Page 29 of Shot Through the Heart

I’m the one who looks away first when movement over his shoulder catches my attention. It takes a moment to process what I’m seeing and when it does, my muscles tense.

The man behind the camera a few feet away grins like this is the best day of his life.

I peel my fingers from Greyson’s clothes, my face heating with both anger and embarrassment that I even fell for this.

“I thought we would be professional adults,” I snap under my breath and step away from Grey. His brows scrunch together, and he shakes his head, but I don’t let him speak. As I continue, I keep my voice low so no one overhears. “We agreed to make it look like you were close and if people assumed we were intimate—that was on them. However, showing off a physical relationship was not in the contract. Do not use me like that again or the deal is off.”

I shove past him, ignoring the cameraman who jumps away with a pitiful yelp, but I don’t address him. Instead, I keep my mouth closed as I head straight for the door and pull out my phone to get myself a ride home.

ChapterTen

GREYSON

I fucked up.Again.

My stomach has been a wreck with nerves and guilt since the moment Stella stormed off. I hadn’t planned on kissing her when I pulled her aside. My only intention when I followed her had been to start getting some answers, and even that wasn’t planned.

When I saw what bid had caught her attention, it felt like the time I fell through the ice as a teenager during my family’s yearly Christmas vacation. Just seeing the location of the weekend getaway was an immediate reminder of the worst weeks of my life, but when I looked at Stella, it was obvious that she had no reaction at all. If anything, it seemed like she was considering putting in her own bid for it. By the time she noticed that I was standing beside her, it took everything in me to form the few words I had.

And then she bolted.

I didn’t even know what I was feeling, and forming coherent thoughts was nearly impossible, yet my feet moved after her before I even decided.

At most, I assumed we wouldstartto talk about the accident or why she left. Kissing her was not even something I planned to do at all while we were technically working together.

Then she was standing in front of me and the heady scent of her perfume was short-circuiting my brain even more. What little restraint I had left was focused on not staring at the way the neckline of her dress framed her perfectly rounded breasts, or the way that damn cut in her dress kept teasing her luscious thighs every time she shifted.

When she tripped and was suddenly in my arms…fuck.

“You good?” Dominik asks, pulling me from my spiral.

We’re heading to the fishing tournament, having split up from Landon and Dean so they could go pick up Landon’s sister, Arianna. Dominik’s fiancée had decided last night on the way home that she would pick up Stella, claiming she needed a coffee run buddy and would meet us there.

Lilly put the new plan into motion by texting Stella before I could agree.

It’s probably a good thing Lilly changed the plans for this morning because I still have no idea what to say to her. That didn’t stop me from repeatedly picking up my phone and opening the email chain. I typed out the words ‘I’m sorry’ at least a hundred times but deleted them each time.

Sending an email apology felt wrong, and I didn’t have her number to text or call her.

The reminder of just how far apart I am from her life hits like a lead ball to the gut.

“Yeah,” I grunt, scrubbing a hand down my face as if that will wipe away the colossal mess I made last night.

“’Cause that was totally convincing,” Dom snorts, but I know he’s not pushing me for more. He never does. While Dean and Landon like to pry for any reaction from me, Dominik has always just met me where I am. He doesn’t push me to join in on conversations or jokes, but he also manages to make sure I’m included in some way.

Maybe that’s why instead of letting the silence grow like I normally would, I open up to someone who’s not a licensed therapist for the first time in years.

“I messed up with Stella last night,” I say, watching Dominik from the corner of my eye.

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but other than that, he keeps his attention on the road as he drives us to the pier where the tournament is held.

“Messed up as in you hurt her or as in you said something stupid?”

“I didn’t hurt her,” I snap before forcing myself to take a deep breath. “I mean, not physically. And not even intentionally. I just…”

Dammit, I should have just kept my mouth closed. I don’t do talking about emotions or any of this shit. Why did I think?—

“Did you kiss her?”

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