet his eyes. “I break into systems for fun. I manipulate code to get what I want. I?—”

“You risk your life to save people.” His hand cups my face, thumb brushing away tears I didn’t know had fallen. “You took a bullet protecting someone else. You use your skills to help, not hurt.”

“While accidentally leading him right to them.”

“While trying to save them.” His other hand covers mine where it clutches the beanie. “There’s a difference.”

The warmth of his touch seeps into my skin, making it harder to hold onto my resolve. Harder to remember why I need to leave all this behind.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, even though I know the answer. “When you figured out who he was?”

“Because I saw how you look at his name in the news. The disgust, the determination to stop him.” His thumb traces my cheekbone. “I didn’t want to be another person who betrayed your trust.”

The irony of that statement would be funny if it didn’t hurt so much.

“You smell like tequila and bad decisions,” he murmurs, but his hand doesn’t leave my face.

“Pretty sure that’s my new signature scent.” I lean into his touch despite myself. “Goes well with my daddy issues and tendency to get shot at.”

His laugh rumbles through his chest, through mine where we’re pressed together. “Your friends are... something else.”

“Told you I had backup.” The memory of Aria’s precise nail work brings a genuine smile. “Though I notice you didn’t stop them.”

“Would you have?”

“Watching Jinx fall in love with Aria’s interrogation technique? Not a chance.”

His thumb traces my bottom lip, the gesture so casual it feels deliberate. “It wasn’t just Jinx watching.”

Heat coils low in my abdomen, radiating outward until my skin prickles with awareness. His pupils expand in the dim light as his gaze follows the path of his thumb, leaving a trail of sensation that makes my lips part involuntarily, breath coming faster despite my best efforts to appear unaffected.

“See something you like, alpha?”

“I’ve been seeing something I like for two months.” His voice drops lower, rougher. “Been holding back, trying to do the right thing.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m thinking maybe the right thing isn’t always the smart thing.”

The confession hangs between us, heavy with possibility. With all the moments we’ve been dancing around since I arrived.

“Ryker...” His name comes out somewhere between warning and plea.

“Tell me to stop.” But his hand slides into my hair, angling my face up. “Tell me you don’t want this.”

I should. God, I should. It would make leaving so much easier.

Instead, I find myself leaning closer, drawn to him like code to chaos. “I’m trouble.”

“Good thing I like trouble.” One corner of his lips tip up into a crooked smirk, “Trouble.”

But he doesn’t close the distance, doesn’t take what we both know he could. Instead, his fingers card through my hair, gentle in a way that makes my chest ache.

“Quinn thinks we should move you,” he says, voice still carrying that rough edge. “After what we learned tonight.”

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