Page 76 of Best Part of Me

I can’t.

“Why? I want you to be honest with me, Sunshine.” He crouches near me.

The nickname echoes in my ears. I fear I won’t hear it again after today. “Because. We shouldn’t have crossed that line. That boundary. We’re going home today, and then that’s it. We say goodbye. And I just went and made things more complicated. I’m sorry.”

He turns to me, pushing my hair behind my ears and drawing me in to look at him. Just gazing into his dark eyes makes me want to come undone. It has me wanting to make promises I can’t keep. It has me wanting to stay with him forever. Tucked in this cocoon where it’s just me and him and that small tent and Jeep.

“What if crossing that boundary was exactly what we needed?”

My brows draw together, hope blooms in my chest. “What do you mean?”

His hand slides down my back, and I shiver. “What if it was exactly what we needed to realize that this isn’t just a fling? It isn’t just sex.”

He’s being vulnerable right now, but I can’t know for sure if he means it.

“What does that mean?”

With a hand wrapped around the back of my neck, he gives it a firm squeeze. “I want to see you when we get home. I want you to stay over at my apartment. I want you in my bed.” His coal eyes darken, and my skin warms under his gaze.

I want that too.

“But how will we tell Jones? What about your friendship? And my dad?”

Suddenly, his grip on my neck goes slack. His eyes dart to the ground. “I wasn’t meaning tell Jones. I was just... I was meaning...”

“You want to sneak around? That’s what you were meaning.” Heat flares in my chest. “So I’m good enough for you to welcome into your bed but not to be in a relationship with? Is that it?”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I think we can make this thing work between us. So no one gets hurt.”

“Except me,” I bite out, rising to my feet and crossing my arms against my chest. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna have to pass.” Maverick reaches for my hand, but I keep it tucked underneath my arm and take a step backward, swallowing the rising lump in my throat. I spin around, stomping away from him. “Just take me home. Please.”

* * *

It’sevening when we get into town, but not late. Despite his persistence, Maverick drops me off only a block away from my dad’s place. Dad doesn’t sleep as well since losing Mom, and the chances of him being awake are higher than normal. We’ve gone ten days without getting caught. I’d hate to ruin that streak with a silly argument over where to drop me off.

I also convince him not to help me carry my things and walk me to the door. He settles for unloading my stuff onto the curb.

He holds my backpack out to me, but when I reach for it, he yanks it back. “It didn’t have to end like this, ya know?”

Tears burn in the back of my throat. Because he’s wrong. How else could it have ended? Our time together was like a ticking time bomb. And we both knew it.

But somehow, it doesn’t make this moment any better.

I shrug. “That’s the thing though, it still had to end.”

“But not like this. Us hating each other.”

This time when I reach for my backpack, he allows me to take it. I tether one arm through the strap and hike it onto my shoulder. All my keepsakes from the road trip rattle inside.

“We don’t hate each other, Mav. We just have to pretend we didn’t spend the last ten days together.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to do that.” He clears his throat and rubs at the back of his neck.

“We’ve been over this. We don’t have a choice.”

“We do too. You just don’t think we’re worth it.”

“We’d be worth it if we we’re going to try to have a real relationship. But not for just a good fuck once in a while,” I say, my voice growing louder.

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