Page 2 of How You See Me
Left alone, my brain shifts into overdrive. Of all the possible reasons why she’d ask me to wait, given what I know about her, each one I consider wrecks me a little more.
I’ve spent my entire adult life around combat-hardened women—sharp, fearless, intense. They don’t ask for help unless shit’s about to go sideways.
Josie’s different. She’s vulnerable and kind, soft in the ways I’ve forgotten exist.
And dangerous for a guy like me.
The door creaks open minutes later, and Josie steps out, looking smaller somehow with her arms wrapped around herself. Her eyes find mine, darkened with so much left unspoken.
I feel it too, beautiful, my brain spits out, and I swallow down the sour aftertaste. Once again, it’s the wrong damn answer.
She’s bathed in a muted glow from the restaurant behind her, creating a picture that sends my thoughts spiraling back to the day we met. To the way she clung to me while the doctors filled her in on Jordan’s prognosis and cried so hard in my arms I thought shemight break. I couldn’t leave her like that. I held her through the night, not knowing what else to do.
I shake off the dangerous memory. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry for dragging you over here. I have a—”
The door flies open behind her, and she jumps out of the way, slamming into my chest. I catch her without thinking. Both arms lock around her before she ricochets off, her face inches from mine. Hands pressed against my chest.
She doesn’t move. Neither do I. I can’t.
Her pulse picks up speed, and her breathing shallows as my body matches her intensity, excited to have what it’s been begging for. My hand goes rogue and slides lower down her back until it finds skin.
Then, I remember. I don’t do reckless things with people I care about. This isn’t some girl in a bar I’ll never see again.
I ease her back, creating much-needed space between us. “Ready?”
She stares at me, an evolving storm behind her eyes rolling in fast. Confusion, shock, and maybe a touch of disappointment flashes one after the other.
Did she want me to kiss her? Is she mad that I didn’t?
I follow her through the crowded restaurant, pretending to survey the area instead of the graceful sway of her hips. She doesn’t look back, doesn’t speak, doesn’t stop when we come to the table where she found me.
That stings more than I care to admit, but it’s better this way. I stand to lose too much. My friend. My code. My peace.
Besides, we don’t make sense. She’s the kind of girl who paints the world in color. And I’m a man who brings the rain.
Chapter 1
Eight Months Later
Josie
Ineed your help,” I announce, gliding into the apartment my brother shares with his fiancée, Nora, without invitation. It’s okay. I all but lived here for months while Jordan finished physical therapy and Nora worked.
He looks up from his textbooks strewn across the dining table separating the open living room and kitchen. “Nice to see you too, sis.”
I let out a long exhale, breathless after climbing three flights of stairs, and wrap him in a hug like my life depends on it. Emotionally, it might. There’s something about hugging Jordan that always settles me. Like we’re kids again, and he’s the only person who can convince me everything will be okay.
But today, the hug isn’t enough. Not with this kind of news—and issue—burning a hole in my chest.
“I need your brain. Mine’s already in meltdown mode.”
“Did you get it?” he asks, his brow raised.
Of course, he guessed without hints.
I nod slowly. “I got it.”
