Page 54 of Fight For Her
This is why there were rules, Kendahl.Play by the rules and no one would get hurt. Liars and cheaters are what they all were, and I was done. He didn’t have to spill about our dating arrangement, but playing into the rumors was almost worse. I’d told Mia about the move, so all I had left was to break the news to my mother, then I could kiss Palm Cove goodbye and start fresh.
Without thinking, I pushed the front door open and walked out onto the covered wraparound porch. Rain pelted my face and wind whipped at my exposed skin. I dipped my tongue out to taste the cool drops that collected on my upper lip. My shirt quickly soaked through, but I didn’t care. If anything, I wanted to step off the porch and feel more, let the rain wash away my every thought until there was nothing but empty space.
I breathed in, expanding my lungs as much as they’d go. The briny smell of the rising tide mixed with something sharp and fresh filled my nostrils. I looked out into the blackness imagining what it would be like to get carried away on the next gust of wind like a broken tree branch and the absolute freedom in having no control over where I’d land or if I’d make it in one piece. I spread my arms out and closed my eyes, letting the next gust wrap itself around my limbs and push me backward a step.
“What the fuck are you doing, Kendahl?”
Coby.
I opened my eyes and dropped my arms to my sides but didn’t turn around. While I no longer felt anger coursing through me like lightning, I still didn’t want to look at him. Keeping my gaze trained at the darkness, I crossed my now pebbled arms over my chest.
His large hand grasped my shoulder, and he came to stand in front of me, blocking the rain from lashing my body with his frame. “It’s not fucking safe out here. Let’s go inside and talk.”
I cast my eyes down, so I wouldn’t crack and look at his face. Those gunmetal eyes always pulled me in. “No. You go inside. There’s nothing to talk about.”
The sole of his boots splashed against the old wooden planks as he paced in front of me. “Is this about truth or dare? It’s a stupid game. It doesn’t mean anything,” he pleaded.
An involuntary scoff made its way out of my lips. “Nothing you say means anything. I shouldn’t have forgotten that this is all pretend.”
The tips of his worn boots lined up in front of mine, and he stayed in place. “Is that what you think?” A tremble rolled through me at the hush in his tone. His hand cuppedmy chin. “Look at me, Kendahl.” I shook my head as I felt a tear gather at the corner of my eye. “I want to look into your eyes when I tell you that you’re everything to me. You’ve crawled your way under my skin and into my heart, and I don’t fucking know what to do with that.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks mixing with the salty raindrops, and I brought my trembling hand to my cheeks to wipe them away, ignoring his hand at my jaw. “You don’t mean that. You made it clear in there when you bragged about your trip and all the women.” I hated how insecure I sounded. This wasn’t me. After Ben, I was done letting myself cry over a man.
I gave in and let him tilt my face up to meet his eyes as another gust had me stumbling backward. He grasped my shoulders, firm but soft. I studied his face in the darkness. Those eyes looked almost black under his knitted brows, and his jaw was clenched tight.
“My father died.”
I choked on a breath. “What?”
“That’s why I left. I had to bury my father.” His words from the previous night swirled around my mind. His father, the abusive alcoholic who made Coby’s childhood a living hell. Why would he keep that from me? From any of us? He slipped his hands off my shoulders, and I instantly missed the warmth of his touch.
“I’m so sorry.” I chewed my lip. Anything I wanted to say seemed pointless compared to the bomb he’d dropped. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
He paced again and his boots scraped against a rough board. “That life is in my past. There’s no space for any of it here and now,” he said in a flat voice. “I wanted you to know to put an end to all the rumor bullshit.”
“Coby, you can’t cut an entire part of your life away like that. There’s only one of you. Not a past version and a present version but a whole man standing in front of me.”
A sardonic laugh filled the air. “What if I don’t want that part of me? Goddamn.” I watched him stop and rub the back of his neck. “It was easy before I met you. No one gave a shit about where I came from or who I was so long as I was providing them with laughs. And the women... Fuck. They cared even less about me and what was in here,” he balled up his fist and thumped his chest, making me jump, “as long as they were coming, they were happy. And you know what? I thought I was too.”
I leaned against the wet wall blinking the tears out of my eyes. “But you weren’t?”
He stayed quiet for so long that I wasn’t sure he heard me.
“I didn’t know happiness until I met you. Jesus, Kendahl. You make me feel. So. Many. Things. Feelings I hadn’t thought I could feel. I’ve spent so long hiding behind a mask that I built like an iron cage around my heart. If I never took anything too seriously, then I’d never get hurt again. I won’t say I haven’t been a bastard because I have. I hurt you. And knowing that I caused you pain kills me every day. All I want is to see you smile, hear you laugh, and see you bite your bottom lip as you think about the next insult you’re going to throw at me.”
Slowly, like he thought I might run, he stepped toward me. His eyes burned with intensity in the jet-black night. My heart was pounding against my ribcage making me dizzier the closer he got.
“I regretted sending that text the moment I did it. I don’t know if it was my fucked up version of grieving, but I couldn’t let you see me like that. I couldn’t let you in. But, baby, the whole time I was away from you, every fucking day, you were the only thing keeping me going. I’d stare at your picture, and it gave me a reason to smile through it all.”
My breaths escaped in shallow pants as he brought his body flush against mine. My head told me to push him away and tell him to fuck off. I didn’t need him or any man. He brushed his palm against my cheek, sweeping it down the curve of my neck and my heart took over. “What are you saying?”
He reached around and gripped the back of my head angling my face so we were eye to eye. “I’m saying this is real. Fuck the rules. You may be the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met, but I can’t get enough of you.”
His lips crashed into mine, matching the energy of the storm around us. Demanding and hungry like he either wanted to take me over his knee or suck the life force right out of me. I opened for him, and he slid his tongue inside, teasing my mouth until every inch of me ached for more. I gripped onto his rain-slicked shoulders as he worked his way down my neck, nipping and sucking the drops of water from my pebbled skin.
I moaned and threw my head against the wall. “I’m addicted to the sounds you make.” His voice held a rough edge like he was a string about to snap. I moaned again, louder over the gusting wind. “Fuckkk.”
He gripped my ass and lifted me until I was flush against his thick cock. I wrapped my legs around him and pushed back against the textured wall, letting the painful scratch add to the friction from his body. Need squeezed my insides tightly, and I had to feel more. Using the wall for leverage, I ground against his cock. His hard bulge hit me right where I ached as he nipped and sucked my neck. Coby pulled back slightly as I tried to grind on him again and murmured in my ear. “Look at you, so used to having to take what you want.” He hoisted me up higher while wrapping his palms around the outside of my thighs. I was a ball of knots, so close to release. A whimper escaped my lips, and I bit my tongue to keep myself from crying out in frustration.
