Page 37 of Hidden By His Side

He rolled them to their sides, cupping her head as he caught his breath.

“No,” she whimpered, the numbness sliding away. She tried to capture his lips, but he shifted to press his against her forehead instead.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby girl. You’re safe with me.”

Tears filled her eyes. She wanted the sexy sounds back, not the soothing strokes of his hands. She no longer felt his erection at all. Either it was gone, or he was keeping it away from her.

He pulled away to search her face. “You okay?”

“Please, Ram. I want to be with you.”

His jaw clenched before he forced it loose again. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure what came over me. You don’t need this right now.”

“I do. I do need this.”

He shook his head. “You’re vulnerable. And I told you before, we can’t do this.”

“I love you. I’ll only ever love you.”

Ramiro grew still, his eyes burning into hers. He didn’t return the words like she’d imagined he would. She’d held on to them for so long, daydreaming about this moment, but scared of it as well.

Her hands settled over his heart. “I haven’t liked any of the guys I’ve been with. I couldn’t. They weren’t you. It’s only ever been you for me.”

His hand moved down, resting over her stomach. “You have someone else to think about now.”

“It’s not yours.” She hadn’t let the hurt of that slip inside, but now it did, overwhelming her. “I wish it was yours.”

“Do you want the baby, Summer?”

“If I’ll lose you by having it, then I don’t want it.”

His mouth hardened. He pulled away from her, sitting up and resting his head in his hands. “Don’t say that. This shouldn’t be about me at all.”

She scrambled to her knees on the bed, her hands clinging to his shoulders. “Everything is about you. All I want is you. You’re all I’ll ever want.”

He whirled, knocking her off-balance. His hand gripped her chin hard, keeping her upright, and she trembled at the darkness in his eyes. “Can’t you see how fucking toxic that is?”

Heat burned her eyes. She was right to fear telling him.

He released her, pushing up from the bed. “I need some air.”

Summer watched him walk away. For the first time, her sobs didn’t draw him back. She tried to rise, to go to him, to convince him to stay somehow.

The sound of her front door closing drained all of her energy away, and she slipped to the floor, curling into herself. Of course he hadn’t been happy that she loved him. Love from someone like her wasn’t worth anything at all.

Chapter 12

Ramiro thumped his head into the wall outside Summer’s apartment door.

She wants you. Take her like you’ve always wanted.The whispering voice inside his head made his body shake with the effort of holding back.

Summer had always been vulnerable. She’d make her whole life all about him if he let her. Just like his mother had for his father.

His father had broken his mother, over and over again. For a while, Ramiro hadn’t cared. Why should he care about a mother who made it clear she didn’t care about him? There was no room for anyone but his father in her heart.

Summer had just spouted that same toxic shit.

So why was the thought of it sovery tempting?

---