Page 175 of The Fine Line
I grab the front of his shirt and pull him to me, crashing my lips into his.
He melts into the kiss. His hands find my face, my fingers thread into his curls, and the door falls shut behind him.
We kiss like we’re starving for something only the other can give. Lips bruising. Breath ragged.
Then suddenly, Rhett stiffens.
He pulls back, eyes searching mine.
“Wait,” he says. “What is this?”
“What I think we both know it’s been for a while now,” I whisper.
I reach for him, but he takes a shaky step back.
“Cub, do you mean it?” he asks. “Because I need you to mean it. If you let me have you this time—those rules are null and fucking void. I’m not letting you go.”
I stare at him for a long beat, giving my brain the chance to catch up to my body. I exhale slowly.
“You know, for so long, I was so sure I knew exactly who you were. When the news broke that you’d been drafted by the Storm, I thought it was a mistake. Even as I watched the fanbase fall for you, I never did. I didn’t trust you. Letting you in felt like a risk. Like you weren’t someone worth betting on.”
“I remember,” he mutters.
“But then it wasn’t just the team I had to worry about you compromising—the thing my father spent a decade building. That wasn’t enough for you. You had to come for me too. Had to dig under the thick skin I spent my entire life growing. Invade the mind I worked so hard to protect.”
I tilt my head.
“I promised myself the first time we met that I would never give you the satisfaction of having me. Not even for a minute. Because I was smarter than that. I saw through you. I thought there was nothing you could offer me but humiliation, wasted time, and a broken heart.”
Rhett glances away. His voice comes out thin. “If I could change who I was—who I am—I would. One single wish from a genie, and that’d be it.” He snaps his fingers. “But unfortunately, life’s a lot fucking harder than that. So all I can do is try. And you have no idea how hard I do.”
“You’re right,” I breathe. “There’s so much I don’t know about you.”
He winces, gaze dropping.
“Which is why I can say I was wrong.”
His eyes snap to mine. I take a small step closer.
“But Rhett, I want you to prove it. Prove me wrong. Can you do that?”
A beat passes.
“You know,” he murmurs, “I have a reputation for not being very good at taking instruction.” His throat bobs. “But the thing is, I don’t think anyone ever trusted me enough to give me a real chance.”
He steps closer. “Can you trust me, Cub?”
“I don’t know.” I exhale. “Are you going to make me regret it?”
His eyes trace my face. When he speaks again, his voice is soft, but sure.
“Over my dead body.”
“Then if I go down, I guess I’m taking you with me.”
“You better. Because I don’t want to do this without you.”
“This?”
