Her eyes widened. “Uh-oh.”

“Yeah, it didn’t go well. I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

“Did she get upset?”

“Yes, but not in a hysterical way. She was calm.”

Brynn hissed through clenched teeth as she cringed. “Oh boy.”

He loved that she understood that calm was much worse than hysterical. It was like she had a teenage shorthand.

“I’ve tried calling her. Texting her. Even emailing her. And she won’t respond to anything. I’ve been stalking her Instagram just to make sure that she’s alive and well.”

“I never thought I’d say this,” Brynn grinned, “but thank God for social media.”

He felt himself smile and just like that, the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. One conversation with Brynn and everything felt lighter. Safer. Happier.

“Have you…” she hesitated before asking, “apologized?”

“I would, if she would ever call me back. I never thought she’d stay this mad at me for this long,” he admitted.

Brynn’s head tilted to the left as her fingers brushed the back of his neck. He was sure that it wasn’t something she was doing to purposefully drive him crazy, but the sensation of her fingers lazily playing with the hair at the nape of his neck was making him want to crush his mouth to hers.

“I don’t know Izzy so I can’t tell you what she’s thinking. But I’m guessing that she’s not mad at you. She’s probably hurt. Most of the time anger is really just a symptom of pain. An apology can go a long way to healing any pain or hurt you caused, especially if it wasn’t intentional. And I know, you would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.”

He stared at her in awe. Just when he thought he couldn’t fall harder for her, she said something like that and he did. Her blind faith and trust in the person he was made him want to be the man that she saw.

“Sorry.” She shook her head and the fruity vanilla scent he’d smelled when he’d pulled her into his arms wafted through the air. “I didn’t mean to analyze. It’s a force of habit.”

“Don’t apologize.” There was huskiness in his voice that he hadn’t meant to be there. “You never have to apologize for being you.”

She let out a forced laugh. “I think there are a few people that would disagree with you there.”

“You really have no idea how amazing you are, do you?” It wasn’t a rhetorical question. He was honestly stunned that she seemed completely clueless to how fucking incredible she was.

She sucked in a shaky breath and licked her lips nervously. His eyes tracked the light pink tip of her tongue as it traced the seam of her lips. The sight was the most innocently erotic one he’d ever seen. Every cell in his body came alive with fiery desire. Arousal raced through his veins as he inhaled slowly in a failed attempt to douse the flames of lust blazing in him.

Besides his pants growing snugger by the second, the only evidence of his struggle was his hands flexing, causing his fingertips to dig into the soft curve of her hips. It wasn’t something he’d meant to do, but when he did, he felt her tremble beneath his touch.

That was it. That tiny ripple of response was all it took to snap the thin thread of self-control he’d managed to hang onto. Acting purely on instinct he lowered his head. As he did, he watched her eyes widen and then fall to half-mast.

Just as his mouth hovered above hers, the lead singer from the cover band that had been playing came over the mic and announced that they were back for their second set. It was enough of an interruption to burst the bubble that the two of them had created.

His lips grazed hers as he asked, “Do you want to go home?”

“Yes,” she breathed without any hesitation. “Yes.”

Wasting no time, he guided her off the dance floor and down the steps of the outdoor deck. One yes would’ve been enough, but hearing the second one had his heart and other body parts straining with unspoken emotions and desires. Emotions and desires that he wasn’t sure he could contain any longer even if he tried…but after that dance, he was done trying.