Page 35 of This

“I don’t know, okay?” I practically yell it at him in the middle of an empty dressing room, wearing a dress that isn’t for me.

Liam’s right about the crazy, and in my case, it only gets worse with anything feelings related on the table.

Dane was supposed to be thewhat could have beenif I’d stayed. Then he was the guy I hooked up with when I came back to Arizona. And now, I’m not sure what the hell is going on other than this fabric is becoming scratchier by the second. Although it could be my aversion to emotion physically manifesting. A therapist warned me about that once.

I shrug, frustrated with myself for the tangled mess I created. “I don’t know what I want.”

Dane lowers his head, so we’re eye-level. “I know I don’t want this to be over.”

“I don’t either, but—”

“No,” he says. “Sentence done.”

He has barely finished when his lips crash against mine. All the Dane-related chemicals flood back into my brain, shutting down all parts unrelated to him. Him. I definitely want him. My lips mold to his, and I back into the mirror, so he’ll press against me, my needy showing. His mouth dips to my throat. I tilt my head back, letting him reclaim me. Erase every trace of Noah from my skin and any insecurity brought on by the blonde or woman a few buildings down.

He brings his face back to mine, eyes hooded. “You know what else I don’t want?” he rasps, and I shake my head. “I don’t want you to disappear on me anymore.”

Our chests heave in sync.

“I don’t want you texting me in the middle of the night when you’re drunk.”

“And I don’t want you to pretend we’re fine if we’re not.” He kisses me again, not reclaiming me anymore but slow and intoxicating. The type of kiss I’ve learned to crave from him with his lips too soft and tongue teasing mine. Pulling back, he grazes the tip of my nose with his. “What else don’t you want?”

For some reason, don’t-wants feel less constricting than wants. A request rather than a requirement. More breathable. And my next one comes without thought.

“I don’t want you to ask me to stay in Phoenix. Ever.”

It’s one thing I’ve wanted from everyone and gotten from no one, but Dane doesn’t miss a beat. “Okay, I never will.”

He smiles when I do and drapes my arms around his neck, then he glides his hands back to my cheeks and rests his forehead on mine. “There’s one more thing I don’t want.” He chews on his lip, hesitating while he cradles my face in his hands. “I don’t want other guys anywhere fucking near you and your rainbow.”

My heart trips worse than my feet ever have. He saw the picture. Noah’s palm on my thigh and thumb hidden under the leg of my shorts.

“I was talking about the drink,” I whisper.

“I’m not,” he says. “Seeing someone else touch you…” He rubs his forehead back and forth across mine in a slow shake of his head. “I was so close to getting on a plane and kicking down your door. I don’t want to feel like that again, Bennett. I might legitimately turn into a psycho stalker.”

“Fine, but you have to stop picking up chicks at the bar.”

“Fine,” he mimics. He fights off a smile when I narrow my eyes and hovers his mouth over mine, but before they connect, hangers rattle outside the dressing room.

“We’re closing soon,” the clerk says, passing without so much as a glance inside at the two of us shoved up against the mirror. “I can ring you up whenever.”

Once she disappears, Dane presses his lips to mine fast and straightens up. “Can I wait for you?”

I push off the mirror. “Only if you want to help carry thirty pounds of food from Solstice to Liam’s truck.”

“Sounds like exactly what I want to do.” He kisses the top of my head and walks away but stops. “Oh and, Bennett?”

“Yeah?” I say, swinging open the dressing room door.

He turns around and looks me over, his gaze dragging down my body. “So we’re one hundred percent clear, you’re keeping that dress.”

Liam shuts me in acloset when I get back to the apartment. I read Dane’s texts while I stand in the dark, the smell of him on my clothes and taste on my tongue. Apologies and confessions of missing me and an actual plea for me to answer him. Causing a man with so much self-assurance to beg for attention leaves me feeling guilty. And a whole lot empowered.

When Keaton opens the closet to toss her shoes in, she bounces, Liam gets his squeal, and I’ve earned my place in first-class. We empty the bags of food, filling the counters and arguing over what I forgot and should have brought. I miss Dane’s entrance. His hand skims my side while reaching for a breadstick in front of me, and I jump. Without a word, he brushes the hair away from my neck to plant a kiss before he joins the other two in the living room. I grab a fourth glass out of the cupboard, following behind him with the bottle of wine.

I should tell Keaton. I should have told her about him from the beginning. But every time I think about it, I remember the glee in her eyes whenever she saw me with Bentley and how it crushed her when it fell apart. Maybe I’ll slip it in tomorrow between the tulle and lace.

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