Page 74 of Fragile Heart

Something shifts, something nameless and intangible that I couldn’t describe with all the words I’m shit at using. The desire to feel her, to pretend the last ten years haven’t happened and it’s that first Fourth of July, overpowers whatever preservation is still in me. She turns toward the door, grabbing the handle, at the same moment I palm her waist. Her eyes are wide as her lips drop open.

I have her pinned against the truck, my mouth on hers, before she can gasp her surprise. She shifts against me, and something about the move dislodges her scent blockers.Lavender overwhelms me so fast, it’s a miracle my knees don’t buckle.

Her hands wrap around my neck, playing with the pieces of hair my hat doesn’t quite contain. I run a palm down her thigh and then urge it around my leg, trying to get as close to her as I fucking can. I need to burrow into her, carve myself on her bones so there’s no question of whether she’s mine.

I break the kiss to run my lips across her jaw and then her ear, biting the damn tattoo that is another man’s mark on her. Her chest heaves as she pants, pressing her body into mine so completely, it’s all I can think about. Her body, her scent, hermarkthat isn’t mine.

“Princess,” I mutter. I don’t mean to say it, have no idea why the nickname I’d once cherished and said with a smirk every damn day falls from my lips.

Her breath catches, and time suspends again. Her nails dig into my shoulders even as her body relaxes against me.

“Ethan,” she whispers.

Need slams into me so hard, so fast, in a way it hasn’t since Kayla. I palm her other leg and pull it around my waist, grinding into her. Her scent grows stronger, and I hum against her skin.

A loud peal of laughter cuts through our heavy breathing.

Brielle freezes.

“Shutup,they did not!” It’s Emily’s bright voice.

It’s more effective than a bucket of ice water.

I let Brielle’s feet drop from around me and take a step away. Her movements are jerky as she adjusts her dress. Her scent fades away with the small breeze. She gets the door open and slides in while I’m still walking around to the other side.

I catch my sister’s curious gaze as I start toward the highway. Brielle leans against the door, her hands wedged under her thighs.

We don’t say a word to each other the entire long ass drive to Emily’s place. But that doesn’t stop the words from racing through me.

Brielle’s my scent match.

Chapter Thirty-Three

BRIELLE

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t been here in too long,” Olivia says between bites of the ravioli she ordered.

The girls chose a quaint Italian restaurant along Jackson’s Main Street for our late lunch. I pick at my salad without comment. My appetite isn’t quite back from the tattoo session.

Getting the skin behind my ear tattooed wasn’t any more comfortable the second time around. Arguably it was worse, since she had to use more color and the piece is larger overall.

Melissa mumbles a wordless agreement with Olivia, not pausing in devouring the sandwich she picked.

“You’re feeling better?” I ask Olivia.

She nods with a small smile. “Finally. My doctor said that it should be much better now until the very end.” She purses her lips and takes another bite. “Though some days I still need the medication. She said that some people are just unlucky like that.”

I grimace, and she laughs.

“It’s all right,” she says. “It’s much better than it was, and it’ll be worth it in the end.”

“Do you want to swing by the Artisan booths before we head back?” Melissa asks. “I saw a vendor post a sneak peek on Instagram for their new bags, and they look really pretty. And I think there’s a vendor or two that’s selling nursery decorations.”

Oliva grins. “Oh! I remember seeing them featured on the website! Bronte’s Boutique, right? It stuck out to me because I couldn’t figure out why someone would name their baby item shop after authors that certainly didn’t write happy endings.”

“Better than Stoker’s Swaddles,” I joke.

Melissa cackles, tossing her head back. “Oh my gosh, nowaywould that ever clear the test stages. Could you imagine?”

---