Page 30 of Looking Grimm

“If it’s not safe here, then we’ll go somewhere else.”

Aggravation made me bristle, and I shoved away from him to sit upright. “Where, Nash?” I swung an arm through the air around us. “We live in a fucking fishbowl. There’s nowhere to run.” And I was rapidly exhausting my options of places to hide.

His features were stony, determined. “Outside the city, then. There must be a way.”

I retreated farther, flushing with angry heat that drove me to stand. “Don’t even get me started on that. That’s all I wanted for Donnie, and I…”

Ripley’s words from the carwash resounded in my brain:“I gave up everything. But nothing changed.”

Except this time, everythinghadchanged, and all for the worse.

“Nash, I can’t talk about this,” I said. “And you really shouldn’t be here.”

He stood, too, and took hold of my arms. “Please, come back with me. Let me take care of you.”

He tugged on me, but I jerked loose of his grip. “Because you feel guilty?”

Of all the things his sister had said about me, that one stung the most. Probably because it felt undeniably accurate.

“What?” His face washed pale in the moonlight.

I gestured to the hotel building and its unseen occupants. “Rip feels guilty. He told me as much. Do you?”

His cheeks puffed as he rushed to reply, “That’s not why—”

I shook my head. “Go home, Nash. And tell Pippa she can come back. I got the message.” Turning, I reached formy wallet and the hotel keycard tucked inside. I needed to make a clean break before my emotions got involved and made everything messy.

Again, Nash caught my elbow. This time, he stepped into me, and we stood almost chest to chest. His body was so warm and welcoming that it took all my resolve not to melt into him.

“Forget what Pippa said,” Nash replied. “This is between you and me. It’s our relationship, and she has no place in it.”

I ducked my head, desperate to avoid his gaze. “This isn’t a relationship,” I muttered.

“What if I want it to be?” He sounded so certain that it shook me.

Nash wasn’t my lover or my boyfriend, but he wanted to be. Why? And was it fair to agree to such a thing knowing that the Capitol and the Bloody Hex were currently competing for my head?

“You’re saying thatnow?” I shoved him back.

His forehead scrunched down and made his eyes hard. “I wanted to say it weeks ago but, after everything with Donnie, it didn’t feel like the right time.”

“Still isn’t,” I said.

Behind me, the hotel door beckoned, promising another night of lonely, fitful rest. I turned away, reluctant but resigned.

“I’ll wait!” Nash called after me, then added in a lower voice, “If that’s what you need.”

It was more than I deserved, but I had to wonder, “For how long?”

Nash stepped in front of me and slid a hand around to rest in the small of my back.

“As long as it takes,” he said.

With his face only inches away, I couldn’t resist the urge to kiss him. I pushed up into him, pressing my lips to his. He met me there, equally needy, perhaps even desperate. I wanted the feeling to last all night, to stay locked together and never come up for air.

Eventually, we broke apart, but Nash kept his hand low on my spine, a steady presence.

“You’re sure you won’t come with me?” he asked.

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