Page 64 of Let Me Be the One

“Whoa, wait.” He touched her lips to interrupt her. They were soft, like the rest of her. He got so involved in tracing her lips that he almost forgot what he wanted to say. Dropping his hand and putting the space of a big backstep between them, he said, “Back up. To college.”

“It’s not a great story and I’m kind of on a roll here.” Moving in, she ran her hands up his chest.

It’d be so easy to cave, to get wrapped up in wantingher that he forgot everything else. Except Liam would return soon, and for now Liam was the priority. Whenever Tanner was with one of the kids, he made sure that they had his entire focus.

But until Liam got back… “We’ll have a teenager showing up any minute now, super psyched about the prospect of a car, so let’s put this”—he pressed a firm smooch to her mouth—“on hold for a bit.”

The corners of those irresistible lips tipped up in pleasure. “Right. On hold. This is me.” She laced her fingers together. “Being patient.”

It was her being pure temptation, but at least she wasn’t sliding those small, soft hands all over him now. He could resist a lot, but not that.

“What happened in college?” He’d heard mentions of it twice, once when she’d first arrived in the woods with her cousin, and then again just now. He sensed it had been a game-changer for her, something that had affected her deeply.

Tension firmed her jaw and she looked away.

So maybe he shouldn’t press her. If it was difficult for her to talk about, he didn’t want to put her through it with his nosiness.

“Sorry,” he said, meaning it. “I shouldn’t pry.”

“No, it’s my fault for bringing it up.” She squared her shoulders and met his gaze. “Plus, I’ve dug into your life plenty, right?”

“A little here and there.” She often made him feel comfortable enough to share. That, too, must be one of Callie’s unique qualities.

“I’m going to condense it because if I start going into the nitty-gritty, well, I still get worked up over it.”

His curiosity expanded. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“In college I started dating a guy—his name was Warren, but everyone called him War. It wasn’t until later that I realized how apt that was. At first he seemed like a nice guy. Attentive, available despite playing sports and a decent class load.” Her voice faded off. Seconds ticked by, and she shook her head. “One night we were supposed to go to a party but I wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to stay in, just watch a movie and relax, maybe order in pizza. Warren was disappointed. Then insistent. His attitude irked me because I figured I deserved a down evening if I wanted one. I told him to go without me.”

“Did he?”

She shook her head. “At first he was all about it, saying he would, like it was a threat. I was tired enough that I snapped back.” Her lips pressed together, her brows pinching. “He hit me,” she whispered. “Out of the blue, he went from the guy I knew to someone else.”

Every muscle in Tanner’s body snapped tight with unreasonable rage, a rage that he felt clear through to his soul.He hit me. As that statement echoed like a gong in his head, not a single word could edge out past his clenched jaw, probably a good thing because he knew he couldn’t speak gently. Not about some asshole putting hands on her.

“It went out of control fast,” she whispered. “I had my own apartment, we were there alone, and I knew there was no way I’d make it to the door.” Her eyes flinched away, as if she were reliving it all.

That was too much for Tanner. Carefully, he gatheredher close, finding some gentleness in his touch at least. He pressed a kiss to her temple, words still beyond him.

With her face tucked to his throat, she said, “Sorry. I hate talking about it.”

“Shh.” He smoothed his hand over her hair, then along her back, half-afraid to find out how it had ended, but also desperate to know.

Her hands knotted in his T-shirt. “Thank God I’ve always been close with Glory, because I’d already told her I was staying in. She showed up to check on me in case I was sick, but she found Warren trashing my apartment and me scuttling behind the couch.” Easing back from him, Callie found a smile. “Glory has quite the set of lungs on her. No one can scream as long and high as she can.”

He remembered that from the night he’d first met her, when he’d started the chain saw.

“I think half the apartment building showed up. It took three guys to hold Warren down while someone else called the police.”

It didn’t surprise him to see that his hand was slightly shaking when he cupped her cheek. “Your cousin just got elevated. She’s now among my favorite people.”

Genuine amusement turned up her lips. “Mine too. Always.”

And that was why she didn’t mind Glory’s ways, even though they were different from her own. He got that. You loved certain people for reasons that others might not immediately understand. “Did he hurt you?” Tanner frowned at his own inane question. “Of course he did, but I mean…”

This time she touched her fingertips to his mouth.“I know what you mean, and no. Other than that first hit, which put me on the floor—”

Christ, he hoped someone had demolished the guy.

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