Page 40 of Second Goal

He hesitates. “Kiley—”

“Please, Blake. I need to go.”

He inhales through his nostrils, teeth clenched, and I’m afraid he’s going to keep fighting me. “Tonight, you tell me everything.”

“Yes.”

“Everything.” He emphasizes the word like there’s no room for argument.

“I promise.”

He gives a hard nod and straightens.

I stand on my toes and kiss him, before stepping back and pressing the Lobby button again.

Despite the war going on behind his eyes, he lets the doors shut this time.

When I’m alone in the elevator, fear comes tumbling back, this time stronger than before.

No more lies.

No more running.

No more hiding.

I square my shoulders and prepare to finally meet my demons head-on.

Chapter Eleven

Blake

Trust her.

It would be a hell of a lot easier to do if I didn’t know she’s hiding something.

I pace my apartment, squeezing a tension ball in one hand so that I don’t do something stupid like use the Find My Phone app I put on Kiley’s cell when she’d been sleeping. Yeah, I’m that kind of asshole. But my trust issues go deep. And so does this damn need to protect her.

I keep replaying our conversation in the elevator over and over, and the more I do, the more I know I shouldn’t have let her go. But her promise to finally tell me everything had given me pause.

Trust her.

I want to, but that sinking feeling in my gut keeps getting worse.

“Fuck,” I growl out, tossing the ball across the room, then pull out my cell, fingers hovering over the app.

Pax whimpers and looks up at me from his spot on the floor.

“What do I do, boy?” I ask, dragging my hands through my hair.

He stands up and nudges my hand with his nose so that I’ll pet him.

My cell rings and I answer it when I see Brynne’s name pop up on the screen.

“Have you talked to Kiley?” she asks right away, and there’s something in her tone that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“I saw her twenty minutes ago. Why?”

“It’s probably nothing...” She lets out a shaky breath.

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