Page 9 of Blue Collar Hotties

It’s way too hot and muggy tonight for a fire, too, but Cade doesn’t call me out on that fact. Maybe he wants this excuse too; maybe he gets the same ache in his stomach when we’re apart.

Or maybe I’m making a fool of myself.

Hey. What do I have to lose?

Everything.The realization hits me like a slap in the face. If I chase Cade away, if I lose this man…

I grip the edge of the sofa, my breathing ragged. I may not survive it.

“Riley! Hey, hey.” Big, warm hands cup my cheeks, and Cade’s voice is distant, but he’s frowning at me. Gruff with concern. His face is so close. “Angel. You okay?”

Am I okay?

No, I’m not okay. Some days I barely think about my brother at all, and other days the grief drags me under like a sudden, vicious riptide. I’m not sure which is worse.

“S-sorry.” My teeth are chattering. God, this is humiliating. I can’t breathe.

“Don’t be sorry.” Cade’s voice is louder now, cutting through the noisy din of my thoughts. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

The sofa groans as he sits at my side, gathering me onto his lap, and I cling to him like my life depends on it. What am I thinking, trying to seduce this man? I can’t risk what we have already. It’s too precious to me. It’severything.

“Tell me.” Cade sounds tortured, rocking me from side to side. “Tell me what upset you, Riley. Did I do something? Did I… is this about earlier?”

Earlier, when he hugged me so close, I felt the proof of his arousal against my hip. Earlier, when he said he didn’t trust himself with me. When he stared at me like a starving man, the outline of my damp body imprinted on his front.

“No.” I press the words against his neck, my lips seeking out his warm, warped skin. “No, I—I liked that.”

Cade groans, but he makes no other move. I guess a sniffling girl on the verge of a panic attack isn’t his kink. Weird.

“Then what is it?”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. Can I really tell him this? It seems so risky—but oh god, my mouth isn’t waiting for permission. I’m spilling it all. “I was just thinking that I couldn’t bear to lose you, too.”

Cade’s low, wounded noise settles something inside me. Because he feels this too. This man understands me, better than anyone else ever has in my life.

And maybe he’s not flat out, hands down, head-over-heels in love the way I am, but I’ll take it. Whatever he can give me, I’ll take it.

“You won’t lose me.” His quiet words are an oath, the only other sound the pop and crackle of the fire. The air smells like wood smoke and Cade’s soap. The sweet tang of sawdust. “I swear it, Riley. That will never happen.”

Can he promise me that? Luis couldn’t.

I sniffle, burrowing into his throat.

And it’s the second time we’ve touched in a day, the second time we’ve crossed this line, but this time, Cade doesn’t break things off. He sits there, cradling me on his strong thighs until my breathing evens out, until my grip on his neck goes slack, and the flames bank low in the log burner.

“Sleep in the bed with me,” I mumble at last, and I’m not trying to seduce him now. I just can’t bear the thought of hours away from him.

There’s a long pause. That silence… it sounds like hope.

“Not tonight,” Cade says at last, and even though it’s not the answer I wanted, I smile against his chest, raw but settled.

Yeah. Cade squeezes me tighter, and I sigh.

It’s definitely hope.

* * *

“Riley, did I leave my—oh, shit.”

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