Page 105 of Dirty Rock

“I said you love me. You just haven’t realised it yet.”

She opened her mouth to add protest, but I pressed a finger against her lips before her lies fell free.

“And that’s okay,” I assured her, holding her sweet gaze. “Because I know now. I know youwillrealise it, just like I have. We’re going to happen, baby. You and me. Pretty girl and Sinatra. It’s inevitable, and it’s going to be a forever thing. I can’t give up on us now. I’m addicted to this kind of fight with you, and I refuse to walk away from the one thing that makes me feel alive inside, even when I’m surrounded by nothing but silence… and you.”

I trailed my finger down to her chin and neck, slipping it between the valley of her breasts. I glanced down to look at my finger there, and I saw her chest bouncing heavily, and the way her nipples tightened beneath her top. I dragged the pad of my thumb over her breast.

“Everyone has that one person, Jules. It turns out you’re gonna be mine.”

Taking a step back, I pulled away from her completely. Her shoulders sank against the wall, and she bit down on her plump bottom lip.

Even though it killed me, I turned around and walked away, running my tongue over my lips to get one more taste of her in case it was my last time.

Time.

That word again. I had to give her it, not knowing whether it would be a second, an hour, a month, or a year.

People cast me funny glances as I walked back through the bar, and I caught Tessa’s eyes, seeing she was grinning brightly at me. I gave her a wink and a smile because for the first time since she’d come into Presley’s life, I knew what it felt like to crave someone so badly that they became all you could think about—all you dreamed about.

When I reached my place beside Molly, Elle slid a tumbler of whiskey on the rocks my way, and I downed it in one hit, gasping when I slammed the glass back on the bar.

“Well?” Molly asked, not looking at me as she stared at herself in the mirror on the back shelf.

“Told her I fucking loved her.”

“You actually said those words?”

“Close enough.”

“Well, well, well. And how did she take it?”

“Horribly.” I smirked.

“Are you scared?”

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “Weirdly… not one fucking bit.”

“So, where is she?”

“Back there.” I chucked my chin. “Thinking it over.”

“Dangerous thing for a woman like her to be thinking about loving you in return.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Love has to last a lifetime for it to be worth it.”

“She’s already worth it. No matter what happens next. The first time has to happen sometime, right?” I laughed quietly, reaching for Molly’s glass and holding it to my mouth.

“The last man who took something of mine that didn’t belong to him regretted it, Silly Little Rhett.”

After draining it, I dropped her flute down and leaned against the bar. “The lesson I’ve learned tonight is that you’ll only ever regret the things you don’t do. Not the things you took a chance on.”

Molly shook her head before she clicked her fingers at Elle and leaned over to order us both another drink.

I cast my eyes in the direction Jules was hiding, and within a second, my confidence took a nosedive and made my stomach swirl. She was talking to Uncle Dex, who was standing beside Presley, and the three of them looked my way at once.

Before long, Hawk joined them, and I could tell Jules wanted them to help her leave.

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