Page 68 of No Sweet Goodbyes

Good.

I’m not the one who screwed everything up. He is.

We’re both panting and out of breath, but I don’t move my arm away from his neck. Sweat pours down my face and stings my eyes, but I don’t dare blink or try to swipe it away.

“No.” I gasp against the pain. “I’m not.”

When he lowers his forehead to mine, I do the only thing I want to in that moment.

I kiss him, ignoring the way my body reacts to his.

And when he lets his guard down, when he melts into me, pressing his body against mine in a completely different way, I punch him in the gut and roll out from under him, taking the well-earned victory.

“Now I’m done.”

23

DOM

I made it back for her graduation. I also made it back in time to get my ass kicked in front of her entire class. But she kissed me.

She kissed me.

Emma meant it as a distraction. I knew it in the moment. But the feel of her lips on mine ignited every single memory I have of her in my arms and wrapped around my body.

So, letting my guard down happened, and I’m lucky that she’s a good shot or she might have punched me in the dick that’s been half-hard since I walked into the gym and saw her standing there.

“You know I’m going to drive a knife into your spine as soon as we leave here, right?” Linc greets me with a smile when he shows up to the academy for Emma’s graduation ceremony.

We stand together, watching Kennedy and the rest of the Hayes and Townsend families unload from their vehicles.

“Yep,” I say while nodding. “I figured it was more important to let Emma have her turn first.”

“I’ve got it on video!” Benton Mays, one of our friends, says with a smile as he walks up. He holds out his phone as far as he can manage with it wrapped in a hot-pink cast.

“You know you’ve got another hand,” I point out uselessly.

Idly, I think about taking the phone and smashing it on the ground, but I kind of want to see the fight. In the moment, I had to concentrate all of my energy on what she was doing and where her next hit was going to come from. But now? Now it’s all a little bit foggy, and I want to see it.

“Why a pink cast?” I stare at his arm while we wait for Benton to start the video.

“Because the woman I’m in love with hates the color pink.” His voice is completely deadpan, and he doesn’t offer any other information.

I can’t ask him about it, either, because he hits play on the video, and we are all treated to five minutes of a pixie beating my ass.

“I almost feel bad for you,” Linc groans when she hits me in the gut. “Even knowing you deserved every single hit.” He grimaces as the video ends and I was left on the mat with Emma walking away. “But at least you didn’t pull her hair like bitch-boy did.”

A bell rings, the signal for everyone to take their places, so we march into the building and grab seats in the back of the room.

The graduation ceremony is long, but not too long, and soon we’re watching Emma take the stage to a round of shouts and cheers not only from her family and friends in the crowd, but her fellow cadets as well.

“Thank you,” she says into the microphone.

I can’t take my eyes off her. The blue uniform that she wears fits her perfectly, and with her cover set on the podium in front of her, I can see the intricate braid she put her long hair into for the ceremony.

“I actually didn’t know anything about having to speak until five minutes ago, so I hope you’ll stay with me while I take a breath.” Another round of cheers comes from the cadets in front of her. “We started this journey eighteen weeks ago, all of us with a goal in mind. A plan. A hope to make a difference in our communities. In our state. I’m proud to serve alongside every single one of you.” She takes a deep breath, and it echoes into the microphone. “Honestly, I think the cadres just wanted to punish me for winning the pizza party they teased.” The smile drops from her face. “Thank you. For making all of us better.”

Emma walks away, her head held high. Our eyes lock briefly, and I do my best not to wave my hand in the air like an idiot.

---