Page 6 of Fracture

I laugh and run a hand over my head. “Jesus, Stella, you sure know how to make things hard for a guy.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Her lips curl into a grin. “And in fact, you will never know. Now, I need to get some sleep.” She shuts off the range hood light.

“Stella, I’m sorry. I am. He shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. And I should have told him as much. But I do not think you’re a sell-out. I would never think that. You’re doing great, and I’m so grateful you’re giving us a chance here.”

She pauses in the candlelight, body bent slightly over the counter as she prepares to blow out the flame. She exhales heavily, the flame dancing lightly. “Great. Thanks.” She blows out the candle, and the kitchen is illuminated only by the faint flow of the streetlight through the window. She goes to move past me, and my hand shoots out to grab her arm.

“Stella-”

She wrenches her arm out of my grasp. “Don’t.”

“Stella.” I put my hands either side of her and cage her against the door frame. “Please, talk to me.”

“Dylan, let me go right now.” Her eyes are dark, her full lips almost red in this light.

“I just want to talk to you.”

“I tried that, remember? I tried to talk to you and my stupid stepbrother, tonight, in my fucking garage.” She shoves me in the chest lightly. “I’m not in the mood to talk anymore.” She turns to shove against my arm, but I drop it and put it around her waist, pulling her close to me.

“Don’t walk away from me, please.”

“Stop.” She fights me, nails scratching at my bare skin.

“So that’s it?” I ask, not letting her go, keeping her rage-flamed body pressed to mine. “No second chances?”

She writhes in my grasp, wriggling her hips as she pushes against my chest. “Dylan, fuckingstop.”

“I went to prison for you, and you can’t even fucking talk to me?”

Her mouth drops open and she gasps. “Fuck you!” She hisses at me in the dark, her teeth flashing in the cold light. “How fucking dare you.”

I know I shouldn’t go down this road. It’s not fair. It’s not her fault. But all the hurt and the fear, all that fucking injustice bubble up inside me and I can’t help it.

“I went to prison for you, and you couldn’t even be bothered visiting me? For ten. Fucking. Years.”

Her eyes widen, and she goes still in my arms. “You have no idea what I went through in those years.

“What are you talking about?” I grip her arms tighter, trying to pull her closer and maybe even shake the truth out of her, something, anything, to let me feel connected to this woman again.

“You weren’t the only one locked up.” She shoves against me, hard enough to unbalance me and make it very clear I’m going to get my eyes clawed out by those pretty nails if I don’t ease off. She braces one hand against the wall, her head dropping, shoulders heaving as one breath after another skitters across her full lips. “You have no idea about me. None.”

“Then let me in.” I take a step forward, met instantly by the thud of her outstretched palm against my stomach.

“No. Not again. Not anymore.”

“Baby, it was meant to be us.”

“You thought you’d get out and we’d just pick up where we left off?” She lifts her head to meet my eyes, and even in the darkness I can see the pain etched in that pretty face. I can feel it permeating her amber eyes. It rolls off her whole body. “Is that what you thought?”

“No, it’s what I hoped.”

She laughs bitterly, running a hand through her hair. “Hope is for kids, Dylan. Reality is for the rest of us.”

“Come on.” I try to take her hand again, but she clutches it tight against her body. “I just want to hold you.”

“I’m not the girl you loved anymore, I haven’t been for a very long time.”

I huff out a breath, desperate to take her in my arms and smell the sweet scent of her skin. “Well, maybe I don’t want her. I want you, as you are, right now.”

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