Page 37 of Guarded from Sabotage

Everything in me springs to life. Need. Desire. Affection. This connection I’ve never felt with anyone before.

Her kiss is a question, and I want to give her an enthusiastic answer.

Yes. I want you. I care about you. I’d do anything to protect you.

But that’s the crux of it. Can I protect Sarah without my emotions clouding things?

So instead of kissing her back like every cell in my body wants, I let my lips linger against hers for only a few moments before pulling away.

Even in the dark, I can see her cheeks flush. She takes a few steps back and stammers, “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Thisachein my chest.

“Sarah… I’m sorry?—”

Her gaze drops to the ground. “No. Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t…” She stops. Takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’ll just… I’m going inside. You stay out here with your friends. Thank you for inviting me. It was nice meeting everyone.”

“It’s just that?—”

“It’s fine, Dante. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.”

And before I can respond, she practically runs away from me.

Shit.

My chest feels carved out. Empty. My heart is twisted in a knot.

Do I go after her? Or will that make it even worse?

Did I do the right thing?

Or did I make a terrible mistake?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SARAH

I shouldn’t let Dante’s rejection bother me this much.

Considering everything else going on, my humiliation should be low on the list. Unfortunately, my bruised heart doesn’t agree.

Every time I think about last night, which has been approximately a thousand times since I got back to the apartment, all I want to do is hide. I want to dive under the covers and never come out.

I keep seeing Dante standing in front of me, the moon casting shadows on his strong features, his gaze intense and filled with what Ithoughtwas desire as he looked at me. I keep remembering how his hand felt wrapped around mine, how everything felt so natural, and the way my breath would catch whenever he touched me.

How did I get it so wrong?

Embarrassment and disappointment keep coming at me in waves; as soon as one fades, the other resurges.

I really thought he liked me. But it’s clear my fears were real, and Dante was just being nice. Telling me I looked beautiful and giving me that wonderful present…

Augh.

After spending the entire night beating myself up about it—why did I make the first move? Why pick last night of all times to be assertive?—I thought about calling Hanna. But then I remembered she’s in Vermont this week, spending some time visiting with one of Finn’s old teammates. I wasn’t going to interrupt her trip with my sob story about how the guy I like rejected me.

She wouldn’t have complained, even if I called before the sun came up; when it became patently obvious I wasn’t going to get any sleep. But I wanted her to enjoy her time with Finn and his friend, not have another reason to worry about me.

Instead, I dragged myself out of bed, took a shower, texted my parents a cheeryeverything’s greatmessage, made some coffee, and contemplated cooking something for breakfast before my initiative disappeared.

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