Page 117 of The Piece You Stole

“I thought we would have sex,” she says, nearly five minutes later.

“Is that what you wanted to happen?” My voice is as low as hers.

“I…” She pauses. “I don’t know. I guess.”

“I need more than, ‘I guess.’”

“Maybe,” she corrects herself.

“Not enough.”

“I’m attracted to you,” she admits so quietly that I know she’d never have admitted it during the day, or even if we were face to face.

“While I’m pleased to hear you say it, that’s not enough, either.”

“It’s just sex.” She makes it sound like it’s a hobby. As if it has no value to her.

Thisis what Kade meant. This is what I can give her that he doesn’t think he can. Feeling. Caring. Friendship.

“It doesn’t have to be.”

When she falls silent, I know she must be thinking of Rylan. Did she ever experience pleasure for pleasure’s sake or was it something forced on her, something she was expected to hand out whenever someone made a demand of her?

What about what she wanted?

“I could show you,” I say into the silence, my voice whisper-quiet.

Because it’s so quiet, I catch the exact moment her breathing changes. “Now?”

“Not now. I want you to think about what you want.” I turn my head to study her profile. “This won’t be because you’re attracted to me or you think it’s what I want, but because it’s whatyouwant. We can go from there.”

Fabric rustles as she grips the sheets a little tighter. “And then you’ll give me—”

“Pleasure, Saige. I’ll give you pleasure.”

“And in return?”

“That’s where the friendship part comes in.” I lift my arm and wait.

She glances over at me before she shuffles closer and rests her head on my chest with her hand over my heart.

I kiss her hair and tuck my arm around her slim waist. “Friends don’t use each other. They trust each other.”

She must blink because I feel the soft brush of her lashes against my chest. “You want me to trust you?”

There’s so much doubt in her voice that, once again, I visualize putting a bullet between Rylan’s eyes because the damage he did to her extends so much further than the scars on her body and the bite marks on her throat.

I kiss her again. “I’d like you to try. If you can’t, that’s okay.”

She releases a quiet breath and relaxes. “And if I can?”

“Then I’ll never betray that trust. I’ll guard it with my life.”

Silence.

My eyes are drifting closed when she whispers, “I’ll try.”

I squeeze her so she knows I heard, but I keep my eyes firmly closed because those two words are a gift. If she knew how they’d nearly brought me to tears, she’d think I was crazy.

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